Student Senate Vice President Appears in Netflix Film

By Lomie Blum, Junior Creative Editor

It’s every college student’s dream: gaining massive attention, and in some cases, having a part in a popular movie. For this student at Hudson Valley Community College however, that wish is no longer a dream. 

Savannah Shulkin is the Vice President of the Student Senate at HVCC, and a former Staff Writer for the Hudsonian. She also has a role in the new Netflix film, “I’m Thinking Of Ending Things”. 

Shulkin appears in the film’s first ten minutes, where her character is an actress in a school production of Oklahoma. 

“I was only there for one day and I think I got there at 7:30, and I think I left at like one in the morning. It was a full day,” Shulkin pleasantly explained over a Zoom call. 

Shulkin described being amongst a gym full of teenagers in the early hours of the day on set, full of excitement, and without any knowledge of what the film is even about. 

“I didn’t actually know the name of the film until I showed up that day, which is kind of an interesting thing.” Shulkin said. “I’m Thinking Of Ending Things” is directed by Charlie Kaufman, who’s received four Oscar nominations in his, winning one for 2004’s “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”. 

Shulkin has said she was unaware that Kaufman was the director going into her day on set, theorizing the production did this to keep crowds away. 

Shulkin can also be seen midway through the film in a school rehearsal of the famous Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, Oklahoma, singing “Many a New Day.” 

Like the character she plays, Shulkin herself is also a fan of theater. “I was always a theatre kid and really involved in any sort of local theatre that we had.” She said. 

Shulkin passionately described her theatrical and musical experiences, stating even making a point to state she has a “deep love” for theatre. 

This theatre background was the reason she was picked for the Oklahoma scene and got her a “highlighted” background part.

The plot of the movie follows a young woman (Jessie Buckley) and her boyfriend Jake (Jesse Plemons) driving to meet his parents, have dinner, and come back. The film also makes many cuts to a Janitor character (Guy Boyd) and his daily routine. 

The movie is full of many twists and turns and is a true psychological thriller playing on emotion and time, while also making thought-provoking comments about humanity. 

The tumultuous plot was prevalent even on set, and according to Shulkin, “It was interesting to go through the motions of all of those different sets, actors, and storylines and then see the whole production as a whole and kind of see how that all fit together in a way that made more sense than I thought originally was going to.” Shulkin enjoyed the film as an audience member as well. “I really like it. It’s truly bizarre.” Shulkin said. 

This was Shulkin’s first experience on a movie set, and instead of being surrounded by a live theatre audience, she was surrounded by cameras, producers, lighting crew, and Charlie Kaufman himself. 

“[Kaufman] was in there, kind of letting us know what his vision was for it, which was kind of crazy because he was right there.” Besides being around Kaufman, Shulkin described the relationship between herself, and the other actors. “Being part of this huge project with a bunch of human beings together and working towards art. That idea that you were creating something that would be there for a long time and that people would enjoy and watch…was really cool.” 

Shulkin stressed the intense devotion behind the scenes, and from Kaufman himself. “I always had a very high appreciation and idealism for the actors, and the director. And so, I think that it kind of shifted to appreciate a lot of the background people and how they literally are working their butts off constantly to make this happen. Yet are never the ones who are kind of lifted up.”

Shulkin also appears in another scene toward the end of the film, sitting in a crowd full of teenage background actors in makeup that transforms them to appear older, while Jesse Plemons performs a final monologue as Jake. 

Shulkin mentions the inspiring emotion that Plemons put into his part despite doing it over and over again. “It was shocking honestly to see him step into the shoes of a character, to a degree where he was able to portray incredible human emotion and dynamics, to just an auditorium full of film crew and teenagers.” 

Outside of the experience, Shulkin said that starring in a major motion picture is a dream she’s held since she was 12, as she dreamed of pursuing a career as a movie actress. 

“Twelve-year-old Savannah probably would have jumped up and down and screamed a lot.” said Shulkin in reference to her younger self.

Though Shulkin also says, she’s unlikely to pursue acting from now on. “I love acting as a hobby but I think that if I turned it into a profession, it would kind of take away some of the magic and enjoyment probably for me, because I would be stressed that I would have to make a life out of it. But I’m definitely going to be one of those old women who are like, engaged in her local theatre at like the age of 80.”

Shulkin says she wants to potentially do another background part for fun. “It was a really fun experience. I think that anyone who has the opportunity to do background work of any kind, definitely do it.” Shulkin said.