“Casting is always one of the defining moments in the life story of a motion picture, but in this case, I think the stakes were particularly high,” writer and director Russell Brown said of his film ‘Loren & Rose.’

“I had known Jacqueline Bisset socially for many years, but she was not in mind as I wrote the screenplay — no one was,” he said.

“Loren & Rose” will premiere at the Sedona International Film Festival on Tuesday, Feb. 21, at 7 p.m., at the Sedona Performing Arts Center, and stars Bisset and Kelly Blatz, who will be in Sedona with Brown during the festival.

Additionally, “Sleepy Time Gal,” a 2001 film starring Bisset and written and directed by Christopher Munch, will be screened at the Harkins’ Theater No. 1 on Wednesday, Feb. 22, at 10 a.m.

Bisset will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award from SIFF for her career in acting.

A Lifetime of Achievements

Bisset, 78, has appeared in more than 47 films during her 58-year career. She says that both “Loren & Rose” and “Sleepy Time Gal” are among her favorite films with two of her favorite directors.

“‘Sleepy Time Gal’ was such an incredible part — 22 years ago. It was so brilliantly written, so complex, that it took a great amount of effort and work to get to that part,” Bisset said. “It’s really a journey that was just incredible. I mean, I didn’t think I’d ever have another one. So, when ‘Loren & Rose’ came up, I said, this is like ‘Sleepy Time Gal’ — so well written. It gave me so many different angles to approach and go around corners and this, mentally and physically, was just wonderful.”

Her starring roles include “Bullitt” with Steve McQueen, “The Detective” with Frank Sinatra, “Murder on the Orient Express” and “The Deep” with Nick Nolte. She has worked with directors John Huston, François Truffaut, Roman Polanski and George Cukor. In 2014, Bisset won a Golden Globe for her role in the BBC miniseries “Dancing on the Edge.”

To prepare for her roles, Bisset says that it takes a lot of effort — sometimes a year to fully become engrossed in a character. However, getting out of a role can be just as challenging.

“Maybe getting rid of what I’ve learned about — what the story was about — in terms of how it applies to real life,” Bisset said. “It’s not fake, it’s real. And it represents something, it’s not just skin deep, and you are affected, you’ve been changed by it. I never understand people who are booked up for like three or four years ahead. I mean it’s inconceivable to me, because I feel that each time you do a film, you change, somehow, you grow.”

‘Loren & Rose’

Brown met Bisset for the first time during the filming of “Sleepy Time Gal” in 2001.

“I was having dinner with her about a year before the shoot, and as Jacqueline spoke of some disappointments in her own life, it became clear to me that the key to Rose was an actress who could play the emotional tones of her pain as well as the fun brassiness of strength,” Brown recalled. “Jacqueline and I discussed the script for many months before we shot, getting underneath the words and stories and building the foundation for Rose to come alive.”

In the film, Rose is a legendary actress who is looking to reignite her career but is up against her reputation for being a little zany and a bit unreliable. Then she meets a young filmmaker who she decides is a clever and brilliant person. “I want to give him my heart; give him my knowledge, my intelligence, my understanding of the world,” Bisset said of her character. “He inherently has a lot of that in him already. But he just needs confidence. In this film, in this wonderful script, we both follow our two journeys surrounding the friendship that is born, the creative energy and the love.”

Blatz plays Loren, a young first-time filmmaker, unsure of his talent. He meets Rose for lunch at a café to discuss a possible movie collaboration. Together, they share their lives over appetizers, a main course and dessert. As the two develop a bond through their conversation, the viewer becomes a voyeur.

“It’s interesting to note — viewers often assume that Jacqueline is ‘like she is in the movie,’” Brown said. “But this really isn’t the case — as an actress and a woman, I think she is quite different from Rose, and it’s a testament to her skill that the transformation feels so seamless.”

Bisset remarked that she did not ad-lib any of the scenes; her performance was entirely scripted.

“I have a great deal of respect for writers,” Bisset said. “And with my job as an actor, I feel that if you can’t get what they’re saying, you must work it out and find out what is up — but you’ve got to work harder sometimes to understand what you’re having difficulty with. You can get there. That’s part of the pleasure of overcoming difficulties, to work through them, then you understand what the writer is really saying.”

Fascinated by Personality

In “Loren & Rose,” Rose becomes a mentor to the young filmmaker, yet Bisset acknowledged that she did not have a mentor to guide her throughout her career.

“I did have inspiration from certain actors, actresses and people who I admired on that level, but they were not talking to me,” Bisset said. “I was having to find my way.”

Bisset found inspiration in watching Jeanne Moreau, a French actress, singer, screenwriter, director and socialite. Moreau made her theatrical debut in 1947 and established herself as one of the leading actresses of the Comédie-Française. She was also moved by Anna Maria Magnani, an Italian actress known for her explosive acting and earthy, realistic character portrayals.

“These women were not necessarily beautiful but had very strong and fascinating personalities. Obviously, those personalities also came from scripts and good writing,” Bisset said. “I didn’t think about being an actor at that time, I was totally drawn to these sorts of stories, and I was fascinated by that fascination that men had for them — especially when you start to become conscious of sex.”

Acting Her Age

Although the number of acting roles open to women diminish with age, Bisset said she is not worried.

“I feel that my life is full and rich,” Bisset stated. “I’ve gradually grown within a certain work level that is valuable. It’s valuable to that particular job. I’ve gathered a lot of wisdom and patience. I might feel like I’m not very good at the moment, which is not even bad for you. I think it’s good to have troubles. You have to have the energy to work towards something and become better at whatever it is you were lacking.”

Bisset said she looks for roles that have meaning.

“I’m becoming more and more attracted to what I initially wanted to do, which was to be in very intimate, deep subjects with very complex characters,” she said. “So, I’ve only found those roles a few times. I’ve had lots of good roles, quite good roles. And I’ve been in quite a few big movies, but that really wasn’t what my intent was to do.”

Bisset said she believes that in addition to having meaningful roles, the give-and-take between actors leaves a lasting impression that turns into a life lesson.

“I think it’s give-and-take,” Bisset said. “Sometimes you teach the character something from your life or they teach you something. They give you an idea or journey and you’re going to take that route because it’s a scripted story. But sometimes it goes both ways. You feed each other.”

“We’re very much on our own with what choices we make, and those choices will affect us. There’s no security whatsoever,” Bisset said. “I wake up in the morning and I say, ‘Anything can happen today.’ Anything can happen — not because I want to think anything’s going to happen. But just to remember, anything can happen … There’s nothing written in stone.