Emily VanCamp on filming in Buffalo, hope found in 'Little Audrey'

Movie to make its New York premiere at Buffalo International Film Festival

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Though Audrey Santo only lived to be 23, her life’s story has reverberated through Catholic Church walls for five decades.

Born to Linda and Steve Santo on Dec. 19, 1983, “Little Audrey” was an intelligent, curious, devout child, who was the apple of the eye to all who met her.

Tragically, at the age of 3, she nearly drowned and would never fully recover from that event. After coming out of a coma, Audrey had akinetic mutism and could no longer walk, feed herself, or write. During the course of her rehab, Audrey’s legs broke and her shoulder dislocated. Sadly, this ultimately meant she couldn’t sit or bend at the waist.

It was suggested Audrey be placed in an institution but, as the Little Audrey Foundation website details, “Audrey’s mother, Linda, insisted that Audrey would be placed ‘in her arms, and nowhere else.’ She felt that Audrey would receive the best of care and have a better life being home with her family. The professionals disagreed vehemently and told the family that Audrey would die in their care within two weeks.”

Audrey didn’t die, however, and, remarkably, her journey would include a series of alleged miracles – from blood appearing on Eucharist to people reporting they received physical healing from being in Audrey’s presence.

This story is recounted and explored in the new feature “Little Audrey” – which was shot in Buffalo last year, and will kick off the 2026 Buffalo International Film Festival this weekend.

The movie stars Emily VanCamp (“Revenge,” “The Resident,” “Captain America: The Winter Soldier”) as investigator Myriam Levy, Josh Bowman (“Revenge,” “Time After Time”) as Frank Belanger, with Jennifer Esposito (“Blue Bloods,” “NCIS”) as Linda Santo, and Aidan Quinn (“Legends of the Fall,” “Elementary”) as Bishop Ryan.

Emily VanCamp image courtesy of THRULINE Entertainment.

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VanCamp, a strong, A-list actor who’s made her mark in film and television, said she wasn’t familiar with Audrey’s account prior to signing on for this project. When she read the script, “I just was really taken aback by the story, and had to do my own research,” VanCamp said in an interview Tuesday.

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“You can't quite believe it – similar to how my character feels in the film – and it was just such a fascinating story. It was hard not to want to tell it through Myriam's eyes, who is a fictional character, but who very much represented how I, as Emily, would probably look at this situation.

“I just found the whole story fascinating. I'm not particularly religious, but I'm very spiritual, and I do believe in miracles, and I do believe in a lot of this stuff. So, it was like this really interesting window into that conversation.”

VanCamp explained, “The idea that these miracles were happening, and that Linda was being questioned in this really aggressive manner; and sort of the idea that, yes, a mother could possibly just love her daughter that much, and yet is being shot in this very cruel light – I just feel like Linda went through so much throughout this process in just trying to be there for her daughter, and it's hard to know exactly.

“None of us were there but, from my perspective, this was a mom who devoted her life to her children, and that's the heart of this story. This is what Myriam comes to see, and that's what comes to light for Myriam. That journey, for her, in the moment in time that she is in her life, is really powerful, to sort of mirror those two characters.”

Jennifer Esposito as Linda Santo. (Image provided by the Buffalo International Film Festival // courtesy of “Little Audrey”)

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VanCamp said Myriam, as a child psychologist, person of Jewish faith, and agnostic, “is the perfect person to come into this commission” determining the validity of the Audrey’s impact, because everyone else has a little bit more of a biased opinion here – as you can see throughout the film. The rest of the commission – who were wonderfully portrayed; such an incredible supporting cast – their characters are biased.

“Myriam comes in, and she's very much coming from, I would say, yes, she's very questioning and cynical at first, but she's also neutral in the sense that she can look at this from a very objective point of view – where anyone who's a member of the church is going to look at this from the inside.

