Katharine Stapleton (Veronica Ryder) has returned to her first love of acting after having raised her two girls healthy and happy to their teenage years. Although She trained at the Yale School of Drama and at the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco, she credits acting coach Harry Mastrogeorge in Los Angeles for her renewal as an actress.
In August of 2006, she ventured forth into the world of filmmaking. It was a very different world where actors could generate their own work through casting agencies on the Internet. But was there enough to do for an older woman? She sent her photo and brief resume out on everything possible. Soon she was going on audition after audition, getting jobs and shooting films with students and independent producers non-stop.
She finished twenty projects by the time she came in to read for Veronica in January of 2007. And, there, she saw a role that thoroughly touched her - a person with depth and dimension. “Veronica was a real woman, a frustrated mother, an ex-wife, a single career mother. There was so much to the script.” She felt an immediate connection with Mary as Clarissa. It was hard to miss the energetic and determined spark in the room . “It just fit. It’s my most complete experience as an actress on film to date,” she says. “I love being a part of this story, the actors, and the crew. It’s unbelievable what Sassy has accomplished making this film.”