Joanna Botts plays pivotal role in upcoming movie debut

Joanna “Jo” Botts, wife of Mayor Al Botts, has a critical role in the upcoming movie, “A Place at the Table.”

Botts is also a former teacher with Montgomery County Schools.

The movie by Wesley Mullins will hold its premiere 7:15 p.m. April 16 at Tenth Frame Cinema. It will then play at the theater from April 17-24.

Botts had previously performed in productions of “Our Town” and the “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” at the Gateway Regional Arts Center.

This will be her film debut.

Botts told the Advocate Tara Coleman, the daughter of a former dear friend, Montgomery County High School Freshman Experience math colleague, Terry Mullins, and his wife, Brenda, approached her about the role after Tara saw “Our Town.”

Mullins is Tara’s brother and Tara had recommended Botts.

“I am very humbled and honored that they trusted me with the role,” Botts said.

In the movie Botts plays the central role of the mother.

The movie is about family difficulties that arise about a woman marries a much older man.

“I drew on my experiences in my own family with my son, Aaron, and husband, Al,” she said. “I think another layer of experience I drew upon is the legacy of motherhood we women share, so there is a small part of all mothers in my family in the character, but especially my grandmothers, one of whom was in a similar situation to my character.”

Botts believes her role as a former teacher also helped her play the character.

“All teachers, in some small way, must have ‘stage presence’ and ‘charisma’ to engage their students,” she said. “Teachers have to know how to read a room, ‘play off’ of their students’ comments, understand timing, display empathy. Because English teachers, particularly I think, have a natural foundation in character analysis, motivation, irony, all the elements that make for engaging story telling, characterization, timing, I think all that served as my ‘background in acting.’”

Botts said she enjoyed the Kentucky connections that extended to the cast and crew.

“People will enjoy the film because Wesley is a wonderful story teller, first and foremost. I think people will also enjoy the film because not only will they see ‘real’ people they recognize, but also they will recognize real people in the film’s character portrayals and family dynamics.”