As part of the 25 Days of Sine Fine Films extravaganza leading up the 25th Anniversary I have decided to write a series of posts celebrating the 25 actors who have been the most dedicated by participating in the most productions.
Actor of the Day: Margaret Olson
Margaret joined the company during its very first production - Destiny - in the summer of 1996. She has participated in 13 productions as cast and/or crew.
I first met Margaret on the set of Destiny when a mutual friend - Morgan Dietkus - brought her along to be an extra. Come to think of it Morgan actually recruited quite a few extras in the early years. Thanks Morgan! One of the best was, of course, Margaret Olson.
Growing up in theater I was always taught the idea that most actors had to "earn" their roles by proving themselves in show after show. In your first few shows you'd be in the chorus, then get a bit part with one or two lines, maybe even a name. If you showed talent and dedication then you would work way up from bit part to secondary (several lines) to principal (a lot of lines and maybe even a solo in a musical) and finally to lead role (the star of the show). That's not how it always worked, but in a lot of community theater it could go that way. That's how it worked for me. It was rare to land a starring role with your first production. Most people had to "pay their dues".
My productions were different in many ways, of course. The leads in the first three productions were chosen from the "Founders" who were members of the Gypsy Wanderers. So some people got leading roles right away, like Annamarie MacLeod, while others got lead roles because I literally couldn't find anyone else, like Chris Hutchens. Most other people started as extras or with smaller roles and eventually got bigger ones.
I like to "reward" people who have played extras and bit parts and helped out in a lot of shows with bigger roles in future productions. Margaret Olson is a perfect example of an actor who paid her dues as a devoted extra and earned progressively bigger roles with each production until she finally had a leading role.
She played multiple extras in Destiny, including being a dancer in the royal picnic scene. She was also a bandit in a few scenes and when I needed someone to kill Jen she happily volunteered - wait, that sounded wrong. When I needed a bandit to randomly kill a royal guard (played by Jen) she was more than willing. That was her first time as a featured extra and she was credited as Guard Slayer.
Margaret returned in Destiny II (thanks to Morgan for bringing her to the set again) as an extra in the ballroom scenes. She was one of the court ladies and was again a featured extra as a lady talking to Lord Geoffrey. What's the difference between an extra and a featured extra? Neither one has a name or a line, but featured extra is the only extra on screen with the main characters (taking to the villain) or has a specific purpose that makes them stand out (randomly killing a guard).
By the time I started filming Destiny III in the summer of 1997, Margaret was an established extra - and by "established" I mean that I actually had her phone number and could invite her to participate directly rather than being invited to the set by a friend. Yes, folks, that's all it takes to become an established member of SFF - a way for me to contact you! Margaret was ready to start moving up the ranks, so to speak.
She jumped a head a bit with not just a name and a few lines, but with an actual supporting role as one of the villain's henchmen - or henchwoman, or more accurately henchfairy - the dark fairy Nania. The woman I had originally cast in the role wasn't able to film that summer, so I called up Margaret and offered her the role. She said yes and did a great job playing what turned out to be a character that's more nuanced then your regular villain's sidekick.
Nania is the servant of the dark god Tartarus and gets subcontracted to Balthazar when Tarts and Bal make a deal. Originally she just appears to be a sultry sidekick with a wicked heart, and helps Balthazar do bad things. Most notably she takes charge of the little Princess Telana and gets her ready to be a human sacrifice.
Her heart isn't as black as it seems, however, because she ends up having a change of heart and running to one of the heroes - Erion - to let her know what is happening and hopefully stop it. We learn that she came to serve Tartarus because she fell in love with him and then became trapped in a slave contract that will last until he dies.
So...Erion kills him and sets Nania free. Nania has a lot of work to do to make up for the sins she committed, but is willing to change and wants to live freely. As I said, Margaret did a great job playing the nuances of the character which involved a lot of just looking uncomfortable at times and other subtle things to show her wavering and leading up to her change of heart. Her great acting made an deep impression on me and would eventually lead me to cast her as a lead, but it would be a little while before that happened.
The next production she was in was The Dragon & The Unicorn, filmed in the winter of 1997, where she went back to being a featured extra. She was a minion of the villain Asarai and was in charge of holding Asarai's special dagger and trading it for her purse and wrap. Okay, so she was basically a glorified coat rack/book shelf that could move. It was a step backward, but to be fair there were very few roles in The Dragon & The Unicorn and they were cast when I wrote the script.
The King of Elflin's Daughter was shot in the spring of 1998 and she returned to the set to play Cordelia, a minor character with a few lines that really only has one scene. Cordelia is a down-to-earth mortal who doesn't seem at all bothered by her betrothed falling for another woman as she quickly falls for a different man. I'm guessing it was an arranged marriage.
Even in love-at-first-sight, Cordelia is still practical. When the elf she falls for wants says he wants to spend his life with her, she replies "let's just start with dinner." Margaret is able to project a no-nonsense, down-to-earth aura/attitude which was perfect for the character. She may have only had a few lines, but she was perfect in the part.
