Saturday, May 17, 2025
A decade-long creative journey that began with a spontaneous joke on a Los Angeles highway has culminated in a feature film debuting in theaters this week — and it all traces back to Rockville Centre.
Rockville Centre native and writer-producer Chris Smith, 42, is celebrating the nationwide release of his first produced feature film, “Sacramento,” a coming-of-age road trip comedy co-written with longtime collaborator Michael Angarano. The film, which also stars Angarano alongside Michael Cera, Kristen Stewart and Maya Erskine, had its world premiere at the 2024 Tribeca Film Festival and was screened in Los Angeles earlier this week.
The movie was inspired by one scene that Smith and Angarano wrote 10 years ago after both being cast for a CBS television pilot, “We Are Men,” that was canceled after two episodes.
“We were unemployed actors living in Los Angeles, and one day we were driving around, and Mike saw a sign – I-5 north to Sacramento – in LA,” Smith said. “He kind of nudged me and said, ‘Hey, you want to go to Sacramento?’ And I go, somewhat sarcastically, ‘Yeah, I want to take a six hour road trip. I don’t have my toothbrush. What am I going to do?’ So, we laughed and wrote in those two character voices, built out that scene, and that’s now a scene in the movie.”
The story, which Smith describes as “a coming-of-age movie for people in their 30s,” follows two longtime friends, Rickey and Glenn, reconnecting on a cross-country trip and grappling with the complexities of adult life, friendship and personal growth.
Smith’s path to the big screen began in Rockville Centre, where he was raised. His early love for performing was nurtured by his aunt, Kathy Smith, who runs the local children’s theater program, Time to Shine at the Rockville Centre Recreation Center. He started acting there, and when he was 12, he performed in a production of “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” at Chaminade High School.
“To go from that to where I am now feels incredible,” he said.
Though now based in Los Angeles, Smith still has deep ties to Rockville Centre, with his family still living in the community. He has also held onto friendships he made in his childhood hometown, which he said have inspired the film and the overall message.
“I think the friendships that you have growing up, and there are a lot for me in Rockville Centre while you might drift away from some of those friendships, they’re still super valuable, and it’s important to have those people in your life because they bring out the kid in you,” he said. “What I hope people take away is realizing how special friendships are from your childhood.”
Smith began his professional acting career with short films like “I Killed Zoe Day,” in 2006, and gained wider recognition as Dennis in “Paranormal Activity 3” in 2011. He also appeared in feature films including “The Reluctant Fundamentalist” in 2012 and “Enough Said” in 2013, and he voiced Dougland in the animated film “Storks” in 2016. In 2021, he revisited the “Paranormal Activity” franchise in the documentary “Unknown Dimension.”
On television, Smith has appeared in series such as “30 Rock,” “The Mindy Project” and “How I Met Your Mother.” He held recurring roles in “Fake It Til You Make It,” “Young & Hungry” and “The Moodys,” and most recently, he guest-starred in a 2024 episode of “Curb Your Enthusiasm.”
As for aspiring writers and actors from Rockville Centre hoping to follow a similar path, he offers a simple piece of advice from his cousin, Rob Barredo: “Write down everything.”
“Write things down in the moment that you think of them, and always carry around a pen,” he said.
“Sacramento” is now playing in theatres.
