The Wednesday release of the big screen "Entourage" has been anticipated by fans of the HBO television series upon which it is based and also by the family and friends of Chicopee High School alumna Sabina H. Gadecki, hostess for the fifth season of "World Poker Tour."
Gadecki plays Melanie, a love interest of the character played by Kevin Connolly, in the new Warner Bros.comedy that also stars Adrian Grenier, Kevin Dillon, Jerry Ferrara and Jeremy Piven.
The film picks up where the HBO series left off, chronicling the continuing career of movie star Vincent Chase (Adrian Grenier) and his entourage of friends. New studio head Ari Gold (Jeremy Piven) bankrolls Chase's directorial debut with a $100-million budget, but when it goes $15 million over, Gold must secure financing from a Texas billionaire and his son.
"Acting is not easy," said Gadecki, who lives in Los Angeles. "There are a million reasons you don't get a job (acting): you're too tall, too short, not talented enough. I feel so, so lucky to be where I am right now."
She described her character as "a good L.A. girl just looking for a nice guy, hoping not to find a typical L.A. 'douche bag.'"
As Melanie, she has "a bit of an awkward sex scene," and when she contemplated it, she said the only people whose opinions mattered where her parents. "Do I want to be this girl?" she asked herself, knowing she might not get another acting opportunity like this again.
She called her parents, and they discussed it then gave her their full support.
Gadecki reminded herself that what she is doing is acting. "It's part of the business. Just because I play that doesn't mean that's who I am," she said. "If that were my only scene in the movie, I'd never have done it."
Gadecki, 31, attended Fordham University in New York from which she earned a degree in international business and a minor in communications. While in New York, she modeled and studied acting at The William Esper Studio.
Her credits include the film "Freaky Deaky," Lifetime's "Outlaw Prophet -- Warren Jeffs," MTV's "Finding Carter," Comedy Central's "Inside Amy Schumer," NBC's "Law and Order" and USA Network's "White Collar;" she was featured in Pringles, Kohl's, Miller Lite and Coca Cola commercials.
Gadecki won Miss Polonia America at 18 Miss Polonia World at 19. Her mother, Irena, and father, Richard, were born in Poland, and she studied there for a year during college.
The 5-foot-9-inch, 115-pound blonde with green eyes is grateful for the advances she has made in the industry.
"It's such a tough business," she said, acknowledging that as soon as she got to the first meeting for "Entourage," she had already beat thousands of other people to get that far.
She attributes her success to her supportive family, saying that her parents "never once said 'maybe you should try something else'" than acting.
"It's a really challenging, challenging, tough business, and so often when you don't get a job it has nothing to do with you or your talent," she said. So she does not let herself be "beaten down."
Though she enjoys comedy - and sees herself as a "sort of Lucille Ball-type character" - she would like to be in an action movie, "playing some tough girl," a role that would be for her "out of the box from what people normally see me as."
Gadecki, who has worked hard not to be looked at as a stereotypical blond, also enjoys surfing, hiking and bike riding, and she attends a weekly Bible study.
Bible study helps her to be grateful. "So often we forget to be grateful. It's so easy to focus on the negative."
For years Gadecki has told people she is from a small town in Massachusetts, and with "Entourage" she has felt lucky to be from Chicopee. People she knew as a child and in high school have been encouraging and supportive. "People are rooting for me. Everyone really makes me feel special."
Out front rooting for her is her mother, who reserved 50 seats at Rave Motion Pictures in West Springfield for opening night.
"It's very surreal," Irena Gadecki said of her daughter appearing in a major film. "You think of how many thousands of people audition for a role. The ones who get it are very fortunate. (Sabina) is one of the very talented, very lucky ones. She has worked hard all her life."