“That's what I sort of loved about her journey. She completely doubted Linda in the beginning, and because of her openness – because she was willing to really see things for what they are – she's able to come to the conclusion that these things are really happening. There was so much pushback by the bishop, by the church community. No one wanted to believe that these miracles were happening, and so Myriam comes to debunk that. And that journey also becomes really spiritual and powerful for Myriam, as well, based off of what she's going through in her life, in her love life, in her relationship with Frank, and her desires to be a mother. It's all this sort of perfect storm for Myriam to come to believe.

“I thought that was really interesting.”

“Little Audrey” won the Best Ensemble award at the Boston Film Festival.

“I mean, look, I think it's fair to say this is a really dark time in the world, and it's a time where people are really looking for comfort, and looking for miracles, and seeking beauty in the world,” VanCamp said. “And regardless of your religious beliefs, or how you feel about God – I mean, it really doesn't matter, because the proof was in these miracles; and so, it's something to hold on to. It's something to cling to. It's something to give us hope in a moment in time that can be otherwise sort of dark. And I think people are just looking for those types of stories – and the fact that there is validity and truth to this story – these were real life events – this isn't just made up – it sort of adds to that to that appeal, I think.”

VanCamp said she enjoyed her experience working and filming in Buffalo.

“It was great,” she said. “It was wonderful because Josh, my husband, was also in the film; and we also have a place in Canada fairly close, and we were there during the summer. So, we all hopped in a car and went down to Buffalo and got to do this great little film together, and it was a wonderful experience.”

No stranger to Western New York, VanCamp noted, “We've done all of it, yeah! We used to go to Buffalo as children, and we did (Niagara Falls and WNY food). But we had a good time trying to seek out some of the local joints. … We found some great pizza. He found some great wings.

“We're foodies so, no matter where we are, we always try to seek out the best food.”

VanCamp added, “I think for us, definitely the people were so welcoming. The film industry was very welcoming, as well, as a community, and we definitely felt that sense that everyone is collectively trying to bring film and television there, which is always nice to feel wanted in a place. I think all of those things just made it a really lovely experience for us. The crew was wonderful, very seasoned, and you just get the sense that more and more film and TV are moving in that direction, and I think that's really great for Buffalo.”

Though VanCamp has appeared in big-big-budget productions and worked on grandiose sets, she said she wasn’t necessarily looking for something independent or smaller-scale.

“It's the best project, the best fit,” she said. “I've never been, for lack of a better word, bougie about the projects that I want to do (laughs). It's really about the way that the character resonates within me.

“If you look at my career, in between doing a lot of the bigger projects, I always gravitated toward the small Canadian French film, or the gritty New York indie. I've always tried to balance my choices, not just from a career point of view, but also as an artist. I think it's important to always balance the project that you're doing.

“I don't discriminate. I just love really good characters, and it doesn't matter the scale of the project. If I love it, I love it.”

With such a diverse resume, VanCamp has fans across genres. Conversations differ but, of late, the focus has been on her star-making turns.

“We've just recently had a ‘Revenge’ reunion, so there seems to be a lot of talk about that at the moment,” she said. “It's been so lovely to get to see those guys. I've seen them quite a bit this year, which has been great.

“And, weirdly, ‘Everwood’ has been coming up. I've done a couple, like, comic cons, and I don't know if it's on a new streaming platform or something, but people just keep coming up to me saying they're watching it right now – which I think is just so lovely, because it was one of the first really big jobs that I did. And I mean, that's what, 20-25 years ago now? So, the fact that that still holds up is so sweet.”

VanCamp laughed as she shared, “I think, for me the coolest thing that Josh and I talk about a lot is that my kids, at some point, are going to be able to see their mom grow up – because I did spend a lot of my teen years and my 20s and my 30s on TV. So, that's going to be kind of trippy for them – not that they're going to care!

“But it's kind of wild to think about that, because I never thought about that until I had children. I think I always look back on all of the projects that I've done very fondly. I've been very, very lucky to work with wonderful people, and very rarely had a bad egg that I had to encounter or deal with, so I'm very fortunate.”

Visit https://www.buffalofilm.org/events/little-audrey/.