Written By: Keith Makenas
“As a director of over a quarter of a century and having worked with thousands of actors, I have never encountered anyone so facilitating and driven as Tracey,” tells Director, Producer, and Writer Neil Johnson.
Ever since she was a little girl, it brought joy to Actress Tracey Birdsall to entertain people and she was singing and dancing on stage at a young age. Over the years she’s been admired for her roles in films, TV series, advertisements, modeling, along with her singing and dancing. “Entertaining was what drove me in life from when I was very young, only to be taken over by my love to disseminate a character completely and live the life of someone new who was partially created in the script, developed in my mind and in my body – from mannerisms to way of speech right down to ways of thought – and finally honed by the director. There is no greater joy than the development of a whole new being – and then living that life through their trials and their triumphs,” shared Birdsall.
Over the years, Birdsall has worked with top actors including Dennis Hopper, Ricardo Maltalban, Barry Corbin, and Sammy Jackson. She has won numerous awards and recently won Female Action Performer of the Year Award for her grand performance in ROGUE WARRIOR: ROBOT FIGHTER at the Action on Film International Film Festival. Her accomplishments as an actor, producer, writer, and vocalist earned her the Independent Trailblazer Award at the 2015 Temecula Independent Film Festival – where she was also the Guest of Honor.
Always eager to learn, she takes something away from every film she works on. She’s trained with dozens of different instructors including acting Coach Margie Haber, who is one of the best in the business. Haber compiled everything Birdsall had been taught and guided her into how to live the life of the character. “There was something truly amazing that happened during my time of working with Margie,” tells Birdsall. “I was no longer acting, I was experiencing this new life, creating the journey, feeling their life – it’s really truly remarkable when you take it to this whole new level. The words are second-nature as they’re secondary to how you’re feeling – what you’re experiencing. The joy now comes from creating this character for endless months prior to even shooting… They are individuals with opinions, mindsets, mannerisms, history, feelings… You have to identify it all long before you arrive on set.”
Becoming and living the life of a character is a difficult task, but also disconnecting from that character is a challenge as she tells, “There’s always a recuperation period… because when you live it, those become your past experiences, your baggage oftentimes. I just have to remind myself to go to the gym – stick to a routine – shake it off… and eventually I can find me again.”
Birdsall provided the computer voices for Neil Johnson’s STARSHIP: APOCALYPSE and DOOMSDAY. After working together they established a professional relationship and in the last couple years they teamed up to produce ROGUE WARRIOR: ROBOT FIGHTER, AT THE EDGE OF TIME, and recently wrapped up filming THE TIME WAR. All their films star Birdsall and were written and directed by Johnson. She shares about their work relationship, “It really comes down to it being so hard to find people who want to work as hard as you do! Neil and I work to the extreme and will stop at nothing to get a better product in the end, or a performance. That’s so rare to find on any level, so I believe we relish in the process of working together. It’s truly a professional mutual admiration.”
Johnson has a deep admiration for her endurance, toughness, and hard working order to meet his directing demands. It’s no wonder why he loves having her in the lead role for their films, especially ROGUE WARRIOR. “There is a reason why she is the lead actor of the biggest film of my career. As a director of over a quarter of a century and having worked with thousands of actors, I have never encountered anyone so facilitating and driven as Tracey. When I pushed, she gave. When I thought she could take no more, she gave more than any normal human being could give. I think I have actually pushed Tracey too far… I know that I was heavily traumatized with what I made her do… I can only imagine what she is dealing with. She took it all in her stride, but the acting depths she has gone to has filled me with serious PTSD.”
THE TIME WAR
Johnson’s long gestating science-fiction thriller that went into development back in 2010 was originally written in 1995. THE TIME WAR fixes on the thrilling, entertaining scenario that imagines Adolf Hitler traveling back in time and rewriting history. “Next imagine you try and stop him and make matters much worse…”The film stars Tracey Birdsall, Barry Corbin and features the legendary Christopher Lee. In November of 2010, Johnson had Sir Christopher Lee record the opening narration. Sadly, Lee passed away in 2015 before the film was completed.”Mr. Lee had killed a number of Nazis during WW2, so it was very apt that the great Nazi Hunter gave his great talent to this wonderfully unique film,” said Johnson.
Birdsall is coming off an award winning performance in ROGUE WARRIOR and her role in THE TIME WAR is yet another complex one as she shares, “The Time War was a remarkable undertaking of Neil’s. I can’t even begin to scratch the surface of how much post production this film will take! Just in my role alone, I had to create over a dozen individual versions of my character, as she’s traveling through time – even interacting with herself. It was mind-boggling to say the least. After weeks and weeks of being completely confused in my plan of preparation attack, I had to make each version of the character completely different in their mannerisms, up-bringing, viewpoints, speech and perspectives… I finally printed a copy of the script for each version and created each one as if they were the only character I was living. Create, identify, shoot, repeat. Very, very complicated to execute.”
