Acting Instructor Catherine McNally’s Latest Film ‘The Apprentice’ Premieres at Cannes
Acting for Film, TV & the Theatre professor Catherine McNally recently had one of her latest projects – a Donald Trump biopic – premiere at the Cannes Film Festival.
The Apprentice – which tells the story of how a young Trump started his New York real estate business in the ’70s and ’80s with the helping hand of infamous lawyer Roy Cohn – screened at the prestigious French festival on May 20.
“It was very rewarding to have this film marks its world premiere at Cannes – an international festival that embraces the love of cinema and the power of storytelling,” said McNally, an award-winning actor, director, producer, coach, educator, entrepreneur, and co-founder of McNally Kennedy Acting.
McNally plays the supporting role of Mary Anne Trump – the mother of Donald Trump (played by Sebastian Stan) and wife of Fred Trump (played by Martin Donovan) – in the Ali Abbasi directed film.
“All my scenes were with Sebastian and Martin. It was a quick prep process for me, as I was cast about 10 days before the first rehearsal,” McNally said, noting that she worked with a dialect coach and watched videos of Mary Trump to help perfect her Scottish accent and mannerisms.
“Ali is an amazing international director. He gave us so much space to play and take risks…It took great bravery to tell this story. We were encouraged to start with a specific script written by Gabriel Sherman in collaboration with Ali, based on his Vanity Fair article, where we had a structure to the scenes, then we improvised every scene.”
With so much improv involved in the shoot, McNally said she and her fellow castmates had to be on top of their game at all times.
“Ironically, with such a polarizing feature, this set was happy, generous, full of trust, creative, and collaborative,” she said, praising both Abbassi and Stan as incredibly “generous and open.”
Orphan Black: Echoes
In addition to The Apprentice, McNally also recently worked on the set of Orphan Black: Echoes – the much-anticipated follow-up to the hit series, Orphan Black – working as an on-set acting coach for ASL young actor Zariella Langford-Haughton, as well as Liam Diaz.
“It was a wonderful challenge. We had a team of American Sign Language (ASL) tutors and interpreters, as well as me as her on-set coach. This was (Zariella’s) first acting experience, so I was there to guide, mentor and coach her, and also advise her parents, as she was still a minor,” said McNally, who also got to play the role of ‘Nurse Marty’ on a couple of episodes.
“It was a huge production, with lots of investment of time and money. Emmy Award-winning producer John Fawcett was the first person who contacted me to take on this position. He trusted me with my approach and my ability to adapt creatively to many different circumstances. I am very grateful to him for that trust.”
Other Recent Roles
McNally also recently appeared as the mother of an extreme fighter in Gentle Barbarians – a Canadian indie film written, directed, produced and starring Amir Bageria. Filmed shortly after wrapping The Apprentice, she called the shoot an “inspiring experience” that allowed her to share with her TFS students “what young filmmakers are doing out there, to let them know what is possible.”
Equally inspiring, she added, was her role as a school principal named ‘Mrs. Antelucci’ in Disney’s Out of My Mind – the story of Melody Brooks, a girl navigating sixth grade as a nonverbal wheelchair user who has cerebral palsy.
