Sari (Wagner) Lennick, class of 2005, has just completed filming Ethan and Joel Coen’s new movie A Serious Man, along side of Adam Arkin, Richard Kind, and Michael Stuhlbarg. A black comedy set in 1967, the story is centered on Larry Gopnik (Stuhlbarg), a Midwestern professor who watches his life unravel when his wife (Wagner) prepares to leave him because she has fallen in love with one of his colleagues. In addition, his inept brother (Kind) won't move out of the house, his son is a discipline problem, and his daughter Sarah is stealing money from him.

Lennick auditioned in March 2007, and in June was called back where she then auditioned for the Coens. “I read for them once. My call back was only 12 minutes, but they laughed at all my jokes,” she muses. She got the fateful call in August.

“From the moment I met Joel and Ethan, they made me feel totally comfortable,” she recalls. “They are truly astounding in that they trust their actors and believe we have the answers. They treated me as though I knew Judith [Lennick’s character] better than they did, as if I were an expert on her. They are remarkable directors, and their confidence in me allowed me to be my absolute best and surprise myself.”

Thinking about her “big break” Lennick affirms, “I don’t know what will happen with this film or my career, but I can say, today, I have had the opportunity and experience of a lifetime and I am so, so grateful.”

A Serious Man is planned to open next year.