Everybody with Angela Williamson is made possible by Fire Heart Entertainment and viewers like you.

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The dedication and passion that actors bring to their craft is truly inspiring.

Tonight we speak with a guest who not only nurtures that passion in a vibrant acting community, but also brings it to life on screen.

We'll be discussing her new film, The Italians, which is a deeply touching story about love and forgiveness.

I'm so happy you're joining us.

And then you from Los Angeles.

This is KLCS PBS.

Welcome to Everybody with Angela Williamson.

An Innovation, Arts, education and public affairs program.

Everybody, with Angela Williamson is made possible by viewers like you.

Thank you.

And now your host, doctor Angela Williamson.

Michelle Danner is our guest.

Michelle, thank you so much for being here.

Thank you for having me.

It is our honor to have you because not only will you be talking about your latest movie, but you have been part of this vibrant acting community for a long time.

Based on your acting studio.

So before we get into why you're here today, let our audience get to know you a little bit.

Well, we'd have to go back.

My father was, the president that opened the William Morris Agency in Paris.

So from a very young age, I grew up in Paris, in France.

And so not only did I go play under his desk, it was privately pretty to all these big stars coming to talk about their dreams.

I also had access to great literature.

I would go to museums every weekend.

It seemed like we went to the Palace of Versailles every weekend.

I watched tons of movies when I grew up, read a lot of books, traveled a lot.

And so I studied acting at the Conservatory of Paris.

So when I was a teenager and we moved back to New York City, I was lucky enough to study with Stella Adler, with all the hugging and with a slew of other wonderful teachers.

And so I, I was passionate about the craft of acting.

What made a great performance, what made a great acting moment.

And then I had the opportunity when I moved to Los Angeles in the early 90s to teach.

And so I started to teach and started to create a community of actors around us.

And so one thing led into the other, into the other.

Everything in life, you know, seems to be a stepping stone.

So I went from opening the acting school to directing movies and now to to writing, to directing, to producing.

And so, it's it's a life of storytelling, you know, one of the things I feel that, I have been put on this earth, it's to tell stories.

And I'm very passionate about that.

And how do you choose the story that you want to tell?

Usually it's what emotionally causes me.

For instance, I did a movie called The Runner, and I remember staying up till 2:00 in the morning and watching a news report where law enforcement would force high schoolers to wire up so they could catch the big drug kingpin of the town.

And then tragedies happen.

Parents are not alerted.

And I remember, you know, hearing this particular story and just starting to disarm.

And I started to write a three page treatment.

I called it morning after a friend of mine, a wonderful writer and executive.

Please write this screenplay.

I really want to tell this story.

This is important.

Usually the stories that attract me are timely stories.

Things that are, you know, happening today.

One of the themes that I pursue, I feel, and all of my movies are kids that fall through the cracks.

Those that you know, you have two kids and that speaks to me somehow in a in a huge, powerful way.

I love your background because it's so unique.

I mean, you train these incredible actors, but at the same time in your soul, you are a storyteller.

So my question to you now is when you are creating these stories, do do you envision the type of actor or actress that will actually bring your stories to life?

I mean, how does that work for you?

Well, you.

Know what's interesting?

I brought up the movie The Runner, which is not the last movie that I did.

It's 2 or 3 movies ago, but I was in an acting class.

I was teaching an acting class, and that particular night we were on Main Street and all the lights of the block went off.

So we had three more scenes to do in class.

So I asked all the actors to hold up their phones so we'd have light.

And this wonderful actor did a scene that sent chills down my spine in his name, and it was flipped out.

And I was developing this story called The Runner.

And so I approached when I said, I really would like for you to play this part.

And he did.

Now it's so happened.

What's ironic about this is that.

And maybe that's why I'm bringing it up on the way here.

I spoke to him.

He's preparing to do another movie, and he did a few of Ridley Scott's movies.

And so there's a lot of talent in my classes, and I try and cast a lot of my actors in the stories that I tell.

He happens to be a very big success story, and he's also really wonderful in the movie.

He got great, great reviews.

Well, and I know our audience can't wait to watch that movie.

Now The runner is not available.

Yes.

Oh, that's available everywhere to be seen.

You know, I'm going to as you tell us about movies, I'm going to ask you if it's available because our audience will want to know.

But this also leads to another question.

So you use what you're seeing happening to society at that moment as the brainchild, so to speak, and correct me if I'm wrong as to how you start to tell your stories.

But when I looked at the trailer for your latest movie, the Italians just sort of made me feel like family.

We have different parts of it, and it was a unique take on family and food and transition.

So that's a little bit different than what we were talking about.

Yes, that's probably the most personal story that I have told so far.

It, you know, when the script was brought to me, I thought, oh, well, this could be my family.

I was always scared to bring home anyone to my mother who's no longer with us because, I knew the spaghetti was going to fly.

