I saw a very clever short film the other night called The Restaurant of the Damned. I was looking at some Cassandra Hodges acting reels and I bumped into this one on Vimeo. Once I started watching it I couldn’t take my eyes off of it or Cassandra, who was just marvelous in it. She and fellow actor Martin Williamson created this great little piece of entertainment and it showcases both of their talents very well.
I’ve seen Cassandra in other roles and she is a true actress in that she never breaks character and she actually knows her character inside and out, which is rare these days. Only the best of the best actors and actresses can “become” another persona and remain in that personality no matter what happens while they’re filming. Perhaps it’s all the years of experience Cassandra has in theatre, TV, commercials and Feature films that have brought her to the top of her game. Perhaps it’s her background as a theatre producer and co-running her own theatre company that has formed this extremely talented actress into the professional she is today.
She certainly has picked the proper career for herself. Although it would be fun t buy an ice cream cone from Cassandra if she worked at a sweet shop, I really can’t imagine her doing anything but acting and entertaining audiences. She makes them laugh, too, she’s an accomplished comedic actress who has gotten uncountable great reviews by critics and audience members alike for the comedies she has not only acted in but produced.
Cassandra has played Queen Elizabeth, a nurse in Marat Sade, a beggar woman in Sweeney Todd (she sings too) and many different female roles in Shakespeare’s classics. She has an amazing range of emotions and human feelings and behavioral attributes that she can harness at any given moment. She is also works very well with children and is one of the best children’s storytellers in the Western Hemisphere. She can do serious characters, drunk characters, funny characters and somewhat puzzled characters who are caught up in circumstances that they just weren’t ready for, as in The Restaurant of the Damned. She reminded me of the young Mia Farrow in her early films, especially Rosemary’s Baby. Not that The Restaurant of the Damned is anything like that movie, but Cassandra’s character was constant in her tone and temperament throughout the piece, just as Mia Farrow’s character was. She can do anything. We’ll be watching for her in Jason Bourne 5 when it’s released later this year.