A blog post from one of the 'Choices' Producers Devyn Keane
While shooting, I had the pleasure to make a small cameo in the movie I helped to produce. I played Eric’s under-worked secretary. Although my role is quite small, this character helped me re-visit a part of my life that I thought I had buried. Before this film, I had not acted in any short films (unless you count YouTube videos filmed in my basement in middle school). I have only ever performed in plays and musicals. I’ve never had a lead role, and when I was, it was the comic relief. My biggest roles were when I played the Tin Woman in Wizard of Oz at a summer camp in California, and the European material girl Juror 11 with the German accent in Twelve Angry Jurors. I’ve only ever been a comic relief. I played the stereotypical grumpy old grandma in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory in 8th grade. I also played the eccentric makeup artist in a play whose name I can’t even recall! I was tired of playing the same character all the time and I was tired of having my appearance matter so much at such a young age, so I quit acting as a Junior in High school.
I was very nervous the day we were shooting my scene. Even though I barely had any lines, I was still worried that acting again would feel like an open wound. Yet, I was still so excited once our directors told me to improv -- and that’s because I was now able to create a character rather than just portray one. Not only did I create my role, but I feel like the lines I said also helped establish Eric’s character. The secretary seems to be the bearer of bad news, then proceeds to go out for the weekend while the burned-out Eric now has to take on a new project. However, Eric seems to work on a bigger project-- dealing with his sister, Caroline. Discussing Eric’s huge assignment, and the facial expressions I used, followed by my announcement that I was heading out for the weekend, all helped convey to the audience that Eric is a workaholic. It helped explain Eric’s psyche and why he is so short-tempered. Even if this dialogue is cut from the film, I am still proud to have finally been given personal authority and independence when on “stage.”
by Devyn Keane
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