We were lucky to catch up with Hannie May recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hannie, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Are you happy as a creative professional? Do you sometimes wonder what it would be like to work for someone else?

I am quite happy living my life as an Actress, despite the up and downs and always existing challenges. I guess I’ve always had this instinct as early as I could remember, that I could never take an office job for life. My mom worked in an office until her retirement and somehow I always had this feeling that I would not want to do that. So I decided quite early on that my career would not be one that needs to go to the same office space every single day. I don’t know if this’s a common thing for artists and creatives – sometimes I think working and living life as an Actress has actually made me become much more present in my everyday life. I remember the time before I stepped into doing acting professionally. My mind was always all over the place and I always felt like an outsider. I could sit by a window all day just observe random people and image their stories purely based on tiny little details I picked up from them – the way they walk, talk, dress, interact with the world… Mind travel amazed me. Probably why some family members called me a weird kid. So since now my job is primarily be good at observing and acting as different humans, life outside of acting has become much more grounded and balanced.

Hannie, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I guess each actor tends to have very different approaches on many things. I got passionate about on camera works quite early on as a kid through doing some print works occasionally and performing on dance showcases. Through those experiences I noticed how much I’m on the opposite side of camera shy. I always got so hyped and felt like I had all the magic power when cameras and lights focus on me. I’ve talked several times in other interviews about how my family did not support me to pick creative works for career. When I finally made the biggest decision in my life so far that I’d quit what I was doing at that moment to pursue acting, the obstacles and struggles came with it at the beginning were not all fireworks. My “now” thought is that for anyone who have the talent and passion and would want to do creative work as a full-time job, having it in you is merely the first step in. When I was in college studying acting, it was like living in a bubble. The only thing I needed to concern about was to challenge my own acting. Stepping outside of that bubble, the real industry is way more multi-dimensional. I started to train myself to think as a business owner and I am the product. It actually is running a business.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

I think the biggest misconception I’ve experienced personally is thinking that films and shows are one person or a few’s work. Actors who work on screen are one of the many departments.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

One is to not be a people pleaser and always present your authentic self. When I first started acting and auditioning, I would worry too much about what they want to me look like, act like… How do I make everything perfect… It takes mountains to start recognizing my own uniqueness and be comfortable with always stay in my most authentic self in all the new places and environment.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @hanniemayz

Image Credits
Film Farewell Film Applebox Aputure 4MFS