Movie: Heaven’s Revenge, I Love you to Death
Director: LaNease Adams
LaNease Adams has been acting since she was nine years old. Her passion lies in storytelling. Her favourite elements are humour and pain, and she believes storytelling is one of life’s best teachers.
Hello LaNease, welcome to Scénema! Heaven’s Revenge is a great film! I’d love to know why you picked this story!
Thank you so much! I never get tired of hearing that someone loved this film. I picked the story of a passionate love that turns into a painful heartbreak, actually because I needed to write a short film, a couple of summers ago, and not being much of a fictional writer at the time, I decided to write a story that I knew well. Which was love, heartbreak, and depression. I then wanted to make the story more interesting for the audience, so I added the element of making Heaven so broken that she actually brings out a gun. I figured that would really make people talk. And then once we shot the short film, my co-producer/co-star Marcus Hamm came to me with a treatment for this feature film. We took it to Miranda Bowden-Parker, along with a few notes. And the rest is history!
Heaven’s love is very, um, twisted! How did you end up creating a character like her?
Ha! If I’m being honest, I don’t believe Heaven’s love is twisted. It was her first time falling in love, and I feel like the first time is different. The first time you fall, you think it will last forever. You also go into it with a naivety that makes the pain when it ends, a difficult one. Now how she went about the break-up was twisted! But I thought that was a great opportunity for us to write some dialogue that showed how much she loved him, and how much it hurt. And of course we wanted Jackson Davis to also be able to tell his side of the story.
What is your definition of a healthy relationship?
I think a healthy relationship is one where two complete people come together to share their lives. They live with intention, trust, kindness, communication, and loyalty.
LaNease, you love storytelling, and that is evident from the way you presented the movie. I’d like to know what kind of stories you want to tell.
Thank you! I really do enjoy story-telling. I enjoy thrilling the audience with writing that is interesting to watch. I enjoy painting with the colors of emotion. I’m actually not sure what other stories I have in me, yet! I want to make sure we give this film it’s due justice, and continue to build our audience. And then once I’ve done that, I can think of my next thrill ride.
Where do you see yourself after five years? Is there any dream project that you want to work on?
Independent producing is actually a lot of work. So ideally, I’d like to just act for awhile. Ha! Just learn my lines and work with a fantastic group of thespians, and crew members. My dream project is any project, where you have a group of talented people that are invested and giving their all.
Heaven has been carrying deep seated untreated trauma since her childhood. That’s what probably made her the way she is. Do you think there were other ways to avenge her heartbreak?
Absolutely! Although then I’m not sure it would be film worthy! Heaven could have gone to therapy after her heartbreak. She could’ve talked to her mom and sought out wisdom. In life we all face pain, and it’s the choices that we make after that, that make all of the difference. Heaven definitely made the wrong choices after her painful heartbreak, and that’s what made it more interesting to watch. One of my favorite movies is “Fatal Attraction,” with Glen Close and Michael Douglas. I think Glen Close’s character took her heartbreak even worse than Heaven! Now she was full on crazy, and she even took her craziness out not only on her lover, but his entire family! With this film, I did want to share with the audience why Heaven was so fragile, and that way we had some of the audience actually on her side. At least that what some of the viewers have said to me.
LaNease, you have directed this film, and also played the lead character. It’d be great if you could share how difficult both the works were? Which role did you enjoy the most?
I actually enjoy acting a lot, and I have more experience in front of the camera. What I do enjoy about also being behind the camera, is the freedom and creative control. I definitely plan to do more of both in the future.
Portraying Heaven must have been excruciating. Tell us how you managed other cast and crew members?
Oh yes! Heaven was a handful to portray… And that is why I hired actors that were experienced to play the other roles. They really didn’t need to be managed at all. I had a team of professional actors that brought so much to their roles. I was so happy with their work, and they didn’t need much more than to show up and play!
Is there any actor you wish to direct? If yes, who? And why?
I love Denzel Washington, and Viola Davis. I can’t say that I’d wish to direct them so much as to work with them. But I have to hand it to the actors in my movie as well, their performances could compete with the best of them. I think we really put together a fantastic piece of work.
This is your first feature-length film. I’d love to know how you felt after completing this project?
After this project was complete, I felt many emotions. Excitement that it was finally ready for an audience. People who knew I had been working on it were wondering if it would ever come out. Because it took so long in post production!
LaNease, thank you for your time! My last question to you is what are you planning next?
Thank you for this wonderful interview! I’m not sure what’s next! I’ve been throwing around some ideas for things to produce, and I’ve been working with my team to find other great projects. So stay tuned!
