MARCH, 2021

by M.Avveduto

JILLIAN REEVES from GRAY'S ANATOMY to BROKEN
 

The beautiful and somewhat sweet Hollywood actress Jillian Reeves was born in November 1980 in South Carolina in Colombia in the United States of America.
The beautiful actress has given faces to numerous characters from the great American TV series and was among the protagonists of the beloved and famous TV series "Grey's Anatomy" based on the life of Dr. Meredith Gray played by Ellen Pompeo.
But in addition to the wards of the famous Seattle hospital which is not actually based in the place where the famous series was filmed, the beautiful and talented Jillian has trod many famous sets including that of the TV series "C.S.I. Miami".
Among the many famous TV series she played there are "Ward of the State" with Vanessa Williams, Brian Lamont, Brenda Vivian, Mark Jacobson, the series "Game of silence" with David Lyons, Claire van der Boom, Conor O'Farrell , the "The Unicorn" series and the "Hannah Montana" series.
He recently made his directorial debut with his first film entitled "Broken".
Director Annarita Campo interviewed the young and talented actress.

INTERVIEW

Q:Hi Jillian, how are you? Where are you now?

R:Ciao Annarita, Tutto Bene, grazie! Right now I am in Firenze.



Q:Do you like Italy?

R:I like Italy very, very much. Mi piace! It is so Beautiful! Florence is such a beautiful city. I live near the center; near the Duomo and every time I walk out it's like walking into a beautiful painting. Also, the arno, Ponte Vecchio, the skies… so beautiful! The history and the architecture… it's just an amazing place so I'm impressed by so many things!



Q:Tell us about your career and your beginnings!

R:I actually began acting in University and then I moved to Chicago where I was a theater actress. Now I've lived in Los Angeles for a little over 12 years where I do television and commercials and film . I've gotten to work with amazing people like George Clooney, Martin Lawrence who is with Will Smith and the bad boys film franchise, Ellen DeGeneres, Jennifer Aniston …just so many amazing people. I've worked on shows like CSI & Grey's Anatomy and I've done a lot of commercials, Super Bowl commercials …so I've been really fortunate during my career as an actress.




Q:Tell us about the movie "Broken" ....

R:Last year, I actually wrote and directed my first film. It's a short film called “Broken”. It was a huge change going from in front of the camera and to going behind the camera but it was a wonderful experience. It's a story about family who is affected by the daughter’s mental illness. There's a grandmother, a mother and a daughter. You see the daughter grow up from an adorable little girl to a successful young woman going off to college where she has a mental breakdown. I really just wanted to show how when one person is suffering from a mental illness it has a ripple effects and it's not just one person's plight but the whole family is affected and really the whole community. In the US people with mental illness often fall through the cracks. We don't have a very good system for taking care of them and so I really just wanted to give voice to the families who often suffer in silence. Also, just to bring the issue to the forefront because oftentimes mental illness is something people don't like to talk about or they feel a lot of shame or stigma. I just really wanted to help shine a light on the area, to help end the stigma and to help people to be more free about speaking about what they're going through. During Covid and in the US we had the election issues and so many people are under a lot of stress and under a lot of pressure. So I think that it's important to talk about what you're going through emotionally…it's just good for your mental health. So, I'm a big proponent of mental health. I'm a big proponent of ending the stigma, sharing our stories and just shining a light on that area because it's something that we just don't talk about enough.



Q:Can you tell us about the cast of the movie "Broken"?

R:I had an amazing team. I had an amazing cast and crew. My producer Landi Maduro, my Executive Producer Erica Nicole Malone, Pablo Chassereaux our DP… all amazing! For our actors, the grandmother was Beverly Todd who is just an amazing veteran actress in the states. She was a protege of Sidney Poitier. She's played most recently I think Morgan Freeman's wife in “The Bucket List” and Don Cheadle's mom in “Crash”. She's been working for 40 or 50 years so she is a veteran. We were so lucky to have her! So so happy to have her talent and her wisdom onboard. Ariel Brown plays the daughter. She is an amazing actress! She really gave such a raw and honest performance …just outstanding. The newcomer Makenzie Lee Foster. She plays the younger version of the daughter. She's adorable! She's just an amazing young woman she works all the time in LA. And then Scott Subiono who’s just outstanding as well. He's on a lot of series in the States and is in a big movie coming up. So I was very lucky and blessed to have amazing talent, amazing cast, amazing crew & amazing support. Yeah, I couldn't have asked for more as a first-time director. It was a wonderful experience.



Q:Your future projects?

R:Well, I just shot a show on CBS in the states before I came here. And since I've been here, I've been developing two shows. One is a scripted series that would take place in Italy and the other is more like a reality travel show. I've been very inspired by the city and I'm looking forward to working on those two projects. I also teach actors…. on sort of ‘LA style’ acting and accent reduction. That's been a lot of fun too… as I learn Italian and I help Italians who want to be in the American market to reduce their accent. So that's been a lot of fun. Those are my projects coming up, very exciting and I will definitely keep in touch and share them with you!




We thank the famous actress Jillian Reeves for giving us this wonderful interview exclusively. Anticipating you right now that we will continue to follow her in her future projects.