Robbyn Leigh: On a 'role'

Robbyn Leigh, who plays the character Spaceshot in The Hanged Man was recently interviewed by Trevia English of the Gadsden Times.

The article is available here (registration required) and is also included below.

On a 'role'

By Trevia English, Times Staff Writer
Published August 11, 2006

Robbyn Leigh had three major dreams in her life. First, earn any acting role. Check. Then, earn a paying role to prove that she could do it for a living. Check. And finally, showcase her skills in a major motion picture. Check.

Leigh, a 32-year-old Gadsden native, said that she's always wanted to be an actress, but being from such a small town limited her potential to explore.

"I always knew from the time I was a kid that this was what I wanted to do, but being from Gadsden, I didn't know how to express it so no one knew how to encourage it in me," said Leigh. "Even from my perspective, it seemed so far-fetched that I was really embarrassed to say it."

Leigh's parents, Bruce and Becky Parnell, who still live in Gadsden along with their son and two daughters, said she was the last child they expected to see on the big screen.

"Robbyn was extremely shy as a child," said Becky. "She did cheerleading and other activities in school, but she wasn't the one looking for the limelight. She's the one that I didn't think would ever leave Gadsden and she ended up being the only one who left."

After graduating from Gaston High School in 1991, Leigh briefly attended the University of Alabama at Birmingham before moving to New Orleans to broaden her horizons. She enrolled at the University of New Orleans and joined a small theater group, thus, a career was born.

"I was into theater in college, then I got involved with some short plays in New Orleans," said Leigh. "But when I got involved with a modern dance group and we did some dance plays, I said right then, `You know what, I have to do this professionally.'"

New Orleans is a historic district for music, dance and even food, but the theater and drama scene is a bit different. Los Angeles, however, is the place most serious actors need to be, so Leigh and her husband Greg decided to head west.

"New Orleans is very central to the arts, but at the same time, it's very isolated with the musicians and the artists," said Leigh. "There are many more actors doing their own thing. I guess you could say that moving to LA is selling out."

Her husband, who is originally from the San Francisco area, wasn't thrilled about moving back to California, but he knew how valuable the training and experience would be for Leigh.

After a short visit to LA, they returned home to research acting coaches, then relocated to LA within the month.

"The first thing I did was get involved in a serious acting program. In my acting classes in college, we'd sampled around with a technique called Meisner that was really interesting," said Leigh. "I started looking at teachers and I found this guy in LA who was Samford Meisner's director of curriculum at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York for over 20 years."

Leigh enrolled and completed the two-year program and even went into the graduate program for six months before earning her first role as a classically trained performer.

"I had heard that he was the last of the real deal acting coaches still teaching Meisner that had actually worked with Meisner," added Leigh. "That was my first move and probably the thing that I am most proud of."

Leigh has appeared in several plays and even executive produced the short film "Leah," in which she plays the title character.

"Leah" is being prepped for this year's film festivals while Leigh continues to work on her biggest project to date.

She is starring in her first Screen Actor's Guild feature, "The Hanged Man," which is being prepared for the 2007 Sundance Film Festival.

"The Hanged Man," which also features Adam Hatley (NBC's "Passions") and Cliff Weissman (CBS' "Without a Trace"), is psychological thriller in which seven strangers, who had only corresponded over the Internet, meet in an abandoned house for what is supposed to be their last day on Earth. Supernatural events cause the group to evaluate their lives and the circumstances that brought them to the house.

The movie, filmed partly in Travelers Rest, S.C., is now in its editing stage and producers hope to have it ready for a theatrical release by summer 2007.

"All of the other actors are working in TV or movies right now so it's a really great cast. We stayed in cabins in the mountains, and the set was very remote," said Leigh. "We were always isolated so it was a very intense and unique experience."