The evil Cheryl D'Alessandro
Cheryl D'Alessandro (Robia LaMorte) is the main villainess from the 2019 film, Unplanned.
Introduction[]
Cheryl D'Alessandro is introduced as the director of Planned Parenthood, and she was shown welcoming the newly hired Abby Johnson to the clinic. Upon seeing a group of anti-abortion protesters outside the fence, Cheryl gave the order to turn the sprinklers on them to run them off, after which she continued her warm demeanor towards Abby. As the film progressed, Abby went from being a volunteer to acting as a counselor, and regarding Cheryl, she brought Abby to the Products of Conception (POC) room, where she expressed pride in Abby's work and revealed her plans to promote her to director of her local chapter of Planned Parenthood.
Abby became pregnant later on, leading to Cheryl asking Abby if she wanted to abort the baby, to which Abby (who has two previous abortions) refused. After a client, Christina, has difficulty during an abortion, Abby opted to call an ambulance, only for Cheryl to stop her due to the attention that an ambulance's appearance would bring, even putting Christina's life at risk (she was unharmed).
Heel Turn[]
Cheryl's heel turn during a company conference
Cheryl promoted Abby to director, and later in the film, she held a company conference where she presented Abby with the "Employee of the Year" award. She also announced plans to open a large clinic in Houston, but to Abby's astonishment, Cheryl also revealed her plan to unleash a directive to increase abortions, which counteracted against the pitch that they were planning to decrease abortions (which convinced Abby to join Planned Parenthood). Cheryl turned heel against Abby in response to Abby's questioning of her plan; doing so by berating Abby for undermining her authority (in her mind) and defending her decisions by stating that more abortions bring in more money. In addition, Cheryl claimed that she did everything for Abby and that her actions were a proverbial slap to her face.
Later in the film, Cheryl directly reprimanded Abby for "challenging" her, adding that Abby should follow her instructions without question. After seeing the abortion process up close, Abby decides to leave Planned Parenthood and join 40 Days to Life, an anti-abortion group led by Shawn and his wife, Marlisa, who Abby had been conversing with (despite their opposing views at the time) throughout the film. After Abby appears outside the fence and talks to a client, the evil Cheryl appeared and lambasted Abby; referring to her as a traitor for quitting. The villainess later sued Abby under the claim that she leaked private information--after Abby found her own private files and saw her ultrasound, but the film's climax revealed that Planned Parenthood lost the case, with Cheryl snarling that their battle wasn't over.
Trivia[]
- In her role, Robia LaMorte was credited under her married name, Robia Scott.
Gallery[]
