A Monroe connection to ‘Sex and the City 2'

Monroe twins play the role of Charlotte’s daughter Rose, By Nancy Kriz MONROE - Forget the fun, the high-end fashions, the friendships and trekking through the Sahara Desert wearing Dior and super high stilettos while riding a camel. Yesterday’s opening of “Sex and the City 2” has something totally different to offer movie-goers: A Monroe connection. When diehard “Sex and City” fans flock to theaters this weekend to see the latest in the popular franchise, they’ll get a chance to see what happens to Carrie, Charlotte, Samantha and Miranda as they take their luxurious Middle East vacation. But they’ll also see the acting debut of Monroe residents Savanna and Sienna Denzio, two-year-old twins who were one of two sets of twins alternating as “Baby Rose.” Baby Rose, born at the tail end of the first movie, appears in five scenes in the movie, and the Denzio twins appear in two of those scenes. One lasted almost five minutes with Savanna - wearing a white shirt and pink skirt - being the toddler appearing in the actual movie. Watch that scene carefully In that scene, Carrie, Samantha and Miranda have gathered at a Connecticut inn for lunch, the day after a wedding, ready to discuss everything and anything that comes to their minds. Shortly, Charlotte joins them, bringing daughters Rose and Lily with her. As they begin their usual chatter, the girls’ bosomy nanny arrives, taking the two outside to play. The friends watch as the nanny runs around the inn’s grounds with the girls, and make particular comments about her anatomy as she bounces around with children. As they make note of the men clearly enjoying watching the nanny’s lawn antics, Carrie, Samantha and Miranda question Charlotte as to if she’s jealous about how well-endowed the nanny is. Of course, their dialogue is typical “Sex and the City” language. It was Savanna and Sienna’s first acting job. “It was very cool,”’ said their mother Teresa Sorrentino-Denzio. “Everyone was so very nice to them. There was an insane amount of work that went into that scene.” Last August, the twins’ modeling agency representative submitted photos of them for the role. Their mother received an almost immediate response for her to bring the girls in for an audition. “I was shocked,” she said. “There were so many sets of twins there. They were looking for kids who looked like Kristin Davis.” That audition led to a call-back meeting with the movie’s director and producer. “One of their comments was that the girls did look a lot like Kristin Davis,” said Sorrentino-Denzio, who attended the movie’s cast and crew screening this past week. While at that second meeting, movie officials wanted to see how the girls reacted to strangers and being picked up. They also wanted to see them cry, since some of the scenes involved Rose - who was in the midst of a “terrible twos” phase of her life - crying. Play dates with Kristin Davis Shortly thereafter, Sorrentino-Denzio received a call from the girls’ agent, saying they were picked for the part. The girls would rotate in and out of scenes with another set of twins, giving producers four actors to play Rose. To help prepare for their roles, said Sorrentino-Denzio, Davis held a play date at her New York City apartment with Savanna and Sienna and the twins who played Lily, Rose’s older sister. The idea was to have everyone get to know each other before filming started. “She (Davis) wanted to make sure the girls were comfortable with her,” said Sorrentino-Denzio. “She is so beautiful. She has the most flawless skin I’ve ever seen. You can see why she’s a movie star.” In mid-September of last year, Sorrentino-Denzio, her husband John Denzio and the girls spent three weeks on location in Long Island, Brooklyn and Queens shooting Rose’s scenes with the four starlets. “There were a baby wrangler and a baby nurse all the time,” she said. “Someone to take care of the children on the set in place of the mother. I was on the sidelines. They didn’t want the girls to be asking for me.” The girls, who rotated in and out of rehearsals and actual shooting, coped well with “performing,” which took two, 12-hour days to complete. Sorrentino-Denzio’s confidentiality agreement keeps her from discussing the movie’s plot or other specifics, but she did say the girls were each paid a “four-figure salary” which, after agent’s fees and taxes, was enough to open nice-sized college accounts. Like other actors, the girls are acknowledged for their work in the movie. “It was totally cool to see their names on the credits,” said Sorrentino-Denzio, who took a photo of their names to keep on her cell phone. However, Sorrentino-Denzio said one of her most memorable moments was quite down-to-earth. “I remember watching as these four huge stars sat around the restaurant table, singing ‘Itsy Bitsy Spider’ to Sienna,” said Sorrentino-Denzio. “They sang to keep my baby happy. It was so sweet.”