Millsboro actress opens new film, 'Wishin' and Hopin''' close to home
Millsboro actress Quinn McColgan is scheduled to appear this weekend at showings of her new film, "Wishin' and Hopin''" in Midway and Dagsboro.
Based on the Wally Lamb novel of the same name, "Wishin' and Hopin''" is a coming-of-age film set in Connecticut in the 1960s based around the experience of 10-year-old Felix Funicello, a cousin of the 60s teen television and movie queen Annette.
Most of the action takes place in a parochial school after a new teacher, played by Molly Ringwald, comes to town and asks her students put on a Christmas pageant.
Quinn said she plays Felix' arch nemesis, Rosalie Twerski.
"She likes to be the best at everything, and she’s definitely a goody-two-shoes," Quinn said. "Especially when it comes to teachers – she likes everybody to know she’s the best."
Other co-stars include Cheri Oteri, Annabella Sciorra and Connecticut resident rocker Meat Loaf, with Chevy Chase as narrator.
The young actress' other films include the mystery-action film "Non-stop," co-starring Liam Neeson, Julianne Moore and Lupita Nyong'o, which was shot in 2012 and released earlier this year. She also appeared with Kate Winslet, Guy Pearce and Evan Rachel Wood in the Emmy-winning television miniseries "Mildred Pierce."
With so much action taking place in the fictional parochial school in "Wishin' and Hopin'," this was the first film when McColgan said she spent much time working with other child actors. She developed a friendly comradery with the actor who played Felix, Wyatt Ralff, but the actress said Ringwald was one of her favorite co-stars to date.
"It was really great; I mostly got to work with Molly Ringwald," Quinn said. "I learned a lot from Molly; she was really nice."
The Worcester County Preparatory School seventh grader said she filmed "Hopin' and Wishin'" in Connecticut over the summer, so she didn't miss school, but the busy actress has tutors when she films on location during the school year.
Her next major release will be a post-apocalyptic horror movie, "Welcome to Harmony," co-starring Matthew Fox and Jeffrey Donovan, which she shot in Budapest.
For more information, go to www.theclaytontheatre.com or look up the Movies at Midway on Facebook.
