This Is The List (Part 4)

JENNIFER DEES (Veronica Darling)

I met Jennifer Dees during the early rounds of auditions — she strolled in through the door like one cool cat. I had no idea who she was and had seen a ton of people that day before her and was not feeling any of them. When Jenn performed the monologue for VERONICA DARLING, she blew me away. I remember it well — it was a very good day.

There was only a small number of candidates to consider, but Jenn had an added depth — an understated vulnerability that was just spot on for the character. I knew she was the one.

When I gave her the script and told her to give it a read and let me know if she was interested she responded a few days later with a very sweet and telling email that really solidified my choice — in it she described how the script made her feel and it was just exactly how I intended…so I knew she got the material.

And after working with her and getting to know her, it’s amazing to see just how much she gets my stuff — from day one — she just gets it. It’s uncanny because — looking back — we rarely talked in depth about the script or character and in fact she’s mentioned more than once to me she wasn’t sure if it was what I was looking for. But let me tell you that it’s one of the best feelings in the world when — with very little effort on my own — an actress truly becomes the character in front of my eyes…….and that’s Jenn.

Don’t even get me started on her screen presence — she just pops. I’ll leave it at that.

She’s a rare find — an incredible talent and person. She’s one of those rare actresses that you know can bring it. And it makes me strive to create material worthy of her talent. I can’t define what she has — or quantify it — but whatever it is she’s got it. Lots of it.