During the many trials actress Eileen Grubba has endured, there has been one consistency: the friends she made growing up in Broward County.
They fly to locations around the country to see her debuts. They come to the hospital to help her post-surgeries. They pick her up at the airport. She stays at their homes when she travels. Her former teachers offer notes on her screenplays.
Her crew of Broward comrades will be out in force for the Fort Lauderdale showing of “You Are Here,” a new indie film about small-town life and its possibilities, in which Grubba plays the female lead (she’s also a producer). The film, which will be on tour throughout the country through May 2027, will be shown on Oct. 25 at Savor Cinema.
The screening is open to the public and will also serve as one of the scheduled events for St. Thomas Aquinas’ Class of 1986 reunion.
“The screening has turned into a big STA reunion, with alumni from many classes coming home for it,” said Grubba, 58, who lives in California now.
The plot was inspired by the experience of Jack Kennedy, the film’s writer, who planned to drive across the country many years ago but then had car trouble.
“Unfortunately, my engine blew up 2 hours into the trip and I wound up stranded in a tiny town for 9 1/2 days, living in a semi-functional ’68 Winnebago that sat in the weeds behind the mechanic’s garage, watching him flail around NOT fixing my car,” Kennedy wrote on Indiegogo.com as part of a pitch to raise money for the movie. “But it turns out he was one of the most amazing people I’ve ever met in my life and gave me one of the most amazing experiences I’ve ever had in my life. I knew then, as I drank my way through the the frustrations of being stranded, that I would someday write about the experience — and I did.”
The mechanic is played by Kennedy; Grubba has the role of the mechanic’s wife.
“The screenplay is the reason I decided to do the project,” Grubba said. “It was really well-written and very funny.”
Eileen Grubba stars in “You Are Here,” a new indie film set to screen this month at Savor Cinema Fort Lauderdale. (Eileen Grubba/Courtesy).
Struggles & successes
Grubba grew up in Plantation. Although she has struggled with a spinal cord injury and Guillain-Barré syndrome, an autoimmune disorder, for most of her life, she has found tremendous success in Hollywood, where she has had roles in several series, including “The Lincoln Lawyer,” “Sons of Anarchy,” “Watchmen,” “Hung” and “This Is Us.”
The actress lived in Alaska and Arkansas, the fifth of eight children, before her family moved to Broward just before she entered fifth grade. She had become paralyzed from the waist down at 4 years old, the result of an immune system reaction to childhood vaccines, she said. Determined to walk on her own, she spent hours each day pulling herself up from her bed and trying to get on her feet, finally succeeding when she was 7.
Grubba also has had thyroid cancer and decades of surgeries to reconstruct her bones, which became weakened due to nerve damage and lack of weight-bearing activities.
“My feet and ankles have been rebuilt so many times,” Grubba said. “I wear a brace on both ankles. If I’m doing major movement, people say, ‘Is she drunk?’ ”
Grubba said she has faced many casting rejections due to her limp. But she said she thinks back on her mother, Barbara Shannon Grubba, who died in 1992 and always encouraged her to pursue her passions.
“Mom let me know I was special, and I believed her,” Grubba said. “I knew I was still good at what I did, so what did it matter how I walked?”
Eileen Grubba, standing second from left, was a cheerleader at St. Thomas Aquinas High School in this photo from 1983. (Eileen Grubba/Courtesy)
Gradually, she began advocating for more roles in Hollywood for people with disabilities. She is a brand ambassador for the Florida-based consultancy Global Disability Inclusion, which works to improve workplace experiences, and has served on panels with advocates such as Temple Grandin and Stephen Hawking. She has also shared her story at events nationwide.
Grubba said the community that supported her when she was younger is always in the back of her mind.
“While I battled my industry for the inclusion of people with disabilities in entertainment, they cheered me on,” she said. “They were excited for every small victory and I am certain it helped me keep going. Growing up in Fort Lauderdale turned out to be a tremendous gift to my life and a major source of support through so many challenges. This family shows up, everywhere, good times and bad, and I will be forever grateful.”
The film, “You Are Here,” will be screened on Sunday, Oct. 25, at Savor Cinema Fort Lauderdale, 503 SE Sixth St. The event, from 2 to 6 p.m., will include a Q&A session with the actors and producers and an after-party. Tickets are $20 at youareherethemovie.com/screening-tour.