June 27 Vallejo/Vacaville Arts and Entertainment Source: Solano County native Sicily Cameron on the big screen

Rewarding, cathartic, nerve-wracking. These were just a few of the emotions that actress Sicily Cameron felt when seeing the audience respond to her movie, “Run Nixon,” for the first time.

“It’s been a long time coming,” said the Solano County native, reflecting on the journey to her breakout role on screen.

Sunday night’s local premiere at Suisun’s Marina Lounge, organized by Kim Pruitt of KP Entertainment Connections, was the culmination of a seven-year film project that Cameron first joined in 2018.

The film’s journey to the screen almost proved as intense as the plot. Cast as one of the lead characters, Cameron plays a desperate mother named Stacy who resorts to robbing a strip club in order to pay for her son’s (Nixon) heart surgery. A few years later, the gangster whose money she stole kidnaps Nixon as a ploy to reclaim what was stolen.

The movie, now available at AMC theaters and on all streaming platforms, earned high praise during the film screening. “A lot of people came up and said, ‘Congratulations, you did such a great job.’” said Cameron. “I’m actually really happy with the reaction we got.”

But there were times during production Cameron couldn’t even visualize this kind of response. When the pandemic put an indefinite pause on filming, the cast went on hiatus and didn’t regroup until the end of 2020. At that point, director SkyDirects decided to scrap all prior footage and start fresh.

The gap had threatened the film’s continuity “because, obviously, with time people change and looks might change,” said Cameron. Going into 2021, the cast traveled back and forth between their base in Las Vegas and the shoot locations in Los Angeles. And yet these setbacks only strengthened the cast’s commitment to the project.

“We were all willing to go through the mud to make this movie happen,” said Cameron. Returning to work post-pandemic was far from glamorous. Cameron recalled being down to a couple dollars and relating to her character’s monetary issues.

Even with other cast members like Jordan Lee Brown and Lil’ Fizz who were more seasoned, Cameron said, “a lot of us were banking on this opportunity of getting our faces out there, getting our talent out there.”

Getting exposure had always been a goal for Cameron, but it didn’t start out with acting. The actress began as a budding singer and entrepreneur. She recalled the early days of her career when she was building her beauty business that she still operates.

“I was doing music and I had reached out to the director because I needed guidance visually,” said Cameron, who knew Sky had worked with Megan Good and others in the industry. A chance meetup in Las Vegas would turn out to be the start of their working relationship.

“A month later he reached out to me and said ‘Hey, you look the part of the character Stacy in this movie I’m writing, and I would love for you to come down and audition’,” said Cameron.

This is exactly what Cameron knew she wanted to do, but “just never knew the steps, like where to go.”

She recalls how “at the time I had no agent, no manager, no representation, and no mentor telling me this is what I have to do to live out this dream.”

Without industry connections, Cameron relied on her own determination to make it work. “Whenever they wanted me on set, I was driving down to LA.”

No longer splitting time between two cities, Cameron is focusing on the balancing act of mother and actor. Her newest role as mother to her ten month-old son has brought her focus to more local opportunities.

“I really want to get back into acting,” said Cameron. “I’m trying to do it all.”

Networking within the community is the main reason the film screening event got its start. Pruitt was first introduced to Cameron as a lash client when the two got to talking. Though this type of event was a first for Pruitt, her connections with the Marina Lounge helped the movie premiere idea materialize.

Pruitt saw an opportunity to approach the event in a way that celebrated the film’s diversity. “We were trying to highlight that it was a black director and black actress,” said Pruitt, adding that her goal for the formal black-tie event was a success.

“I’m happy with the attendance,” said Pruitt. “The people that showed up, they’re die-hard Sicily Cameron fans already.”