Adam Ambruso – Butterfly Caught

By starrymag | June 21, 2018

By: Lisa Steinberg

 

 

Q) What are the recent projects that you are working on?

 

A) Recently, I filmed a Lifetime movie called Who Took My Daughter, which will be out this year along with The Great Race.  I am currently gearing up to play my most difficult roles yet, one of, which is the lead role in a movie called Virtuoso in a story inspired by the true events of a real savant that is alive today as well as a James Dean style thriller called Dead Man’s Bluff.  However, I just signed on to start filming a movie August 1st of this year called The Last Mile.  I also plan on playing the lead role in the big budget super hero film that I am writing with my writing partner called 13: The Search for Peace.

 

Q) Please tell us the premise for your film Butterfly Caughtand about your character.

 

A) The premise for Butterfly Caught is three young actress pursuing acting careers in Hollywood trying to make in Tinseltown.  The premise about my character Randy is a cop trying to right the wrongs of what happened to his fiancé.

 

Q) How did you get involved as a star/producer of the film?

 

A) The way I got involved with this film was through my now producing partner and mentor Will Wallace.  He handed this script to me and said I should give it a read and to see if any of the characters resonated with me.  He said it was good.  I read it and fell in love with the story.  He then organized a meeting with the director Manny Rodriguez and introduced me to him at Sony Pictures on the lot.  I then began a long journey and battle for the role of Randy.

 

Q) What did you find challenging about the role?

 

A) What I found challenging about the role was bringing some vulnerability to an otherwise very masculine character without making it too overt.  I just had to be that without showing it and therein lies the challenge.

 

Q) Talk about working with writer/director Manny Rodriguez, Jr.

 

A) Well, I can’t say enough wonderful things about Manny.  He and his wife Lisa have become dear friends of mine and I have profound respect for both of them.  Manny is cerebral and is very much a thinker like myself.  We bonded on this aspect of our personalities, which made working with him very easy and sheer pleasure.  We would just talk through scenes and the character and then he would allow me to just arrive at my own conclusions and do what he hired me to do.  In fact, it was so easy that we would only do a take or two, and he would yell “moving on.” I would be like, “Hey, wait, was that good?  Did we get it?” and he would be like, “Yeah, it was good.  Trust me.  We got it.”

 

Q) The movie recently won “Best Ensemble Film” at the 2017 San Diego Film Festival. How did that make you feel?

 

A) We have been very fortunate, as Butterfly has been winning a lot of awards at most of the festivals where it has screened.  The San Diego Film Festival was a key one though.  It really meant a lot to the Butterfly family to take home such a prestigious award there amongst so many other great films.  That festival has been very kind and gracious to us, and we have become very fond of them.

 

Q) You also recently starred in the film Trafficked. Did you do much research into human trafficking before starting to film?

 

A) Yes, I did.  I had the virtue of getting to spend time with the writer of the film Siddharth Kara well before the project was made as well as through to the end of the project.  He wrote the book on human trafficking, pioneered the human trafficking course at Harvard University and works with the United Nations and other governments around the world to enact legislation to fight human trafficking. So, as you can see I had the ultimate source from which to learn.

 

Q) What did you take away from working with such screen legends like Ashley Judd and Sean Patrick Flanery?

 

A) Ashley did wonderful things for our film Trafficked. Her name value brought a lot of other well-known actors to our project as well.  She was a pro and came ready to work.  What I took away from her was that it is not about being liked on set.  It is about showing up and doing your work.  I enjoyed getting to meet and know Sean.  What I took away from him was commitment.  You must have an elevated level of commitment to deliver that caliber of work.  I found out that a lot of his discipline came from studying various forms of martial arts.  I also learned about his passion for Jujitsu and the benefits of his lifelong pursuit of it.  In fact, he has two Jujitsu studios in Hollywood where he still teaches and has achieved an impressive level of mastery of this craft.

 

Q) You are a part of social media. Do you enjoy the instant fan feedback you receive to your projects?

 

A) I do love instant fan feedback to my projects.  Social media can be a lot of work, but it has become a necessary component of the entertainment industry.  Fan feedback is not the only reason I make films of course, but it is important for me to know that I am reaching people with my message and work and that they are enjoying it and are being impacted by it.

 

Q) What advice would you give to up and coming actors and actresses?

 

A) Well, first and foremost, don’t just dream about it, do it.  I was given some very sage advice early on in my career by Renée Zellweger.  She said to find ways to not just study about acting but do it.  The other thing I would passionately say is make it a lifelong pursuit and really dig your heals in and decide to study forever and always work on your craft and work on keeping that muscle strong.  I once heard Ben Foster say that to give up acting would be heresy and I think this is the attitude one must adopt.  Then and only then can you achieve true greatness.

 

Q) You’re a producer, scriptwriter and actor. Is there anything else you want to try your hand at in the entertainment industry?

 

A) It is inevitable that I will eventually direct as well.  I feel that it is a natural progression from acting and I look forward to that challenge and next stage of evolution.

 

Q) What would you like to say to everyone who is a fan and supporter of you and your work? 

 

A) First and foremost, I would like to say a big thank you.  Your support is what allows me to do what I do.  I also want to say stay tuned because there is much more to come.  I have plans to do many projects and important things in Hollywood and am busily working on them now.  My best work is yet to come.