Sammi Hanratty
14-year-old Sammi Hanratty has been in many films and television shows since she started in the business at only 6 years old. Sammi has been busy the last two years working on two films, THE LOST MEDALLION and THE GREENING OF WHITNEY BROWN. She talked highly about both projects and the adventures she was blessed with during the filming of them.
” THE LOST MEDALLION is about this boy named Billy Stone who is an archeologist and is out to find a medallion, We end up going back in time, it’s kind of like Indiana Jones movie, but a kid’s version,” Sammi explained. She tells us about all the action in the movie and how fun it was to be able to do some of her own stunts. Her favorite part about filming THE LOST MEDALLION was the fact that it filmed for two months in Thailand. “It was amazing, it was beautiful there; everyone there is so generous and so sweet and it was really cool, just to see how their culture is. It’s known as the land of smiles and that’s really just so true.” THE LOST MEDALLION also stars young actor Billy Unger, who is Sammi’s real life friend. “Working with Billy was awesome, We play best friends, so it really helped that we had already been real friends for a few years before we started filming. I’d worked with him before in JACK AND THE BEANSTALK but that was only for one day, so it was great to be able to work with him for 2 months. He’s such a great actor.” Sammi plays the character of Allie and as Sammi explained, “Allie is kind of a book worm, definitely into her books. She is afraid of a lot of things, but not afraid to stand up for what she believes in.” THE LOST MEDALLION is set to release at the end of this year.
Another project Sammi just finished was THE GREENING OF WHITNEY BROWN, a film about a stuck up, snobby rich girl who is forced to move to the country because of economic issues. THE GREENING OF WHITNEY BROWN also stars Brooke Shields, Aidan Quinn, Kris Kristofferson and Sammi’s most interesting cast mate ever, a horse named Odd Job Bob. Odd Job Bob and Sammi share a lot of fun moments in the film and by the end Sammi had a new found love. “It was amazing; I have a new passion for horses. The executive producers actually gave me a horse as a gift, I actually came from riding him before I came here!” she said. THE GREENING OF WHITNEY BROWN is set to release in 2011.
Sammi knows a lot about the business and has had her share of ups and downs but she wants to let her fans one thing: “Follow your dreams and never give up. There are always those times where things don’t go your way, but everything always works out for a reason. My faith helps me the most; I believe we all have a plan set out for ourselves.”
Fun fact about Sammi: “I can wiggle my ears and roll my stomach.” (We also found out during the interview that Sammi is TERRIFIED of spiders)
Wardrobe: Un Deux Trois
Make up: Megan Kinirey
Photographer: Susan Sheridan
