Actress wants to make impact
By Michael Picarella
Acorn Staff Writer

Suzanne Longo

Agoura Hills actress Suzanne Longo, 27, began her career with parts on TV shows like "Days of Our Lives" and "Saved by the Bell: The New Class," but in recent years she took a break to hone her skills. She’s now back in a short film that received attention from the Director’s Guild of America.

The DGA selected the short movie "Gorman" as one of six films chosen from 300 movies that were screened at a recent event. Since she was out of the acting game, Longo lost some of the rhythm she had when she was on TV. Since the DGA screening, the momentum might pick up again soon.

"She made some good contacts and she was very well received at the screening," said Longo’s mother, Susan Bosh.

Longo’s passion for performing started when she was acting on the stage at 5 years old, Bosh said. At 16, she got an agent and began acting on TV. At age 24, Longo decided to take a break from acting work and further develop her craft.

"I loved being able to affect people, but I didn’t think I was that great of an actress," Longo said. "I didn’t just want to be an actress. I wanted to be a great actress."

Longo not only learned more about acting, she said, but she also learned more about herself.

"I learned more about life," Longo said. "I was so young when I started."

Longo studied at Playhouse West in North Hollywood with Robert Carnegie.

"I learned so much about emotion availability and how to tune in to be the best actress I could possibly be."

During her time off, Longo said, she also learned the magnitude of her passion for acting.

"I had to have a job, obviously," Longo said. "I worked all different kinds of jobs and I walked around passionless."

She couldn’t wait to start acting again.

Some of Longo’s heroes are Meryl Streep, Julianne Moore and Michelle Pfeiffer. Movies that she enjoys are "The Hours," "Return to Me," the recent "Moulin Rouge" and those directed by Cameron Crow ("Almost Famous," "Singles," "Vanilla Sky").

Longo hopes to be a part of similar films in the future.

Following her training, Longo has worked on several projects, including "Gorman."

"She was great," said the film’s co-writer and director Zack Fox. "She was really excited when she showed up on set and she had done a lot of research beforehand to really be prepared before we shot."

Fox said he would work with Longo again. At this point, however, he’s concentrating his efforts on "Gorman."

"We got some managers looking at it and some production companies looking at it," Fox said. "Hopefully, something good will happen. It’s going out to festivals now."

Until "Gorman" is discovered, Longo said she’ll continue to work, enjoying the process every bit of the way.

For more information about Longo, log onto the Internet for

http://www.suzannelongo.com.