A passion for acting
Connecticut native Siena D’Addario plays a lead role in ‘Wild Fire’ coming to Apple, Amazon this week
When actor Siena D'Addario first saw the casting call for her character, Ronnie, in the movie “Wild Fire,” she was hooked.
The former Easton resident was picked out of nearly 1,000 actors to play a young, sexually repressed wife in the LGBTQ+ feature film about seven acquaintances at a party who open up about their love and sex lives, D'Addario said.
The movie was produced by HalfJack Generation, a company run by the film's director, Jennifer Cooney, and it comes out Tuesday on Apple TV and Prime Video, according to the film's release.
D'Addario auditioned for the role of Ronnie in February 2022, intrigued by the character's description as being a “blameful prisoner,” she said.
Ronnie feels restricted in her marriage to her childhood best friend, Tom, despite being in love with him, and feels ashamed for having these emotions. Throughout the film, she investigates the source of her unhappiness and attraction toward two other lead characters.
“I think there's so much fun to be had playing a character that feels stuck. How do they go about unsticking themselves or getting themselves out of this predicament they're in?” D'Addario said.
D'Addario's love for acting began in her hometown of Easton. Starting in fifth grade, as a student at Fraser Woods Montessori School in Newtown, she performed at the Westport Country Playhouse and Connecticut Free Shakespeare in Bridgeport.
After attending Greens Farms Academy in Westport, she studied at the New York University Tisch School of the Arts and completed a Shakespeare Intensive program at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London.
“(Connecticut) was really where I kind of first dipped a toe into trying out acting,” she said. “I already knew what I wanted to do (by college applications season), because I had been so fortunate to be able to do so many professional productions in Connecticut as a
child. And that really did make all the difference in solidifying (acting) as my choice for my career.”
Since then, the Brooklynbased actor has starred in productions for the Sheltonbased theater company, Valley Shakespeare Festival, and began a production company “PODS Productions” with her partner Cooper Gordon.
D'Addario's performance as Ronnie earned her the Festival Director's Award for Outstanding Performance at the 2024 New Jersey Film Festival and the film received 22 accolades during its international festival run in 2023, according to the film's release.
“Wild Fire” features a predominantly female and queerled cast and explores the ethics and sustainability of monogamous relationships. Director Jennifer Cooney said in the release that she hopes the conversations and relationships portrayed in the film inspire viewers to avoid hiding their authentic selves.
“Film has the power to not just represent, but incite radical
honesty, personal growth, self- and social awareness, and expansion toward new perspectives,” Cooney said in the release.
When preparing for the role of Ronnie, D'Addario had frequent discussions with Cooney about the concept of polyamory, which is explored
in the film, and often, she says, underrepresented in mainstream media.
D'Addario hopes her honest portrayal of Ronnie shattered common misconceptions about non-monogamous people and that viewers can relate to her story of self-acceptance in some way — whether it's
her struggle to articulate her emotions or relief in finding a word for her feelings.
“I think we're all always figuring ourselves out,” D'Addario said. “That part of her is really relatable to me.”
“Wild Fire” will be released March 5 on Prime Video, Apple TV, Vudu and Google Play.