I just didn't know exactly when.

And so at the end of the movie, I said, I did this movie for my mother, and, I was also acting in it because I knew exactly this made the character I played was an amalgamation of my mother, my grandmother, my sister.

You know, I come from a very, very, I want to say bombastic, but let's say fun Italian family.

And I saw the energy just in that trailer.

Yes.

And one of the things is, a good 20, I don't know, eight years ago or 27 years ago, I did a play in LA, the Rose Tattoo by Tennessee Williams with a wonderful actor, Rob Estes.

And, we ran for almost a year.

We were 21 people on stage and a goat.

We had a great experience bringing to life this beautiful play, the Tennessee Williams wrote.

And so when I started to put together the pieces of this movie, The Italians, it's coming out now.

And, in a few weeks, I, immediately Rob was my first choice to reach out to him and ask him to be in it, and he's wonderful in it.

Well, and that's what I found interesting when I was researching you for our interview, was the connections that you have, not only through the acting studio, but also working with these wonderful actors and his band.

I think of him, and I think of all of the soap operas that I watched on television.

But he still is timeless in how he brings his performance on screen.

Correct?

He's great.

He had a lot of fun doing this.

We all did.

We put together a family to bring this story to life.

That was having a lot of fun doing it.

So Lenny Kazan played my mother, wonderful Lainie Kazan and Abigail Breslin, who I just worked with in a movie called Miranda's Victim, about how the Miranda rights came about.

She's also one of the leads, this wonderful actor, Matthew Daddario, who now I'm going to be doing another movie with.

I love working with the same actors.

And as a matter of fact, as soon as I finished shooting with a certain group of actors, I immediately went to figure out about casting them in something else because I had such a great experience, you know, bringing it to life with them.

So Olivia, Luke Hardy, another great actress, love her work.

She's such a talented young actress.

Perry Reeves, who plays Mrs. Ari in Entourage, is also in it.

You know, she's really funny and touching.

David Lewis, the son of Don Lewis.

That's what I thought.

A great actor, really.

He had a supporting part that he brought to life in a very, very vivid way.

And who else am I forgetting?

I feel like I'm forgetting people, but, it was fun to shoot this movie.

It really was.

And I think even though it's called The Italians and it's about an Italian family and it's about love and forgiveness and great Italian food, as we did the festival circuit and played a lot of festivals around the country and in Europe.

So many people came up to me from different nationalities and they said, I know it's Italians, but it could be my family.

That's what I felt like when I watched it.

I said you could easily exchange some of these dishes for soul food, and that would be my family.

Exactly.

And I think that's important when you are a storyteller to realize, yes, it actually transcends through certain ethnicities as well too, right?

That's right.

Because art at the end of the day is universal.

That's why 2000 people can sit in a Broadway house and watch August Osage County and see themselves in it, maybe different degrees of dysfunction.

Nevertheless, you see part of yourself because families, family and family is universal and we're all more alike than we're not.

I love that.

So before we go to our break, you mentioned something, so I want to come back to it.

You mentioned how much you enjoyed working with this group of actors.

So before you are even done with production, you're thinking ahead, how can I pull the same actors to, you know, my next production?

I mean, how important is that chemistry among actors in this community?

I think it's very important.

I think that's what makes something special.

If and then sometimes it doesn't have to.

You don't have to get along with the other person.

We know that many, you know, romantic couples that have brought, you know, romance to life have not liked each other, but it's energy that gets created amongst artists, and it's that energy that is invaluable.

That is a perfect.

Way to end our first segment together.

When we come back, I want to dig more into your latest movie because I know people will want to know more about it.

But then there's another movie you mentioned about the Miranda rights.

Miranda's victim.

Miranda, I would love for you to talk more about that take.

Thank you.

Come back to hear more from Michelle.

So what do I do with.

Just look at some.

Mom, did you really need to buy two can openers for our emergency kit?

I can't help it.

They're two for one.

What's this?

We need to keep our family communication plan safe in case of an emergency.

Thanks, Peter.

We should think ahead to keep mom and dad safe when it floods this year.

I've got an evacuation route loaded on my phone.

I've got an updated list of dad's meds.

And I've got just what we need to get them to take this seriously.

Start a conversation with your family and plan together for emergencies.

Winter.

Always.

Mr. Miranda.

A girl was grabbed on seventh Street on Saturday night, right around the same time that you got out of work.

Can you describe the man?

Number one looks like him.

Tell me everything and don't leave anything out.

I'm testifying.

Are you sure about this?

All rise.

I don't want to see you become damaged goods.

I'm just gonna make.

The prosecution calls.

Patricia and Shumway.

At the next girl.

I'm with someone to put this guy in jail for a long time.

The jury just found you guilty as charged.

Hello?

Ernest.

Johnson.

Can you get me out of here?

