Saranna Rotgard’s recent project, the apocalyptic feature “The Library,” was a long time coming. “[It] was the film I had waited a lifetime to be in,” gushes Rotgard. “And I found it on Backstage.”
That endurance coincidentally mirrors Rotgard’s role in the piece. Portraying Auburn, “a woman who has survived so much but refuses to give up,” Rotgard could not help but become wholly immersed in the character. “At first, I kind of threw everything I knew at the role,” she recalls. “Eventually, I realized her personality is so elusive because it has to be. Then the fun came: figuring out everything that was underneath.”
With shooting complete, Rotgard still feels Auburn is ingrained within her. “Acting is strange, because you create a person and then you’re supposed to let go of them,” she says. “I can’t imagine being an actor who doesn’t take my work home with me. My work is me.”
Just as Rotgard’s work is a part of herself, Backstage is a part of her work. “Finding your next project is an unpaid, full-time job,” she says. “It’s a job I’ll have the rest of my life, and Backstage will always be my home base.”
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