Burt Reynolds helped teach her to act, and now she's winning awards

NORTH PALM BEACH - Before he died last year, film legend Burt Reynolds hosted a private screening of "A Princess Story," an intensely personal, short film by one of his former students at the Burt Reynolds Institute for Film & Theatre.

The 15-minute family drama by Veronica Viruet, filmed over a 17-hour period in 2017, tells the story of a soldier's final battle with cancer.

Viruet, a former Palm Beach resident who now lives in Atlanta, wrote and directed the film as a tribute to her father, a Vietnam War veteran who died of colon cancer in 2016.

It stars Viruet and a handful of her fellow students from the Burt Reynolds Institute. The film's crew also was composed of BRIFT students.

Viruet, 40, developed a close relationship with her cast and crew during the several years she spent taking master acting classes - taught by Burt Reynolds - at the Institute, which moved from Jupiter to North Palm Beach nearly five years ago.

"He was amazing," Viruet said of Reynolds, a longtime Jupiter resident who died in September 2018 at age 82. "He spoke of his experiences during his career. It was truly special hearing his perspective on being in the film industry."

Reynolds was among the first to see an early edit of "A Princess Story," which features Viruet, Alan Heyman and Greta Berlin Goldstein in starring roles. Viruet's daughter, Angeline Simpson Viruet, also had a small role in the film.

The private screening in early 2018 drew a handful of Reynolds' former students and colleagues from BRIFT.

"It was truly an honor to hear him say, 'Your father would be proud,'" said Viruet, a mother of three who has served for 14 years in the Air Force Reserve. "It was truly special. Not only was he part of it, but to have his longtime students be a part of it was truly special."

Once work was completed on the film, Viruet took some time off for personal reasons before submitting it to a handful of film festivals.

At last month's Georgia Latino International Film Festival in Atlanta, the film picked up awards for Best Actress and Best Director.

The recognition took Viruet by surprise.

"I did not expect that whatsoever," said Viruet, who has been dabbling in the film industry since childhood. "There were a lot of wonderful films there as well. It was truly an honor. I couldn't have done it without my team. I had an amazing cast and crew."

The film, which is not yet available to the public, will be submitted to a handful of other film festivals, Viruet said, including those in Palm Beach County.

In the meantime, Viruet plans to start work on her third film - her first, "The Ultimate Sacrifice," was released in 2012 - and she plans to use her former BRIFT colleagues as cast and crew.

The film, like her previous two, will tell a story that shares a message.

While her first film raised awareness of post-traumatic stress disorder and her second highlighted the close relationship between a father and daughter, her third film, which she plans as a documentary, will promote awareness of adverse childhood experiences.

ACEs are potentially traumatic events that occur in childhood, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Viruet said she and her children have been personally affected.

"It's a subject that hasn't been fully out there," she said. "But there are resources."

jwagner@pbpost.com

@JRWagner5

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