After more than three decades as an actress and producer in Hollywood, Kyra Sedgwick is finally taking the leap behind the camera, making her directorial debut in Lifetime's coming-of-age TV movie, Story of a Girl.
Based on the 2007 YA novel by Sara Zarr, the two-hour movie centers on a young teenage girl named Deanna (played by Banshee's Ryann Shane), whose sex tape goes viral in the sleepy town she's called home all her life, fracturing her relationship with her family and exiling her among her peers.
For Sedgwick, Story of a Girl hits close to home -- "So many things about the story rang true to me," she shared with ET -- and part of the reason why she was less hesitant about putting on the director's hat for the first time. For it to have been made into a movie is itself a feat, as Sedgwick optioned the book when it was first published and attempted to make it for 10 years.
"I knew the material so well that I felt more confident [directing] than I ever would with a new piece of material, especially for my first time out," the Ten Days in the Valley star said. "When I got the opportunity to possibly make the movie -- my husband [Kevin Bacon] had been really riding me about directing -- this was the first time where I went, 'If I am going to try something, it's going to be this.' Now that I've tried it, I've got the bug and I can't wait to find my next directing gig."
"When I got to working on the film, it was something I had been preparing for as an actor. It's just having more control over the storytelling," Sedgwick added, hinting that she already has her eye on her next directing vehicle and hopes to cut her teeth in television directing.
Even though a decade has passed since she first optioned the novel, the former star of The Closer believes there's a reason why the themes are still resonant and relevant to this day.
"So much of [Deanna's] experience as a teenager and what it's like to be inside of her head and her heart rang so authentic to me and reminded me of my teenage years and that feeling that everything is life or death. Everything feels so huge and so big, and your emotions are enormous," the 52-year-old first-time director said. "The point is: You're shamed about something in the world and the world sees you as a certain thing and you have to fight your way out of the world seeing you that way and yourself seeing you that way."
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