Annabella Sciorra - The Perfect Actor to Play Esti, the Lead

I've been thinking about who could possibly play Esti, the lead character in my film. She'd have to be in her mid 50s, have an ethnic look and be able to deliver both subtlety and intensity. Yes, she's a mother but she's not the supporting character to a child or a spouse. She's a woman in her own right - beautiful, successful, courageous and smart. She calls the shots in her life.

Esti is the subject of the story. Not the object.

When I was watching the Oscars last week and I saw Annabella Sciorra come out with Ashley Judd and with Selma Hayek, I had tears in my eyes. These three women, among others, have been through just way too much. And when the three of them held each other and physically supported Sciorra, who for the past decade has had minimal opportunity to hone her craft on the big screen thanks to The Monster, I could tell just how nervous she was to be there.

She started by stating something simple and elegant: “It's nice to see you all again, it's been a while.”

I've watched Annabella Sciorra's performances since the 1990s: Internal Affairs, Jungle Fever, The Hand that Rocks the Cradle, Romeo is Bleeding, Mr. Wonderful. Whether films of romance or of crime, or of crimes of the heart, Sciorra offered something consistent in all her roles: vulnerability. 

But it was her 7-episode arc on The Sopranos, as Gloria Trillo, Tony Soprano's Mercedes-selling girlfriend, that showcased her acting range like no other role had previously or since. A tough saleswoman, a psychiatric patient, a mafia mistress, all in one. And a woman who felt and knew and showed her rage. 

So many women could identify with that rage today, especially given what so many of us went through before #metoo and #timesup finally surfaced the message that we've all had enough. 

It's absolutely horrific what Sciorra experienced in real life. When the first Harvey Weinstein story broke in October of last year one of my first thoughts was, "What Would Tony Soprano Do?" There was a story line on the show where his and Gloria's therapist, Dr. Melfi, was raped. And she came so close to telling Tony. Because in all his bad womanizing ways rape wasn't something he tolerated. He's seek vengeance. And quickly.

I'm glad that Sciorra has resurfaced, publicly, because hiding her talent was theft. That's what HW did, for many years and luckily he can't do it anymore. Not to her and not to anyone else.

The lead character in Cleveland City, Esti, is also a tough, smart woman who has been through many things. When we first meet her, in the present, as a wealthy real estate developer, partnering with the City of Cleveland on a massive lakefront project, we learn that she's a single mother and that her son Jacob has been groomed to take over the family business. 

But not quite yet. Esti has some family secrets she's trying to protect and we, the audience, will see her go from grace to rage. There's not a single woman I know in her 40s and 50s that hasn't felt that entire emotional spectrum, sometimes within the course of just one day.

Sciorra would be perfect for the role and when the script is soon finished, I will send it to her, with the hope that she'll be interested in the story. 

It's about being a survivor. It's about being a woman.

image: vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/sopranos/