A film career in development

Home-grown actor plays leading role in feature film currently in production. The movie aims to save lives by exploring the issue of teen suicide in a unique way.

February 8, 2006

By DANE GOLDEN
ARGUS-COURIER STAFF

Petaluma High grad and former Cinnabar performer Gabe Sunday will be starring in the feature film "My Suicide," a dark comedy currently shooting in Southern California. The movie explores the issue of teen suicide through thought-provoking comedy, satire and dramatic elements, all told through the eyes of Archie, a high school student played by Sunday.

This is the first feature film for Sunday, who recently played Brandon in the Disney Channel's "Now You See It."

"My Suicide" also stars Brooke Nevin ("I'll Always Know What You Did Last Summer"), Joe Mantegna ("The Rat Pack"), David Carradine, Harry Shearer ("The Simpsons") and Nicole Richie ("The Simple Life").

The film is written and directed by David Lee Miller, who hopes the film will change attitudes toward suicide and focus more national attention on the problem.

"No one talks about teen suicide, and yet it's one of the deadliest killers of young people every year," said Miller, who helped found Regenerate, a non-profit organization that mentors teenagers to produce their own public safety films.

"The kids aren't talking about it, the parents are afraid to talk about it and professionals appear to be powerless," Miller said. "So how do you reach the teens?"

In the film, Sunday's character Archie announces to the school that he will film his own suicide. Suddenly, the young outcast becomes the centerpiece in a community-wide effort to save him.

Miller credits Sunday with helping get the independent production financed and moving. "We were looking for a teenager who is a filmmaker, stand-up comic, impressionist, plus a dramatic, comic and physical actor. It was impossible casting until we discovered Gabriel Sunday. This kid has it all and everybody who meets him sees it. He's the next Robin Williams."

Sunday's most recent Petaluma performance was last summer in a Mystic Theater stand-up comedy night that included well-known comedians Tere Joyce and Vic Dunlop. His next Petaluma performance could be on the big screen across the street at the new Boulevard Cinemas, sometime in the near future.

(Contact Dane Golden at dgolden@arguscourier.com)