Fresh off her successful festival run with the short (pilot) SUNNY’S CLOSET, Irina Maleeva, along with writer/director Carlyle King, is turning the short into a feature film.
In the series, reclusive Hollywood celebrity Solange “Sunny” Green (Maleeva) unexpectedly meets and rescues non-binary Lio (Jesse Leigh), and together the two navigate an unexpected friendship. Through Lio, Sunny rediscovers her joy of living as the two reach out to help underprivileged youths in the gritty streets of Los Angeles. There is also an original song written for the film by Michele Brourman and Amanda McBroom.
Prior to SUNNY’S CLOSET, Maleeva had a supporting role in the Peacock series, Paul T. Goldman. She’s also had guest stars and recurring roles in various series, including JUST SHOOT ME, GILMORE GIRLS, SIX FEET UNDER, THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL, ROUGH ROAD, NIGHT SHIFT, AQUARIUS, and FOR ALL MANKIND. Maleeva is also slated to appear in a new film by director Jane Spencer, which will shoot in Italy later in 2024.
Born in Bulgaria, with a famous stage actress mother and an Italian statesman father, Maleeva became a child actress at the age of 7. At the age of 15, while studying in Italy, she was discovered by the great Italian director Federico Fellini. From that moment on I worked on stage and film with famous directors like Orson Welles, Bertolucci, and Visconti.
She did three films with Fellini and Orson Welles, a TV series as the lead, “Polly in Venice,” a film with James Mason, and more than 25 other lead actress parts in European movies. Soon after she relocated to New York, she became the Cabaret Diva and a singer in New York. Executive produced the movie UNION CITY with Debbie Harry and Pat Benatar and was awarded “Best Support Actress at the Toronto Film Festival”.
“All my life, I’ve been taking risks,” says Maleeva. “The first one was leaving my mother at the age of 10, then leaving Italy just when I became a name in the Italian movies, to move to the US, and most recently producing a short film which now will is on the way to becoming a feature. I can’t wait!”
