This was a student movie that I did at SUNY Purchase.
The author/director/producer was Cheye Bieber.
My character was called Amaryllis Vacanti.
Here's the YouTube video
This was filmed in the admissions building at the college. I was wondering all the time if this was a sign that I should maybe take some courses there. I think this is a surprisingly good student movie.
It's always an internal debate for me, if I should accept unpaid positions in student films, when I'm trying to position myself as a professional actress. I like to help students, tho. You never know when student is going to become a famous director later and hire you.
I don't just go out for any role however. I don't like to play "sick grandma" who has cancer or Alzheimer's. I am a real cancer survivor, but that's depressing and I'm doing acting as a fun retirement activity, not to get depressed.
Most roles for grandma are either "sick grandma" or "flashback grandma" who is already dead.
This one was different. This is grandma who is still alive -- tho not too sympathetic in her reaction. Also I think the plot is very topical
I am very interested in this business of long lost family members appearing after DNA tests. There were a couple of instances of this in my personal life.
My ex has a biological cousin who was put up for adoption in infancy who reappeared later as an adult. Most family members welcomed her warmly and invited her to family reunions. Her bio-mom was long deceased, in fact her illness was why the baby was put up for adoption -- and she was never married to the father, so he wasn't around to object. One aunt was suspicious of the young woman, as possibly wanting money, like the character in this film. Actually, that woman, like the one in this film, did not need money.
Later, I was approached on FB in a situation where there was a long lost member of my cousins' family. She was not a blood relative to me, because she was from my aunt's husband's family. I was approached, because I'm active on FB, while the relevant cousins are not. In that case, sadly, the cousins who were her blood relatives (tho somewhat distant) did not welcome her -- being concerned about embarrassing her bio-dad, who conceived her in a non-standard relationship.
Then, this summer, when I was driving through Ontario, I heard a radio broadcast on the car radio, about some research that had been done on this topic -- of the long lost relatives turning up after DNA tests. The researcher found that out of wedlock children were generally not welcomed by their bio-dads. Even the moms were often not happy to see them -- which was sad.
In any case, I thought that this was a very interesting topic, so I was happy to play this role.
I think the student did a good job with this film.
I do feel sad that my glasses sometimes blocked my eyes, but for the most part I think the thing is good for a student production.
