On Tuesday, Feb. 28, George Ranch High School was starstruck with a visit from Josh Danzinger and Olesya Rulin. The actors gave a presentation on their new movie Apart and encouraged students to continue to participate in fine arts.

In the auditorium, students who are currently participating in a fine art class gathered to listen to Danzinger and Rulin. Danzinger, a 2006 graduate from Lamar Consolidated High School, talked about how his life experiences piqued his interest in becoming an actor. His participation in many small films gained the attention of director Aaron Rottinghaus, and Danzinger landed the lead role in Apart.

Danzinger also spoke of how he got his lead actress, Rulin, to be in the movie. After many auditions and actresses interviewed, Danzinger said that Rulin was the perfect find.

“I loved the script and the material because it was so different,” Rulin said. “It had a true story in a psychological way. It was something I’ve never done before, nor have I seen it before. It was challenging. I’m kind of a challenge freak, and was like ‘A challenge! I’m gonna do it!’”

After the students got to see the theatrical trailer for the movie, Danzinger and Rulin opened up the floor to the audience for questions. Sophomore choir student Bryan Kelly asked the duo how they did with their budgeting.

“It was tight,” Danzinger said about the budget. “We didn’t have like $100 million, or $50 million, or even $20 million dollars. Mostly, people put a lot into this film; they were passionate about the project of making the movie. Olesya came to work without her contract even signed yet. It was a tough budget to work on, but we ended up making it work. And, it shows in the film. We’ve accomplished a lot.”

“When you film a movie such as this, it’s pretty intense,” Rulin said. “In order to do that, we worked together every single day, 16-18 hours a day, for a little under 20 days to shoot the film,” Rulin said.

Sophomore Leslie Valdez, quiet-voiced but with lots of heart, asked Rulin to sing a song for them. After attempting to back out of singing for the group, Rulin gave in on one condition—that she was to be able to turn around. Everyone promptly agreed, and Rulin sang Peggy Lee’s “Fever.“

The movie Apart follows the journey of the tragically star-crossed Noah and Emily who are linked by a rare psychological disorder classified as ICD-10 F24, commonly referred to as “Madness of Two.” Actually pulling from case history, this love story is reviewed to be richly evocative and an unsettling mystery that will haunt you long after the final scene.

The movie will be premiering at Sundance Cinemas in Houston, Texas at 2 pm, 4 pm, 7 pm, and 9:30 pm on March 9. The movie will also be available through iTunes and On Demand that same day. All proceeds from the ticket sales from the movie at Sundance Cinemas will be donated back into the LCISD Fine Arts funds.

Click on the picture below for directions to the Sundance Cinemas.