We recently connected with Dorothy Hadley Joly and have shared our conversation below.
Dorothy, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Are you able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen?
Though I am considered a paid actor, I do have a goal to be able to make a living as an actor, which I might add, is up on my goal board. Currently my money is going right back into my career. Though I have had the opportunity of being in four supporting roles in TV and Features and one short this year, they will not make ends meet. I do consider them as great building blocks. once I get the footage added to my reel. As of right now, I realize I am going to have to make my own content to make some money, once these strikes do end. In the meantime, I can write my own personal content, keep playing, and improving upon my acting skills, as I look and meditate on my goals each day. And yes, I do have a whole bunch of index cards with a movie in mind, And, now that I have publicly confessed that, that story is now going up on my goal board as well.
Dorothy, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I am an actress and always wanted to be one since I was a child. Well, it was either that or an Interior Designer. And since I bowed out of art school because I could not handle the judgement of my work, I veered away and right into the career with the most personal judgment ever, acting. Why?!?! Looking back at it now, I realize my quest was to truly find a love in me that conquers all fears and obstacles. What better choice than to become an actor? Oh, it has been a ride of many deviations I may add. After middle school, high school, community theater, and a year of attempting to get my BA at UMASS, Amherst. I left. The fear of not knowing how to support myself as an actor eventually swept in. My father refused to let me go to hair and makeup school in case I needed to support myself. I ultimately used that excuse to stop all together and instead enjoy dating and socializing at the clubs. Oh, what fun!!!!
After getting two associates, worked, fell in love, got married, community theater, sang in Choirs and Worship bands, had two amazing boys, moved from the North to the South, and worked again, I then found SCAD and their film department in good ole Savannah. GA. (Savannah College of Art and Design) Oh I was back at it for the long haul. But I still had to relearn everything as an actor, which also included learning who the heck I was and how great a thing that truly is for the world. Yes, every one of us has to learn that. You are the gift that can help transform the world positively in your own little way. Great teachers and mentors will get you there. I have had quite a few and still do. We do not do this business on our own. It does take a village.
I am the proudest of finding me in the whole process and of giving that gift to the world. It has been 15 years since I began again, and somehow on the journey, I found me, I even found my way to feature films. That is something I am so incredibly grateful for today. Do I still have more to learn? Every amazing day I am learning new things about myself and others. I am thankful for all of it. It takes, determination, courage, confidence, perseverance, the ability to look deep inside yourself, and truly a good sense of humor. Never ever forget that part for anything. It makes it a lot easier to bring love to it all and conquer a lot of really interesting situations. Well, it has for me. I hope for you too.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
I had recently drove to a film set that I was in. It was a 3 hour and 20-minute drive for a 5 PM call time. Once I got there, I immediately felt comfortable, everyone was great, we were fed well, and we were all treated well. It was a professional set. This particular day they got a bit behind, as happens a lot on many sets. Things happen, another shot is added, lines are forgotten, or something breaks. You just never know, and as professionals one must adjust accordingly. Well, it came down to my scenes in the last hour of the day at 10 PM. We have to be out by 11 PM to honor contacts. And we had to film in three different areas of the house.
Now as we approached the scene, I began to realize it was way different then I had envisioned and auditioned the scene. I had to drop all of my preconceived ideas. Our director changed up the lines in those moments preceding filming the scene. And now my Improvisation skills are kicking in, this is where 12 years of Improv from my Spolin Master Teacher, Jeanmarie Collins, came to full light under full intense pressure.
Did I feel the pressure? I did not feel it to the extent of what you might think. I just became part of the everything and open to anything. It was a full sense of being in the moment. It was the camera and I during takes, and it was the director and I between takes. She asked me to do something, I did it. No questions, just do. We moved 10 people from a bathroom to a beautiful stairwell (going up and down 20 or so times), and then to a hallway all with the director, the crew, cameras, lights, me and props all within the hour ending right at the 11:00th hour on the dot. Everything I had trained for came into one moment and worked easily, intensely, with fluidity and with grace. I was estatic…..
And then, I drove back home after filling up with coffee for the 3 hours and 20 minutes in the middle of the night drive. I was pretty high on life from that experience, except for that last hour. The coffee had lost its grip and there I was for an hour making the window go up and down, taking deep breaths, pinching myself, wondering why there was no coffee left, and slapping my cheeks. What is the point of this last part? Don’t do that.
What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?
Oh, my goodness there is so much. It is such a different job than anyone perceives from the outside. It is not a normal job though we would like it to be. I would love it if it were all run like the Carol Burnett Show. They were out by 4 every day. What?!?! Alas, it is not to be for so many logistical reasons. I digressed.
Investing in the arts is one of the greatest gifts you can bestow upon a theater or for the future career of a future thespian. You can see shows and bring kids, get them into theater camps, allow their full creative expression to thrive, rejoice in the creative soul, let them express themselves, love a kid’s creativity even if you do not get it. (It is precious to them), let them make silly things up, clap and laugh with them, play games, and even find your inner child with them again. I will never forget a mother of one my friend’s used to bring a few of us to the theater for musicals, puppet shows, and ballets. I am forever grateful to that lady. I do not remember who she was at this point. I just know I love that lady. She awakened something in me that took years to develop. They did develop, even if it took decades.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_dorothyhadleyjoly_/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dorothy.joly
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dorothy-hadley-joly-84929942/
- Twitter: @DJDottyJoly
- Youtube: @theblufftonlocalnomad8767
Image Credits
1. Chris Helton (primary photo with pink jacket and pearls) 2. Chris Bickel (flower headband) 3. Patrick Roper (tan jacket with pearls) 4. me 5. me 6. Valeria Tannuzzi Photography (Blue Shirt) 7. Anthony Paderewski Anthony Shoots People (red lipstick)