Betsey Brown (filmmaker)
Betsey Brown | |
|---|---|
| Born | |
| Relatives | Peter Vack (brother) |
Betsey Brown is an American actress and director best known for starring in The Scary of Sixty-First and for directing and performing in the 2021 satire Actors.[1][2]
Early life
[edit]Brown was born and raised in Manhattan. Her father, Ron Brown, is a filmmaker, and her mother, Jane Brown, is a psychoanalyst. Her brother is actor and filmmaker Peter Vack.[1]
Career
[edit]After appearing in a number of short films and bit roles, Brown wrote, directed, and starred in the 2015 short film Shegetsey Betsey, which won the Audience Award for Best Experimental Short at the New Orleans Film Festival.[1] Brown starred in the 2021 film The Scary of Sixty-First, directed by Dasha Nekrasova.[3]
Brown's feature debut, Actors, was released in 2021. Actors has attracted controversy, as the plot centers a cisgender man (played by Peter Vack) who, in an attempt to further his career as a filmmaker, poses as a trans woman, despite not truly identifying as such.[4][5] Brown and Vack initially stated on their Kickstarter page for Actors that the film is not a reflection of "the trans experience", but rather a depiction of "white cis male fragility" and "the lengths some will go to keep their seat at the table".[4] However, a 2023 screening of Actors at the Music Box Theatre in Chicago was cancelled in the wake of public backlash towards the film, which included transgender director Jane Schoenbrun labeling the film as transphobic in a tweet directed at the theater.[4][5]
Brown frequently collaborates with her brother, Peter Vack.[2] She appeared in his 2017 film Assholes, while he starred in Actors. She starred as Rachel Ormont alongside Nekrasova and Chloe Cherry in Vack's film www.RachelOrmont.com, which premiered at the 2024 San Francisco Jewish Film Festival.[6][7] That year, Brown served a juror for the 2024 Florida Film Festival.[8]
Filmography
[edit]Film
[edit]| † | Denotes films that have not yet been released |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | A Perfect Fit | Girl at Ballet Barre | — |
| 2010 | Consent | Samantha | — |
| 2012 | Forelsket | Betsey | — |
| 2015 | Lace Crater | Maybe Susan | — |
| Shegetsey Betsey | Betsey | Short film, also wrote and directed | |
| 2017 | Assholes | Adah Shapiro | — |
| 2021 | The Scary of Sixty-First | Addy | — |
| Actors | Betsey | Also wrote and directed | |
| 2022 | Hannah Ha Ha | Caitie | — |
| All Jacked Up and Full of Worms | Samantha | — | |
| 2023 | Caviar | Antigone Corday | — |
| The Sweet East | Betsy Ross Girl | — | |
| 2024 | www.RachelOrmont.com | Rachel Ormont | — |
| Carnage for Christmas † | Radio Operator (voice) | Post-production | |
| TBA | Naked in the Park † | Post-production |
Television
[edit]| Year | Title | Row | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013–2014 | The Carrie Diaries | Jen #3 | 2 episodes |
| 2014 | A Crime to Remember | Gretchen Fritz | 1 episode |
| 2015 | Forever | Lucy Templeton | 1 episode |
Awards and nominations
[edit]| Year | Award | Category | Nominated work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | New Orleans Film Festival | Audience Award for Best Experimental Short | Shegetsey Betsey | Won[1] |
| 2021 | Molins Film Festival | Audience Award Being Different - Best Actress | The Scary of Sixty-First | Won[9] |
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d King, Michelle Lyn. "On fearing success". The Creative Independent.
- ^ a b Hammond, Caleb. "How Actors Writer-Director Betsey Brown Turned a Rare Moment of Sibling Jealousy into Her Feature Debut". MovieMaker Magazine. Retrieved 15 April 2024.
- ^ Lodge, Guy. "'The Scary of Sixty-First' Review: Nothing Is out of Bounds in This Rude, Riotous, Post-Epstein Horror". Variety. Retrieved 15 April 2024.
- ^ a b c Zickgraf, Ryan (January 19, 2023). "Music Box cancels screening of film called 'transphobic'". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved December 12, 2024.
- ^ a b Brown, Debbie-Marie. "The Music Box cancels Actors, but the discourse continues". Chicago Reader. Retrieved 15 April 2024.
- ^ Chapman, Wilson. "Dasha Nekrasova, Chloe Cherry, Betsey Brown Cast in 'www.RachelOrmont.com' From Director Peter Vack (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 15 April 2024.
- ^ "SF Jewish Film Festival: www.RachelOrmont.com". Roxie. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
- ^ https://www.instagram.com/p/C6Evnewx1DA/
- ^ n.a. "Awards List 40th edition TerrorMolins". TerrorMolins. Retrieved 15 April 2024.
External links
[edit]- Betsey Brown at IMDb