There are almost too many weird connections to even recount, but here goes:
I had barely scanned the rest of the films playing at Albuquerque Film and Music Experience. So self-involved, I had only seen my own title and figured I’d look at the list closer a bit later so I could choose what I wanted to see while I was in Albuquerque. When I did take a closer look, one title jumped out at me: the horror film In the Dark, directed by David Spaltro. I’m friends with David Spaltro, mainly on Facebook, and have been aware of the development of In the Dark, due to his Facebook and Instagram posts, as well as its traveling around the festival circuit. David Spaltro WORKS, man. He is the epitome of Go-Getter.
But that’s not all.
In 2012, I reviewed his beautiful film Things I Don’t Understand (this was before I met him or knew anything about him). I loved the film. Clearly. I then reached out to Spaltro and asked if I could interview him. He has an interesting background, is super-busy and well-respected in the New York indie scene, works with a great repertory of actors, and really gets shit done, totally outside of any studio system or protection. You can read our interview here.
But that’s not all.
That interview took place in March of 2012. A month or so later, I was in the frenzied planning stages for the public reading of my script July and Half of August that was going to take place at The Vineyard Theatre (an incredibly prestigious venue, an attention-getting kind of venue). We had a director, the brilliant Jack Cumming, and my cousin Kerry O’Malley would be playing “Neve.” (There are only two characters in the play, a man and a woman.) Then came the search for the male lead. We threw out names. We put out feelers. We sent the script around. Kerry knows everyone. We had endless conversations about the KIND of guy we needed. And it’s a rare kind of guy. Not every actor fits. In the middle of this, I suddenly remembered the romantic lead in David Spaltro’s film, a gorgeous sensitive hunk played by Aaron Mathias. I had really liked his performance. There were no connections, really, between the role he played in Things I Don’t Understand and the role I had written. “My” guy was much more transparent and … sunny, I guess, while the guy in Things I Don’t Understand had a dark backstory. But there were a couple of things I got from Mathias’ performance in the film that I thought would fit: he is a good listener, and he clearly likes women. Every scene he had in Spaltro’s film was with the lead woman. It was like a mini one-act play by John Patrick Shanley, and I thought he had immense possibilities and … if he was able to let go of the “dark backstory” stuff (and not all actors are), he’d be perfect in my script.
Figured it wouldn’t hurt to ask, so I reached out to David Spaltro and asked for Aaron’s email. Spaltro raved about Mathias, what a nice guy, great guy to work with, and passed on the information. I emailed Aaron asking him 1. if he was available on the date we had set and 2. if he was interested (there would be no pay) and 3. if he would like to read the script. He emailed me right back saying, “This is great! I’m so excited! Sure, would love to read the script!” It was a nice friendly email, really open. I did not know this man so I was trying to read every bit of behavior to see if it was “Jack”-like. This is what you do. So anyway, long story short, he read the script that day, and we talked the following day. The first thing he said was, “Well, thanks for ruining my afternoon” and then started roaring with laughter, and I felt this surge of excitement because I knew, then, I knew he was “Jack.” He wasn’t trying to sound intellectual, or analytical. It was a purely EMOTIONAL response, mixed with humor, and I thought; Sheila, you are fucking GOOD. This guy is IT.
And he WAS it, and he was a DREAM to work with, and he was a DREAM Jack. Kerry and Aaron onstage together was out of my wildest dreams. I didn’t have to do one damn thing but sit back and watch them make what I had written come alive. It was incredible.
I have David Spaltro to thank for Aaron, and now here we are, a couple years later, and both of our films are playing in the same festival. Unfortunately, David won’t be able to be there, but he’s hooked me up with the lead actress of In the Dark so that we’ll be able to connect at the festival. It’s playing Friday night, so I won’t miss it.
