Actress picks parts carefully

PROVO — An actor may have stock rules on what he or she will or will not do in a film or play, but the message of the production and how it is done should play into whether the actor accepts the part, says veteran actress Barta Heiner.

A longtime actress and professor in the theater and media arts department at Brigham Young University, Heiner said that playing a dark character may get across a positive message. Whether to accept a role is a personal choice.

"For me there are prostitutes I would play and prostitutes I wouldn't," she said. "There's a prostitute in 'Man of LaMancha,' (that I would play because it's) a play with a positive message."

Some graduates of the acting department have turned down roles because of their religion while others have left their religion behind, Heiner said.

"You have to be so good at what you do that (industry) people are willing to take you (despite) being a Latter-day Saint," she said.

The department teaches an ethics class for would-be actors that looks at the spiritual side of acting. Students taking the class get to ask themselves why they want to be in the profession.

"I hope I've helped students not only learn their craft but to strive to be better people," she said.

Among her better known graduates in the acting world are Aaron Eckhart, who plays District Attorney Harvey Dent in the new Batman movie, "The Dark Night," in theaters next week, and Mirielle Enos, who was nominated for a Tony for her portrayal of Honey in the stage production of "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf."

"Barta's acting has always had a simplicity and elegance that just draws an audience to her. She is honest and clear and giving as an actor. It was a privilege and a delight for me to be her sister Martha in BYU's 'Arsenic and Old Lace' two years ago. We had great fun chewing up the scenery together," said Janet Swenson, a longtime friend and associate chairwoman of the theater and media arts department.

Heiner has just completed the filming of her script, "Diantha's Crossing" a story set in 1858 in Salt Lake City sandwiched between the Mountain Meadows Massacre in southern Utah and the Utah War. Originally a one-person play Heiner wrote for her master's project three decades ago, the film examines crossing not only the desert but crossing from this life to the next.

The production was a BYU student mentoring project, in which students did the work under the direction of professional mentors. It may be ready for screening this fall. Heiner expanded the script for the movie version.