The Essentials With Sara Sampaio: Erewhon Smoothies, ‘Love Island’ and Going Blonde

As a model who has covered countless magazines and walked fashion week runways from New York to Milan, Sara Sampaio is no stranger to the transformative power of hair and makeup. But she always had one rule: “I’d never color my hair.” That is, until she landed the onscreen role of Eve Teschmacher in James Gunn’s Superman film. “When I was modeling, I would always joke that I’d only go blonde for a role,” Sampaio tells Observer. “Then, obviously, my first big role, they’re like, ‘Actually, we want you to go blonde,’” she laughs.

Born in Portugal, Sampaio’s long, brunette hair was part of her signature look as she climbed the modeling ranks—from her very first Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show in 2013 to her role as Armani Beauty ambassador in 2018. Yet modeling was never part of her plan. “I’ve wanted to act since I was a kid, and then modeling kind of happened and I took on the opportunity,” she shares of prioritizing her work as a model for nearly a decade. Shortly before the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, Sampaio decided to move to Los Angeles to pursue her childhood dream, enrolling in acting classes that would quickly switch to Zoom sessions during the height of the pandemic. “In a way, it allowed me to catch up and really focus on dedicating myself to learning the craft without feeling guilty that I’m missing out on jobs,” says Sampaio.

After a handful of roles in smaller films and television series, Sampaio got the call for her biggest audition yet in the summer of 2023. “I remember reading the part and being like, ‘I know exactly who this character is,’” Sampaio says of her introduction to Eve Teschmacher, assistant to and girlfriend of Lex Luthor, played by Nicholas Hoult. “I worked on it with my coach, and I had a lot of fun with my self-tape, but I knew the chances of me getting it were very slim.” Several weeks of silence followed before Sampaio—who was in Portugal launching her seltzer brand, Phunk—heard any news. “I flew back to L.A. to do my chemistry read with [director] James Gunn and Skyler Gisondo, and I think the next day I found out that I got the job.”

While most of the movie was filmed in Atlanta, Sampaio’s on-set experience began in a more remote destination. “We spent about 10 days in Svalbard, which is a group of islands in the Arctic Ocean near Norway. That was the first thing we filmed, and it felt like winter camp,” she says of meeting her castmates. “It was a really cool experience, and it was a very good bonding moment as well.”

Before heading to Svalbard, where the movie’s Fortress of Solitude scenes were filmed, Sampaio had to do some character research. “For me, it was all about building her backstory and the motivation behind why she does what she does and why she likes who she likes,” Sampaio says of the selfie-obsessed Teschmacher. “Eve isn’t really in the comics; she’s from the Richard Donner movies [1978’s Superman and 1980’s Superman II],” she explains. “I watched those movies, and I fell in love with her. Even though this Eve is so modern and she’s a very comedic character, I still wanted to keep that innocent, child-like personality that the original Eve [played by Valerie Perrine] has.”

Also helping Sampaio take on the role of Teschmacher was her blonde hair. “I went to Jacob [Schwartz], and it took 11 hours,” she says of the single-session process, which mainly consisted of highlights. “It would be so weird to look in the mirror and not recognize myself,” recalls Sampaio. “I know that most people will be like, ‘It’s just hair,’ but it’s always been such an important part of who I am as a person. It was a little bit of an identity crisis, but at the same time, it really helped me to get into the character.”

Now back to brunette, Sampaio jokes that she’d gladly go blonde again for more Superman. “The movie has so much heart, and it’s something that we need right now; something positive, and inspiring, and hopeful for all ages,” she says. “I took my nieces, who really enjoyed it, and even my grandma—she’s almost 90, and she fell in love with David [Corenswet]. Days after Superman hit theaters, Sampaio shared her current essentials—from the Erewhon smoothie she can’t live without to the face masks she turns to for an at-home spa day.