In Lifetime’s powerful new drama Not My Family: The Monique Smith Story, premiering Saturday, April 12 at 8/7c, actress, writer, and acting coach Tiffany Black delivers an emotionally charged performance as Elizabeth — the woman who raised Monique Smith, only for it to be revealed that she wasn’t her biological mother. The film, based on Monique’s real-life memoir, traces a journey of abuse and identity, giving voice to the kind of trauma that often goes unspoken.
The Cinema Center Event Programming Runs Opening Weekend of June 10th through June 18th, 2023.
The Knockturnal was able to sit down with actress Breeda Wool who is currently in the newest Disney+ series National Treasure: Edge of History.
The Knockturnal: Where did you grow up?
Breeda Wool: “I grew up in Champaign-Urbana Illinois. I was a child of two professors. One in science, one in art and I think I lived around Europe when I was a kid. I lived in Paris and Italy and I had dreams of going to NYC, smoking clove cigarettes and wearing a black beret turtleneck and being arty. I did a Psychology and theater degree in Wagner College and then I became a performance artist and a street performer and I did a lot of weird movement dance theater and at some point my manager was like ‘I’m going to L.A. You wanna come?’ and I said ‘Yeah,’ and so then I came out here and I’ve just been trying to figure out the roads, ever since. I did a film called AWOL and it went to Sundance and now I’m on Disney [National Treasure: Edge of History]….with Catherine Zeta-Jones.”
Credit: Courtesy of Disney
The Knockturnal: So what was that like? Do you play her [Jones] right-hand woman or second-in command?
Breeda Wool: “I’m second-in command, right-hand woman, bad guy #2. It’s magical. We shot it in Baton Rouge. Growing up, I always thought of her [Jones] as being this person who had great, wide, populous appeal but also tremendously deep and resonant art, which those two things combined is a very amazing thing to achieve, as any performing artist and she lived up to all the hype.”
The Knockturnal: Can you tell me more about the character you play in the show?
Breeda Wool: “Well, I’m Casey in the series and I am a part of the Billie family who is played by Catherine Zeta-Jones, and we are pursuing, viciously, a thing called the Pan-American Treasure. Mayan, Incan and Aztec women would protect all the gold in Mexico from Cortez and from the invading Conquistadors. As the story goes, in National Treasure: Edge of History, there’s this incredible Pan-American treasure, So, there’s a group of young, in-college, out of high school people who are, basically, going against a giant, private jet plane, secret society organization that I am a part of, but in this story I am also her [Billie’s] family. We are dedicated to a cause.”
Credit: Courtesy of Disney
The Knockturnal: ‘Mr. Mercedes’, as I heard from your interview with KTLA 5, is about a killer who controls people with his mind. You played Lou Linklatter.
Breeda Wool: “Yeah that story is based on a Steven King book trilogy called Mr. Mercedes of the same name and Steven King came and did a cameo in the first season and that series is brilliant. It was a magical mystery tour and that finished in 2019 and then a wild global pandemic happened and then I had a baby.”
The Knockturnal: This past year you starred in the films ‘The Collection’, ‘Ultrasound’ and ‘Mass’ and won the Robert Altman award at the Indie Spirit Awards. Tell me about your time on those films.
Breeda Wool: “Mass is an incredible portrait of these four parents. One parent’s child was a victim of a mass shooting and the other parent was the shooter and they meet in a church basement to have a discussion. That premiered in 2020 at Sundance. My role in that film is I am the woman that works at the church who is sort of setting the stage and I think one thing that I explored in that film was the absolute awkwardness of regular people trying to hold space for deeply tragic events. How do people who aren’t involved in these extreme moments of tragedy able to create space for the people who are attempting repair. Fran Krantz who directed and wrote that film was inspired by the reparative justice system in South Africa and he was just so shocked and alarmed how people, after such an intense act of violence, move forward in the aftermath. That film, I think, is one of the greatest films I’ve ever seen or been a part of.”
The Knockturnal: What about ‘The Collection’ and ‘Ultrasound’?
Breeda Wool: “We shot it [Ultrasound] two years ago and it came out last year. The Collection hasn’t come out yet, but I also made a film called Seven Faces of Jane and that’s coming out next month.”
The Knockturnal: Where do you see yourself in 5-10 years?
Breeda Wool: I’ve co written and produced a film but I really would like to make more of my own shit. I feel like I might do a lot more action.
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