Johnson is also a long-time fan of acclaimed actor Corbin, whose many credits include The Thorn Birds, No Country for Old Men, Norma Rae and TV hits Northern Exposure and Anger Management. For Corbin, it’s a return to the sci-fi genre. The Texas-born actor’s previous genre efforts include such classics as War Games and Critters 2 and TV’s The Twilight Zone. Birdsall and Corbin worked together on Dawn of the Crescent Moon – which snared the coveted Best Ensemble Cast Award at Action on Film Festival.
ROGUE WARRIOR
Written by Johnson, the science fiction film is set in the distant future depicting the overthrow of humanity by artificial intelligence on Earth and other worlds. Starring alongside Birdsall are William Kircher (The Hobbit), Daz Crawford (“Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.”), Stephen Manley (Star Trek III), and Marilyn Ghiggliotti (Clerks).ROGUE WARRIOR: ROBOT FIGHTER won numerous awards at the Malibu West International Film Awards, including Best Actress (Tracey Birdsall), Best Director (Neil Johnson), Sound Design (Vic Kaspar, Dirk Kloiber) and the Unique Vision award (Neil Johnson).
Sony will distribute ROGUE WARRIOR: ROBOT FIGHTER in 2017. A TV series spin-off is also in the works.
The reviews of ROGUE WARRIOR express Birdsall’s spectacular performance as Sienna.
“It was becoming quite clear from all and sundry that Tracey Birdsall’s performance of Sienna—the film’s tough, intelligent and sexy leading character—is nothing short of exhilarating,” said Stuart Anderson of 5D blog.
“Tracey Birdsall joins the ranks of legendary sci-fi leading ladies like Linda Hamilton and Sigourney Weaver with her multifaceted performance in Rogue Warrior: Robot Fighter,”compliments Jeff Berkwits, Sci-Fi Magazine.
Gig Patta, Latino Movie Reviews (LMR), shared after the Premiere of Rogue Warrior, “You have never seen Tracey Birdsall in a performance like this before. It’s out of this world.”
WHO’S JENNA
WHO’S JENNA is an outright hilarious comedy, but yet a delightful romance. Jonathan Burke (Bill Sorvino), a successful financial advisor, starts dating Jenna Casey (Tracey Birdsall), an accomplished lawyer. Jonathan’s best friend, Andy Roma (Joseph D’Onofrio) is convinced she looks exactly like an adult film star.
Not only does Jonathan have to deal with his friend’s nonsense, but he also has to juggle his relationship with his boss (Garry Pastore), who is possibly black-mailing him, and is Jenna’s brother in-law. A case of mistaken identity creates a whirling storm of comical chaos in Jonathan’s world.
Jenna and Jonathan make a great couple and you will want them to succeed in their relationship. The characters and story make WHO’S JENNA a fun film to watch. Birdsall saw great potential with the script when it was sent to her by Director Thomas Baldinger. “I read the title and wasn’t sure. Usually, I try to read a script without any judgment. I try to sit down and just enjoy the ride. I’m very visual when I read and I absolutely loved the role,” Birdsall shared with the entertainment website StarryMag.com. “When I signed on, New Vision Films was on board with me attached. It’s one of those projects that is kind of a game changer because you are going out there and playing somebody who is like someone everybody already knows. You really have to be on the ball, but I love things like that. I love anything that is a huge challenge and it’s a challenge. There is everything to like about the script. I laughed all the way through it!”
Baldinger couldn’t ask for a more professional and beautiful actress to play the role of Jenna. “Tracey Birdsall is one of the best actresses I’ve worked with… her amazing ability to really BRING IT when the camera rolls. She is a class act! … I was incredibly nervous to meet her in person. I mean here is this beautiful and talented actress flying out to NJ to star in my feature film… she blew me away not only with her professionalism, but the way she carried herself on set, asking questions of me about the story and her character, the way she interacted with the cast & crew and then taking the performance a level higher when I yelled ACTION. She is a truly one the best actresses … in the industry.”
DIARY OF A FATMAN
In the upcoming film DIARY OF A FATMAN, Birdsall has the 2nd lead role and is playing herself. The film is a comedy written and directed by Steve Ravic. Meet Berd “The Nerd” in a story of a man with no story to tell – until he falls asleep that is. The film will be playing in theatres in Australia, December 17th and due out in the U.S. after. DIARY won The Hollywood Dreams Excellence in Film Award, at the Action on Film International Film Festival and it also won the Jury Award for Best Comedy at the Malibu West Film Festival.
To keep current with all of Birdsall’s work, be sure to visit her website www.traceybirdsall.com and check out her imdb at www.imdb.me/traceybirdsall Follow her on Twitter at @traceybirdsall1 and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/traceybirdsallofficial
