Slip Away's Michelle C. Bonilla - Seasoned Actress Turned Film Festival Darling

A seasoned actress with an impressive résumé Michelle C. Bonilla’s IMDB page appears endless at first glance. Throughout her career, which includes a 12-year recurring role as an adorable paramedic on ER and putting the hot into the Klingon Bu’Kah on Enterprise to more recent stints on Saving Grace and Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior, Bonilla has been unabashedly, openly gay. Now, the hard-working thespian is enjoying success wearing multiple hats as the writer, producer and star of the short film Slip Away, currently making the film festival rounds.

While Bonilla played gay once before in the charming short Getting to Know You, which starred Elizabeth Keener, she’s written a meaty role for herself as a drug addict becoming unhinged amidst a relationship with a stable, loving woman in Slip Away, which features the likes of actors Wilson Cruz, Thea Gill and Hal Sparks.

A haunting short equally strong on story, camera work, cinematography and soundtrack Slip Away has already garnered critical acclaim at the Mexican International Film Festival and the Fort Worth Gay and Lesbian International Film Festival. But that’s only the beginning. Among other upcoming film fest screenings, Slip Away will screen as an Official Selection at LA’s premiere LGBT festival Outfest, a real win for a Los Angeles native like Bonilla.

Bonilla, who’s currently at the Provincetown Film Festival with the film, chatted with SheWired about the film’s evolution, writing versus acting, her desire to portray a strong Latina with her character’s love interest, being out in Hollywood and and more…

SheWired: Congratulations on Slip Away. What was the germ for writing this short that features some pretty dark subject matter.

Michelle C. Bonilla: Well, I wrote it based on a true story that happened to me. I’ve changed the names, and switched things around a little bit, but it has to do with living with an addict alcoholic during a very new time for me. It was my first gay relationship. I had a lot of crazy things going on with that. You know, a lot of newness.

SW: Was it cathartic for you to write about it?

MB: It was very therapeutic to start writing about it. It took me about six years to write it completely to get ready for actually filming it because it was a little too close. I had to keep some distance, and I had to keep form, and I had to keep structure. And it took a little bit of an evolution because it was just a really powerful thing to deal with.

I wrote myself playing the addict/alcoholic, because in real life, I was more like the character Selena -- kind of going through this sort of whirlwind of emotion and misunderstanding -- not understanding myself. So, to play the addict, it really switched things up for me, and I grew to have a compassion for that character Jane.

SW: How it was for you to act in something you had written since you are have acted in so many television shows over the years.  Also, you’re producing – did that change your performance in any way?

MB: Thank God that I can compartmentalize things pretty well because when I wrote it, it was “Okay, I’m writing this,” which is completely different. And the business side of it -- it’s just a matter of getting it all together.

I also had another producer in Jenn Garrison, who was fantastic -- really helped me put all of this together, along with my director Tina Scorzafava.

First and foremost I’m an actor and that’s just so ingrained in me. So, when I hear things breaking in the back I’m like, “Oh! There’s another $100!” I just was able to put that aside. There was some sort of a split of attention for a second, but when it came time to do my role and when it came time to do some pretty emotional scenes I was able to just connect with that and do my job.

SW: Did you change any of the scenes you had written once you were in the role?

MB: I let the other actors -- like Lauren Birriel, who played Selena -- if she felt like saying something another way, I was very open to that because it was her job to fill those shoes and she’s very talented. So, if she wanted to change a word or two, nothing that changed the plot or anything,  I was so open to that because she’s the one, inevitably, who would have to believe in those given set of circumstances.

The dialogue that we changed came mostly when we were at the bar with Hal (Sparks) and Thea (Gill), because they’re very cool and fun to work with. And Hal is just a nut, I love him so much. So whatever he wanted to say…

More on next page...