Shooting Real Doll
Over the Easter weekend I had the pleasure of shooting short film Real Doll, in which I play Nadia, written/directed by Will Hewitt and Produced by Sam White.
David is a director in the process of writing a personal play which he views as his magnum opus. After making the decision to write himself a role in his upcoming play, we see him slowly spiral into obsession as he treats the lead actress Nadia with dismay, only focusing on her when she is playing the role of Ellen. She soon becomes completely alienated from her self-absorbed director, pushed to her limits to recreate this dream character of David’s.
When interviewed by Digital Filmmaker Magazine Producer Sam and Director Will said of role:
". . .this film needs to be seen today due to its relevance to the current scandals being uncovered in the entertainment industry, particularly the voices now being heard through the Me Too and Times Up movements online. Nadia helps show us what hurt can be caused when an artist or director takes their power too far and acts inappropriately towards their actors." It is also their intention inspire their audience with Nadia coming out victorious whilst David is ostracised and not given acclaim for his unorthodox methods, like so many directors are.
"Both the lead actors were also fantastic to work with creatively. They were never afraid to bring their own ideas to the table. Some of the scenes would often change the more we ran through them, which I loved as it felt we were completely understanding of the characters thoughts and didn't need to rely solely on written dialogue to bring their layered personalities to life."
I had such a fabulous time on set for this project with all the dedicated crew, and my fellow actor Alex Francis who played David.
TIMES IS UP and collaborating with such talented, gracious, compassionate creatives only reiterates this.
Real Doll is currently in post production and is due to be completed at the end of May and Sam and Will plan to submit it to various film festivals.
You can find the Digital Filmmakers Magazine article Here