Tanna Frederick

Best known for her acclaimed screen collaborations with the offbeat and idiosyncratic American director Henry Jaglom, Tanna Frederick originally trained as a child actress at the Stebens' Children's Theatre in her native Iowa, and during her collegiate years studied at the University of Iowa as a theater arts and poly-sci major. Following a supporting role in Helen Lesnick's erotic lesbian drama Inescapable (2003), Frederick teamed up with Jaglom for a series of efforts, including (most visibly) the 2006 Hollywood Dreams. Her contribution to this project -- a deft and humorous lead role as Margie Chizek, a Midwestern immigrant to Hollywood with big-star dreams who undergoes a brutal and hilarious metamorphosis in the face of Tinseltown romance -- drew hearty praise from even those critics who responded negatively to the film itself. Frederick and Jaglom worked together on a sophomore occasion with the 2008 Irene in Time, a seriocomic exploration of father-daughter relationships.

~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide