Moore

Actress Christina Moore was once escorted out of the Vatican for creating a scene.

A young fan recognized her and soon Moore found herself being swarmed by kids. Known for her role as Christina Ross — mom of the Ross family — in the Disney Channel’s award-winning show “Jessie,” Moore said she’s often recognized by kids between the ages of 5-10.

“Kids think I’m in their house everyday,” she said with a laugh. “I’m almost as exciting as Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy. Almost.”

With an appreciation for those who enjoy her work, Moore deems it important to be responsive to her fans. She enjoys opportunities to visit with people, sign autographs and take selfies with them.

People may recall her on “That ‘70s Show” as the second Laurie Forman. Her 20-year career in Hollywood also includes recurring roles on HBO’s “True Blood,” CW’s “90210” and ABC’s “Last Man Standing.”

Fans in Eastern Oregon will get a chance to meet Moore July 8-9, as she’ll be in Hermiston during premiere showings of “The Dog Lover.”

Described as a heartwarming tale of family, love and doing what you believe in, the suspenseful drama is inspired by true events.

Moore is cast as the executive director of an organization that rescues animals and lobbies for animal welfare laws. Saying she enjoys playing the part of “a bad guy,” Moore describes her character as being a “wolf in sheep’s clothing.”

The storyline centers around a young woman going undercover to infiltrate a puppy mill and ends up exposing radical animal activism.

“It’s based on a true story,” Moore said. “It’s not propaganda, it’s not made up.”

Hermiston resident Dave Duquette, equine representative for Protect the Harvest, is hopeful the movie will inspire people to conduct research before donating money or getting involved with causes.

Multimillionaire Forrest Lucas of Lucas Oil Products, Inc. is the film’s executive producer. The Indiana man also is founder of Protect the Harvest, which fights for the rights of America’s farmers, ranchers, animal owners and sportsmen/sportswomen.

Lucas teamed up with Ali Afshar, the movie’s writer/producer, to form ESX Entertainment. The idea was to create a handful of social issue drama feature films; “The Dog Lover” is the first release.

Duquette said presenting information through the films provides an avenue to reach a larger audience.

“When I go to a horse event or cattle deal or a rodeo, the people in agriculture understand,” he said. “I’m preaching to the choir.”

Moore was contacted by Afshar — who she met while waiting tables 20 years ago — about doing the film. Once she was on board, she met Lucas and was then commissioned to work on writing and producing a trio of upcoming films with ESX Entertainment.

“In Hollywood, it’s not what you do, it’s who you know,” she said.

For more about the movie, visit www.thedoglovermovie.com.

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Contact Community Editor Tammy Malgesini at tmalgesini@eastoregonian.com or 541-564-4539