Brianna Brown was in the first play I directed back in 2005 entitled Sunshine for a Midnight Weary. I also cast her in my first short film which she also helped produce. Our working relationship is a long one and our friendship, a very deep one. The main reason she is also the producer on Elevate and other projects is because she has incredible insight, knows me so well and is brutally honest and supportive.

When I wrote the storyline of Trina, I wrote it with a very specific actor in mind. She was on a television show, we were facebooks friends, we ran into each other at auditions so I knew I could probably get her to at least read my script. When I expressed to Brianna who I wanted to cast as Trina she told me she would not speak to me again unless I played the role! She was half joking of course but I got the messege loud and clear.

This was a blessing because had I known I was going to play Trina, my writing might have been meek and the choices I made for that character would probably not have been as raw. Thank you Brianna.

As an actor, Brianna is one of these gifted people that brings 150% to every role she plays and is always a pleasure to have on set. She makes friends with everyone and people are always dumbfounded by how friendly and down to earth she really is. I think because of her beauty and her 20 plus years of giving amazing performances on so many hit televevision shows, people assume that she is a diva which is of course the furthest thing from the truth.

Her emotional range is vast, her focus and professionalism are incomparable. I am still so grateful that she agreed to play Bretta. Of course I had her in mind when I wrote the character, but she works so much as an actress and I knew I couldn’t afford to pay her her regular day rate.

After two days of casting, reading actress after actress and not really loving anyone for the role, I was expressing my dissatisfaction about this one night at dinner and finally just blurted out,  “I wish you could just do it”.  Brianna looked at me in disbeleif and said she was just waiting for me to ask her! Because we are friends I didn’t want to assume she would star in my film, and she didn’t want to assume that I would cast her as the lead. So silly!

I was really concerned about casting this role because I needed a very experienced, talented and patient actor who could play opposite my dad. This is my dads first at last (he claims) acting role. The scenes are very layered and I knew the only way he’d be able to pull it off is if he had a scene partner that could ELEVATE his natural talent, and Brianna helped do exactly that. Their scenes together are so sweet and magical. Who could ask for anything more?

Brianna Brown is phenomenal in this role, is a strategic, smart producer and an amazing friend. Come see her shine in Elevate!

 

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