Stolen Futures
23 November 2025
This fall through October and early November, during my first quarter at SCAD Savannah as a film/acting student, I was frequently self-taping for projects I never would have imagined auditioning for two years ago, and I was blessed enough to have gotten booked working as my first lead for a Lifetime/A&E feature film as I was approaching midterms at school. This experience seemed like a risk, only being a few weeks into my freshman year, but I knew that I would have regretted my decision if I had passed the offer down. I had gotten a few callbacks in that time period, for some really amazing projects, but for this booking, it had been the first time I had ever not had to perform a callback for a role. They booked me on the spot. I was ecstatic.
Going into it, it was extremely intimidating; reading the script I realized how much it related to my personal life deeply, and I knew taking on this character was going to be extremely therapeutic yet challenging for me. It was only a week and a half out from production when I was sent my itineraries, and it was final. San Antonio, Texas would be my home base for a few weeks. Living on my own for that period of time at my age was scary to me at first, but I later learned that it would teach me the importance of maintaining self-care and independence to nourish my well-being. Working 12-hour days was rough, but it taught me so much about forming emotional endurance as an actress, and I realized how important prioritizing my mental health was while shifting emotions and scenarios so often. I must count my blessings every day, as someone trusted me to lead their project, and I met so many beautiful souls along the way that I will carry on from the day we wrapped and so on. The film is called Stolen Futures directed by Danny J. Boyle (Lifetime, MADtv). The logline: “After a struggling single mom's daughter takes money from a dying bank robber, the two become entangled in a tense investigation that threatens everything they love.”
You may be thinking… ”Addi, how does this resonate with your life whatsoever..a bank robbery, really?!” Well, actually, alongside my co-lead Meredith Riley Stewart (Scandal, Boardwalk Empire), who plays my mother, our dynamic was coincidentally to a tee, parallel to some of the inner workings of my real-life story and upbringing. I grew up with a single mother, financial hardships, and dysfunctional family dynamics. A story many can tell, but it was eerily similar, from conversations I had with my mother, to my desires to do everything I could to make a name for myself and fulfill my higher education. While there were still differences, it helped me put my life into perspective, it allowed me to express my grievances and emotions on screen from a truly raw and organic standpoint.
The cast and crew was truly amazing, we had a team ranging from LA to small towns in Texas..and Arkansas :). We shot in San Antonio, Boerne, and Gonzales, Texas, all of which I underestimated in their beauty. San Antonio was a lot like where I lived in Dallas for a part of my childhood; it was greatly developed, yet much more of a Historic Texan feel than I was used to. Boerne was hill country, desolate and beautiful. While Gonzales was almost frozen in time, it felt like I was walking into a town still met by the times of when Texas was its own republic.
I feel truly blessed to have been provided the accommodations and opportunities I did in my time back in Texas. I will keep everyone posted on updates on Stolen Futures. Thank you to everyone that was there for me at the beginning [you know who you are :)], I am so excited for everything to come, and I am eternally grateful.