I believe I can.

Aren't you gonna ask me if I'm guilty?

I'm far more interested.

Why?

You signed that confession.

I know what you're trying to do.

A man is guilty as sin.

The issue is whether this defendant's confession should have been allowed in evidence.

It was coercion, plain and simple.

There was not an attorney present.

Don't make him the face of your crusade.

What about Miranda's victim?

I really don't care.

Objection.

Your honor.

You must not the.

You must stop this now.

The cases before us raise questions.

What if they say he's talking.

To the Supreme Court?

Might make us retried.

The whole world wants.

Nothing but to take.

From us.

Miranda did not request counsel.

Therefore we reverse.

And being locked away is the only.

Thing that lets me sleep at night.

It's so hard to.

Keep reliving this over.

And over.

She's work so hard.

She's doing what's right.

Mr. Miranda.

Our justice system has afforded you every privilege, every protection.

Hey, this is a courtesy not extended to you.

Our victim.

Welcome back.

Thank you so much for that incredible first segment.

Thank you.

We talked about a few movies in that first segment.

But I would love our audience to know about Miranda's act.

Miranda is victim.

Victim.

Thank you.

I directed a movie, a couple of years ago that came out called Miranda's Victim with an extraordinary cast, the late Donald Sutherland.

This was actually his last movie.

Andy Garcia, Kyle MacLachlan, Dan Lauria, Abigail Breslin played the lead.

Emily VanCamp.

Marina's played wonderful.

Miranda played her mother.

My whole cast was beyond the beyond.

Luke Wilson was the prosecutor.

Ryan Philippe, defended.

Miranda.

Nestor.

Miranda.

So I mentioned in the last segment the movie The Runner.

Yeah.

And the first scene in that movie, this kid gets arrested.

You have the right to remain silent.

You have the right to you and I never questioned where did that come from?

And they had I think there's been a gap in telling that story because nobody told.

And that's because the survivor of the Miranda's victim finally came forth on the 60th anniversary and told her story.

Patricia, we are.

And that's the story that we're telling, which gave birth to those rights.

And it's an extraordinary story.

I shot it on film.

I shot it, like I said, with this cast, and it gets a great positive response.

Where the opening night movie at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival and a few years ago.

I'm really proud of this movie because I think it it educates, educates you about something that we don't know about.

And I'm always drawn.

You ask me at the beginning, what are the stories that the timely stories are the ones that, you know, appealed to me, and also stories that have never been told.

The uniqueness of that story, that kind of storytelling.

Well, and it's not just that the story has never been told, but it's something that is a part of law enforcement today.

People need to understand why it's part of it today.

Exactly.

So they're going to show the movie in different law schools and colleges, in addition to the fact that you can see it anywhere.

It's on, you know, Hulu and on Amazon, of course, and everywhere else.

I appreciate you saying that, because then I didn't have to ask you.

Now I start to see a trend with everything that you've done.

For some reason, you have this wonderful way of putting together a very strong cast.

Is that part of what these actors, they learn when they go to an acting studio and, like you to educate us?

Because I would love to understand what you look for when actors come in to train underneath you.

Well, everything.

I think when you walk on set is very there's no, you know, you're on a schedule, there's very little time.

And so you have to own your craft as an artist.

And this idea of figuring out your process, which varies from role to role, from project to project, is something that you can figure out actually in an acting class.

And another thing that you can play with and explore is taking risks, which I think is what is primarily conducive to giving a great performance.

It's an actor that's really willing to let go and take enormous risks, which I think we saw you know, this year in several movies.

And whether you love them, didn't love them, you know, the movies that that spoke to us, that were nominated, also movies that were not nominated, but the movies that speak to us in a very visceral way, that move us, take enormous risks.

And that's, I think, what an actor needs to sign up for, you know, if it's the Mission impossible, if you sign up for this mission, you know, you have to be willing to go to that place and open up those floodgates.

And that's very much what you know.

I have two schools, the Los Angeles Acting Conservatory, which is a conservatory program, and the Michelle Banner Acting Studio.

And, I teach and I have a great faculty that teaches as well, this next generation and an older generation of actors taking their game to the next level.

Keep raising the bar because that's what you're after when you're acting.

And, you know, going to project the project and creating roles is to keep raising the bar and take those risks.

And that's what I'm a great believer.

And I not only tell my students, I don't only talk the talk, I walk the walk.

I have taken enormous risks in my life.

I feel like everything that I do is risky, and yet I do it anyway.

Well, not only do you do it anyway, but on top of that, you own two successful businesses and at the same time you are creative.

You're a filmmaker, you're a producer and writer director and and then you're part of the casting as well.

How do you manage all of that?

That is incredible.

I know people want to know that.

A question that is asked a lot, and I always answer the same way.

Okay, I have very good lists.