I didn't film with her again until the spring of 1999 for various reasons - mostly likely because she...I don't know...had a life? She wasn't able to film as much and/or I didn't ask as often. It wasn't until we were wrapping up filming for Mind Games that she was able to join in again. Despite being the producer and co-director of Mind Games, I did not actually cast or direct Margaret. I was never even on set with her during the filming.
Edward Stasheff, who wrote and co-directed the movie, wanted to cast the Psi-Squad members himself (he had final approval of all casting choices, actually) and had specific looks he was going for. Not sure what they were, but apparently Margaret was a perfect fit for the character of Sativa. The Psi-squad were a trio of psychic soldiers sent to clean up the mess of a faulty product that was shipped out across the galaxy. They're really only in two or three scenes and Ed took charge of filming those, I just arranged the schedule. It's really fun to not direct and watch the footage in the end. Margaret was appropriately cold and creepy in the role and worked really well with the other two actors as the Psi-Squad trio.
While wrapping up Mind Games I began to film my next production. I wanted to try my hand at doing a TV show and wrote Pandora's Box, which began filming in the summer of 1999. One of the lead characters was the leader of the rebels, Catalina Crims. Cat is an ex-soldier with a lot of charisma and intelligence, despite being hot-headed and quick-tempered.
There are many times when Cat acts like a bitch, but she always needs to be a likable bitch. She's the leader of a large group of people, she needs to be likable. There's a fine line between coming across as a strong, independent woman or just seeming like a bitch. I needed someone who could walk that line and could exude an aura of confidence, yet still be able to show the vulnerable side of this character. The actor needed to have as much charisma as the character did.
My first and only choice for Cat was Margaret. I remembered how she was able to play the practical Cordelia, the cold and military Sativa, and the complicated Nania. She had the right amount of confident, down-to-earth attitude with plenty of sass. I knew Margaret could play the charismatic bad ass that was Catalina Crims. Luckily she was willing to take on the role.
I had also cast her as the lead in the romantic comedy The Devil in Disguise that we were also planning to film the summer of 1999. Originally Pandora's Box would be filmed in June and The Devil in Disguise would be filmed in July and early August. That obviously did not happen because Pandora's Box turned out to be too awesome and I just couldn't stop writing episodes and filming them. So The Devil in Disguise became one of many Lost Productions and you can read all about it here.
It's hard to explain just how amazing Margaret was as Cat. You kind of have to watch the show to understand just how incredible and talented she is. It took a long time, but Margaret was finally able to shine in a lead role and was everything I needed in an actress to play that part. She was phenomenal. She was able to be a total bad ass or emotionally vulnerable whenever the script required it. Cat is a complex character and Margaret played her to perfection.
The show was supposed to take five weeks to film and ended up taking eighteen months. We only stopped filming because the actors got sick of it and I had a bipolar episode - not enough to qualify as a breakdown but pretty close. Margaret, however, was always up for filming more episodes and really seemed to love her character as much as I did. There are 24 episodes total and Cat is the only character to appear in every single one.
I seriously can't get enough of her in that role. I could have kept filming forever if it was possible. If I were able to film it as a professional, national TV show I would still want Margaret to play Cat if at all possible. I honestly can't picture anyone else in that role. Since there's only so many ways to say "Margaret is amazing as Cat" I should probably move on now. But she is amazing. Trust me, she is - and not just as Cat, but in general.
In the fall of 1999 I went to SIUC for college and took my first and only Film Production course using actual 8mm film. Obviously I returned to CU to film my projects for the class. The final project was called The Long Take and it was about all the problems that occur on the set of shooting the final shot for a silent film. It was originally filmed in late October. When I got the footage back from the lab two weeks later I discovered my lighting absolutely sucked. I am terrible at lighting.
I had to reshoot almost everything and rescheduled it to be filmed over Thanksgiving break. One of the lead characters in the short film is sweet angelic princess played by diva actress who turns from sweet to sour as soon as the director calls "Cut!". I couldn't get the original actress to return for the part so I called up Margaret to see if she could step in at the last minute. She was able to and did a great job as the sweet-and-sour diva princess.
After finishing Pandora's Box in 2000, I moved my filming to SIUC since that was where I spent most of my time. I didn't film again in CU until the fall of 2001 when I filmed scenes for The Gift Bearer. Although Annamarie MacLeod came down to SIUC and went to Nashville TN with us to film Episodes 5 & 6 of the Gift Bearer, she was originally supposed to come with Margaret, but at the last minute Margaret was unable to make it.
The role of Venitia/Mary Silverstone was supposed to be played by Margaret, and was actually written for her specifically. When Margaret and Annamarie expressed interest in coming down to SIUC to film there, I had decided to write parts for them. I had asked Margaret what kind of part she had always wanted to play and she said she wanted to play a clutz. That's why Venitia keeps tripping and bumping into things.
The Roman guard Demetrius was originally Demetria and was supposed to be played by Annamarie. The casting had to be switched around when Margaret was no longer able to make it for the shoot. In the end Venitia was played by Annamarie. That ended up causing a bit of a problem. There's one scene in Episode 11 that was filmed before the trip to Nashville in which the sisters ask the statue why they should save Xavier. A picture of Venitia appears on Berry's tray. It's a picture of Margaret Olson, not Annamarie. I had to reshoot the it later with a different picture after the casting change.
