Behind the Scenes of D-Railed with Actress Giovannie Espiritu

Giovannie is a writer, director, producer and actor. She recently caught the attention of WhoHaha, a creative community co-founded by Elizabeth Banks, which supports and spotlights women in comedy, and is featured as a filmmaker/creator for ‘An introverts World’, a comedic parody. Additionally, Amazon Prime picked up a 10-episode series called ‘Dyke Central’, where she plays the lead character Gin.

Currently, she plays the role of Jackie in the fantasy/thriller “D-Railed”, starring sci-fi icon Lance Henricksen . She originally auditioned for the role of a character named Charlie, who was an assistant to Lance’s character Manny, but after her fourth audition, there were cast changes and eventually the role of Charlie went to somebody else. Then the Director, Dale came and asked her to do narration at a table read, where she learned the role of Jackie was created for her.

“D-Railed” is currently on the film festival circuit and has won many awards including five Platinum awards from the International Independent Film Awards in the following categories: Concept, Costumes, Sound Design/Editing, Cinematography and Directing. It has been nominated for Best Practical FX at the PDXtreme film festival in January.

What was it about D-Railed that was appealing to you:

First of all, The director, Dale and Producer Suzanne DeLaurentiis asked me to audition for it, which is pretty awesome in this town especially if it’s the Production Team. There aren’t enough roles for women of color in this industry, so any time there is a supporting role or something more substantial than a one liner, I’m very happy and excited to go for it! Also, the people that are attached to this film are awesome!

What drew you to the character:

I like that the character is a helper and finds out secrets.

What did you do to prepare for the role:

Since I always want to help people, it was easy for me to show my character’s concern for the survivor of the train crash. What was difficult for me was to not be as concerned as I normally would — especially if I know something has happened to a woman. But my direction was to show more amusement and curiosity than true concern.

What were some of the challenges of the shoot:

Not to show my Fan Girl side acting along Lance Henriksen!