Mark and I work with lists, but I also have I'm very lucky and it never escapes me.

There isn't a single day that I wake up that I don't feel I'm very lucky.

I have people around me that help me, that have been with me for decades, literally decades.

And it's hard to hang on to the same people for that length of time.

And I think that we're all part of a certain, you know, vision.

We all have this dream.

We're all creating something in me right now.

You know, looking at the future, there's a slate of 12 movies that we want to make in the next decade.

Different movies, different genres.

And, we're all excited about it.

We're all excited to be part of something that is that has a very strong creative force attached to it, including the I always mention him because, well, I have two sons.

One is still in high school, the other one graduated USC and studied film and theater and he's home right now, currently putting final touches on his first script that he's going to direct.

But the last decade he's been with me on set with every movie and has helped me with every, every single, you know, stage of it.

So not only do these list keep you organized, but at the same time, you're paving the way for the next generation of filmmakers.

That's my my objective.

That's my wish.

before we end our conversation today and I want at the end of our conversation, I want you to tell us how our community can support you.

I would love to hear from you.

And you can tell me yes or no, but I love to hear from you.

If you had to choose your perfect cast, who would that be?

And I know sometimes people don't like to say names, but if you don't want to say names, you could just give an overall description of what that cast person would be.

Because, you know, I'm from teaching them.

But you also know from the style, the background of being a creative.

I think we all have the same list of extraordinary actors, and that I have that list.

And of course, is Meryl Streep on the list?

No, I say she's not on the list.

She's above the list.

She defines the list.

So does Daniel Day-Lewis.

He's not on the list.

But I just went to see the latest Steven Soderbergh movie at the movie theaters.

And what was really wonderful about that, it was the opening weekend of this movie Black Bag with Cate Blanchett and Michael Fassbender.

And is that the theater was full?

When was the last time that you walked into a movie theater?

I mean, maybe wicked, but if not, even I went to Wicked Matinee and it wasn't full.

When was the last time did you walk in?

And every single seat is taken.

That's the good old days.

That's what would happen with movies that were released theatrically in the old days.

And I think that what is clear with the movie that won the Oscar this year, and I feel like I'm a, you know, independent movies is what I do.

Yes.

And so you said people need to go to the movie theaters to support independent movies.

I know it's a different era now because there's so many platforms, there's so many things to see.

But support independent movies, rate them, go to film festivals.

It's a great forum for independent movies.

I mean, yes, not everybody has 100 million or 200 million to make a movie, and it doesn't necessarily guarantee that it's going to be a really good movie.

But sometimes when you make I think Orson Welles said it, you know, art is art when you do it, you know, with little and so much imagination.

Yes.

So that's what I would say is support independent films.

And with that being said, how can our community continue to see Michel thrive?

Well, the watch, the Italians, it's coming out exclusively.

By the time this airs, it'll have been out already.

It'll be on Amazon, it'll be on Apple TV, it'll be on on Vudu, on Google Play.

So watch the Italians.

Certainly, watch Miranda's victim, watch the runner.

And I have another movie I went to shoot in Italy with Toni Collette and Andy Garcia called Under the Stars.

That's going to come out as well.

And I'm in prep right now for another movie that I'm going to go shoot a romantic comedy, called starstruck, which I'm very excited about.

And, later in the year, I'm going to shoot a movie called Helios, a sci fi thriller that I'm also thrilled about.

So you touch on all types of genres I do.

I love all kinds of genres.

I'm not, you know, just horror.

Although I really my son is going to do lots of horror.

Oh, that's for the next generation.

I love it, but all the all the genres have in common, human stories, they're stories about humanity stepping up to the plate.

The people that you know are able to step up to the plate and, and create wonders.

the last question I have for you before we end our time today is, you are creating such a wonderful legacy.

I mean, not only, you know, behind the film, but also to the actors that play these parts and bring these stories to life in your mind, what would you like your next big legacy to be?

I think I already gave birth to my legacy.

I think it's night, Sam.

And if you met my son, you would understand he has some very good ideas about important stories.

I think they can touch our humanity.

And, And I can't wait to be able to support him.

And making that, you know, come to life.

That is absolutely wonderful.

So can our audience follow you on Instagram?

Absolutely.

It's Michelle Danner, L.A. actress international, and I think we're also on TikTok.

Sure.

Okay.

We'll make sure to share everything.

On social media.

Yes.

Oh, wonderful.

Well, Michelle, I so appreciate our conversation.

And I love what you're doing.

But most importantly, I've always wanted to know a little bit of the inside scoop between our wonderful acting studio.

So I appreciate you being here, and I love to see what you do next and let your son know we want to see what he does next as well.

Thank you.

You're welcome.

And thank you for joining us on everybody with Angela Williamson.

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Hi, I'm Angela Williamson, host of everybody with Angela Williamson.

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