When Will Poulter’s agents sent him the script for “Union County” and writer-director Adam Meeks’ accompanying 2020 short film, he was struck by the filmmaker’s approach to telling a recovery story. In the short, Deao played a counselor named “Debbie.” She had two scenes. “We felt like we could blend in a bit with the scenery in the drug court, and people were just incredibly open and honest with their stories. Most helpful, though, was the time Poulter spent in Ohio getting to know the community at large. “We broke bread together; we laughed together; we threw mulch together,” Deao said, as her fellow panelists doubled over laughing at the memories.