Although she wasn't able to play Venitia, Margaret did play a part in the Gift Bearer. When we were filming the second season in the spring of 2002 we ended up having to change some of the casting. I was no longer able to get ahold of the actress who had played Morgana in Season 1 and we needed someone else to play the part. Luckily Morgana wasn't in that many scenes and we were able to film almost all of them when we went to CU to film over spring break.
I called up Margaret to see if she would be able to film with us for a few days and lucky for me she said she could! Yay! So she stepped in to play Morgana and joined the cast of The Gift Bearer to film in a freezing cold wind, a rainy Allerton shoot, and just got to soak in the general chaos of an SFF set. She really saved my bacon because I didn't know who else could film on such short notice and I was and still am very grateful to her for agreeing to film at the last minute.
As I said, most of the scenes Morgana is in are set in the CU locations. There were some scenes she was supposed to be in for Episode 18 when we filmed at Fort De Chartres, but we switched characters for the scenes and it wasn't a big deal. However, Morgana did need to be in the scenes in Taget's office in Episodes 16 & 17, and we needed to film those at SIUC. Since she wasn't able to travel down to Carbondale to film I just changed the script a little so she was off screen and recorded her lines as a voice over. It wasn't pretty but it worked.
Later that same spring I returned to CU for Easter weekend and brought a couple friends with me. We were bored on Saturday and decided to do a short film for the SPC-TV show Tape & a Stick. Each episode there would be two new objects that the writers and directors had to incorporate into their productions. There were three productions per episode that were supposed to be directed by three different people. The first one - Tape and a Stick - had two by me. One of those was The Walking Stick, a short film about a woman who steals an antique walking stick on display outside a store only to discover that it's haunted.
I already had two actors who were willing to play the ghost and the main character's best friend, but I needed an actress to play the lead. Once again I called up Margaret and asked if she was doing anything that day - like literally that day. I think I called her around noon and she came over to film by 4 or 5 pm after she got off work. Once again Margaret stepped in when I really needed someone to play a part at the last minute. Oh, how I long for the days when Margaret lived in CU and was able to film whenever needed.
There wasn't a script, just a basic outline. It's the usual story of a girl steals an item, that item is haunted which makes girl scared, bad friend doesn't believe her, girl has to prove haunting, proof is erased, girl is laughed at so girl takes item back to where she found it/throws it away. Not the most original story by a long shot, but still interesting. Margaret was great at playing the lead who didn't even have a name at first but I think we ended up calling her Samantha. She had no scripted lines so everything was improv. There wasn't a lot of acting required and the character wasn't complex, but Margaret did a great job adding depth where needed.
It wasn't until the summer of 2004 that I was able to film with her again. I had moved back to CU after graduating in 2003, so naturally I moved my filming back to CU as well. In 2004 we embarked on the last TV show I would ever film, Eidolon, and it was quite an adventure. Margaret was very busy by this time with work and...having a life...so I wasn't really able to cast her in a huge role. She was available to film for a day here or there and when I asked her to play the leader of a group of black market organ sellers in Episode 2 she happily agreed.
Margaret played Martina Macnemara - a cold blooded, cold hearted, bad ass. She is the brains behind the group of murderers who harvest organs from unconscious victims and sell them on the black market. The character partners with her crazy brother and convinces her boyfriend to join them. Martina is smart, sexy, and amoral. Margaret did a wonderful job capturing the two-faced nature of Martina. The first shoot ran into problems with one of the actors getting sick, but luckily Margaret was able to return to the set two months later to finish filming.
In the spring of 2006 we filmed The Cursed Destiny of Pandora's Gift Box - our 10th Anniversary special which was basically a parody of all my other movies and TV shows. All the main characters were combinations of main characters with similar personalities from different productions. The three leads were the Silverfeather Sisters, the oldest of which was Catlanta, an obvious combination of Cat from Pandora's Box and Atlanta from The Gift Bearer.
I was really hoping to get Margaret to play Catlanta for obvious reasons and I was very lucky that she was available to film it. She parodied her own character beautifully and did an amazing job as the bossy and bitchy big sister who is just totally over having to deal with everyone else's bullsh*t. She even improved a few lines and made some great jokes.
Sadly, that was the last time I was able to film with her. It's been over fifteen years and I really miss having her on set - not just because she's talented but also because she is funny and friendly and all around wonderful to work with. She moved away from CU and it's been hard to me to even see her in the last fifteen years, let alone film with her. I'm pretty sure the last time I saw her in person was right before the SFF 15th Anniversary Reunion. She wasn't able to come to the reunion itself, but stopped by a pre-reunion/birthday party the night before.
I really really REALLY want to film with Margaret again someday because she is such an amazing person - talented, funny, and just all around awesome. Hopefully the stars will align one day and we will both be in the same place again. Even if we can't film together I'd still love to hang out. Maybe someday we can do both.
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