Margaret Anne Florence is not new to the world of acting. But it was a huge plus to be working right near her hometown shooting “The New Daughter” at the set in McClellanville.
The Charleston native returned to the Lowcountry to star alongside Kevin Costner and Ivana Baquero in the frightening flick directed by Luis Berdejo.
Florence said in reference to the plantation home where the film was filmed, “it is great to have a real place to be a setting for a film. “The oaks, the moss- everything you’d imagine it would be.”
The dirt, gravel road, Florence describes, helps to add to the seclusion factor of the setting for the movie.
“It is fortunate for the film to have the location,” Florence said.
She enjoyed the “nice local people who helped out.”
According to Florence, when John James (Costner) moves his two children to a plantation after becoming separated from his wife, strange things start happening to his daughter. Perhaps there is a link to the burial mound of Native Americans from long ago.
Florence plays Alexis Danella, an archaeology graduate student at the University of Charleston, who comes to investigate the site.
According to Florence, there are hints that Alexis is having a relationship with her professor (played by Noah Taylor) she is working for.
“There is something alluded to about the professor and Alexis, but no big scene exploring that. They are definitely more than teacher/ student,” she said.
When asked about her character and if she shared any resemblances, Florence said, “She is passionate about what she does — if you are in a field you are interested in, you are fighting for something you believe in — anyone can relate to that.”
Florence has certainly found something she is interested in and it started for her right here in Charleston as a child.
 “I began performing at age 10 with The Charleston Youth Company because the director, Chuck Long, was my grandmother’s next door neighbor, and she was a great lover of the arts and used to perform herself,”  Florence said.
Thanks to prompting from Yia-Yia, her Greek grandmother, Florence went on to graduate from the Youth Company and the drama school at the College of Charleston where she received her B.A. in Music/Classical Voice.
Soon after she headed to New York where she received her Masters in Music Theatre Performance from New York University.
New York has proven to be another successful launching pad for Florence who has lived there since 2001. She has scored roles on other films such as “My Super Ex-Girlfriend,” “Chronicles of a Skater Girl” and soon-to-be released, “Our Lady of Victory,” which is non-too ironic for her to play on a basketball team.
Many fellow Ashley Hall alums (like myself) remember Florence excelling in sports (volleyball and basketball) and her guts and goose-bump causing deliverance of  The National Anthem.
It is no surprise that Florence has put that singing voice to good use. She has revisited live theatre, playing in a variety of productions, the most recent being “Maccabeat!.. The Hanukkah Musical.”
The accomplishments don’t stop there.
Open any magazine and there is bound to be a picture of Florence, putting her acting career on hold for a moment to model in various print ads.
And if the television is turned to “Guiding Light,” there is Florence playing a reoccurring role. A commercial that follows might feature her as well.
Florence said that she tries to get back home as much as she can. Her husband, Peter Siachos, is from Greenville, S.C.
Florence said that she misses her family, the beach, the weather and the relaxed atmosphere of home the most.
“Charleston is not over-run with concrete. That’s what I miss about the Lowcountry,” she said. “New York is great and fast-paced but sometimes I just want to be on the beach.”
So, Florence is asked, what happens at the end of the movie.
She smiles and as with any good actress, will not divulge the ending.

(Helen Ravenel can be reached at helen@moultrienews.com. See more stories online at moultrienews.com.)