BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — Writers are told the best approach to creating a work is to write what you know. Actors are told that the best performance comes when a person is not afraid to expose themselves.
Devin Sidell faced both suggestions with her film “Love, Danielle.” The writer and actor is BRCA1-positive in real life and, in November 2016, underwent a preventative oophorectomy and hysterectomy while her sister was receiving chemotherapy for triple-negative breast cancer. In 2017, Sidell chose to undergo a preventative double mastectomy.
As she was waking up from her double mastectomy it struck Sidell that while plenty of TV shows and movies deal with cancer, none have focused on the BRCA mutation. She sat down with her co-writer, Steven Sears, in 2018 and began writing the script. It took persistence on Sidell’s part but the feature film will be available on DVD and digital platforms on Oct. 3.
Bakersfield big part of Rick McMann’s production
Writing the script meant tackling the story she had lived. Opening herself up as a performer came during the filming. Before her breast reconstruction, she filmed scenes for “Love, Danielle,” revealing her real scars and expanders. She made that very personal decision to insure audiences could witness the raw, unfiltered reality of the experience.
“I knew it was important for me to show that vulnerability to hopefully help others and make others feel not so alone,” Sidell says. “But it wasn’t until I was sitting in a full movie theater for the first time watching people watch it that I thought, ‘Oh, should I maybe not have done that?’
“I do feel like it was just so important for us to get the message across that way.”
“Love, Danielle” is the first scripted feature film to explore what it’s like to live with a BRCA gene mutation before a cancer diagnosis. It is estimated that one in 200 to 400 people worldwide will carry a BRCA mutation. Those who have the BRCA mutation face emotional issues, medical decisions and family upheaval.
Before writing and starring in the film, Sidell had put together a long list of acting credits. The Los Angeles native worked on projects such as “Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” “Mayans M.C.,” “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,” “Ray Donovan” and “Malcolm in the Middle.”
It was one thing to write the script but another to face reliving the life-changing moments in her life while filing the scenes. There were tough moments, but making the movie did help her process what she had gone through.
Tiffany Stratton pumped for WrestleMania 42
“There were a lot of moments that were incredibly surreal. There were moments that were dialogue that I had actually spoken to my sister while she was going through chemo and that I was then sort of recreating with Jaime [King],” Sidell says. “I think that in the moment, when those things were happening, truly, I wasn’t necessarily able to process them because we were so in it.
“In the way that I was able to kind of relive these moments, I was sort of able to be present in them and process them in a way that I couldn’t when I actually was going through them. It was kind of a gift.”
Those who joined Sidell on the film project came with their own personal stories. Jaime King, who plays Danielle’s sister Amy, had lost a very close friend to cancer. She knew Sidell’s sister had battled cancer, and so King — with her friend always in mind — started preparing for the role by losing a lot of weight.
“She passed away in my arms,” King says of her friend. “I remember how tiny she got. When she was sick, she was always laughing, and she had so much integrity and grace. With this film, I really wanted to portray that kind of hope through that humor.
“It was like an anchor for her. Finding that line of fragility and strength is always an interesting thing for an actor to do, because again, it’s always about tonality. But because this film is so personal to me and so personal to Devin and everyone involved, it was almost as if I could just drop into it, drop into that place and utilize that humor.”
Sidell wrote a story with which she had intimate knowledge and then exposed herself emotionally and physically to give the film the most powerful emphasis possible. She is convinced all the work was worth it if “Love, Danielle” reaches even one person.
Character lured DiCaprio to ‘One Battle After Another’
She knows what she would say if she could speak directly to everyone who sees her film.
“I want them to know that they have power. That they are worth fighting for. That they need to put themselves first and take care of themselves. And that is the most important thing they can do,” Sidell says.
The cast of “Love, Danielle” also includes Lesley Ann Warren, Michael Roark, Raymond Cruz, Barry Bostwick and Kim Coles.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KGET 17 News.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yahoo.com ’
