Annette Deao wouldn’t consider herself a star. Yes, she’s an important part of Union County, a movie filmed mostly in Bellefontaine. Sure, she’s getting rave reviews and applause from Dallas to Cleveland to the Sundance Film Festival in Utah. Yes, it’s unreal and unexpected and something she couldn’t have predicted.

But when you sit down with Annette to listen to her story, it’s not the movie she wants to talk about. It’s the program and the participants and the work she’s doing to make a difference in people’s lives.

That passion and heart, though, are exactly why she plays herself in Union County. Her name. Her job. Often even her words. Everything is right there on the big screen. And it’s real on a natural and gut-wrenching level.

“This movie shows exactly what it looks like,” Annette said, speaking of the Adult Recovery Court (ARC) in Bellefontaine, which is the foundation of the film. That’s the story writer and director Adam Meeks wanted to tell.

It all started in 2018 when Annette met Adam at a house concert in Zanesfield. At the time, Adam had already talked with Judge Bill Goslee at the Logan County Court of Common Pleas. A member of Adam’s family had introduced them, and Goslee let Adam sit in on a court session.

Annette helped Adam connect with people who’d gone through opioid addiction, “because at that time, pre-pandemic,” she said, “fentanyl and heroin were rampant. We were losing people all over the place, and Adam felt it was worse here in the heartland.”

To get things rolling, the young director made a short film, released in 2020, also called Union County. Annette basically played herself, only as a character named Debbie. They filmed it at the Logan County Courthouse with Goslee, though you only hear his voice.

Over the next few years, Annette and Adam kept in touch, forming a friendship. He and his cinematographer, Stefan Weinberger, made multiple trips between New York, where they’re based, and Ohio to meet with Annette, watch participants go through the court docket process, interview people, attend focus groups and 12-step meetings, and do whatever else they needed to do to learn about the ARC.

They brought producers to Logan County for days at a time. It took several years to prepare.

“Once he had the script at a good stage, Adam asked me to look at it,” Annette said, further indicating how much he respected her input.

She added, “I thought it was a good depiction.”

Adam let her know when he’d settled on their lead actors—Will Poulter and Noah Centineo—and had offered them the roles of Cody and his foster brother Jack.

Annette’s response: “You’ve got to be kidding.”

But that wasn’t all.

“I really want you to play yourself,” Adam told her. Annette’s simple, stunned response was, “OK.”

As they rolled into 2025, Adam and the producers were, again, back and forth between New York and Logan County. Finally, they sent the schedule for filming to being in the spring of 2025. It took about six weeks to complete and included other professional actors.

Annette, however, wasn’t the only local to show up onscreen. To make it as real as possible, Adam filmed actual ARC participants on the docket, explaining their week, what they were doing — the support they’d received and efforts they’d made over the previous 24 hours to work toward their recovery.

This interaction included Logan County Common Pleas Court Judge Kevin P. Braig, who currently presides over this docket and, like Annette, played himself in the movie. It all works surprisingly well, with a natural interaction and rawness between the actors and the non-professionals.

According to Annette, “Will and Noah worked really hard to develop relationships with participants. They wanted them to feel comfortable, talked about where the cameras would be, and went to 12-step meetings with them. It wasn’t done to exploit anyone’s story, but to honor it and show people that recovery is possible. It just takes a community to make it happen.”

Though now coming out of her 40th year working with dependency treatment programs, this wasn’t part of Annette’s original plan. In fact, she studied music and theatre while in college in the 1970s with the idea of being a music therapist — a relatively new career path 50 years ago. She plays a variety of instruments and performed in dramatic productions, mostly musicals like Oklahoma, The Music Man and Godspell. Which means she does have some acting experience.

But, for Annette, it’s not about being in the spotlight. She stated, “The neat thing about my background in theatre and music is it’s a great mix for working with juveniles. You have to keep their attention. I was animated. I was into music. This was during the era of MTV. We could have a conversation about the music they listened to or the movies they watched. It all flowed together.”

In 1987, Annette took her first job as a therapist, working with juveniles and their families. She and her family moved to Logan County in 1995. At that time, Annette was employed at Mercy Health System, running their chemical dependency treatment

program and consolidated care until she went to work for the courts in 2004.

Then, in 2019, Goslee left the bench mid-term and Braig was selected to replace him. He liked the ARC model Goslee had carried on after taking over the program from Judge Mark O’Connor. Braig wanted to keep it going.

“We met and he asked if I’d come work for him,” Annette admitted. “It felt like a good fit and here we are, however many years later.”

So Annette shifted her focus to adult recovery.

This all coincided with her opportune introduction to Adam Meeks. A young man with a vision to show what it’s like dealing with drug addiction, and the heartache and struggle of finding freedom from that stronghold.

What you see on the screen is Annette Deao. A pivotal scene in the movie shows a character calling Annette in the midst of a crisis. Something that’s happened to her in real life more than once.

High-risk people like felons with a substance abuse problem have Annette’s phone number. That’s an important philosophy for her because she knows a drug dealer will pick up the phone any time day or night, and she wants her clients to know she will too.

“I don’t have to have the answers, and I don’t,” she said, “but what I do have is time, and I’m a good listener. Sometimes that’s all they need—someone to say ‘I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere.’ Whether they cry or scream, I don’t care. I just need to be present.”

Annette lives on Freedom Farm, a property east of West Liberty “in the rolling hills of Logan County,” with her husband, Gary Haber, and dog, Gracie Mae.

Union County will be shown again at the Holland Theatre in Bellefontaine during the Dutch Tilt Film Festival, July 23-26, then will be released to movie theaters Aug. 14.