We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Maye Garner Harris . We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Maye Garner below.
Maye Garner, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.
I was the only graduate of my high school class to take a gap year. I attended high school in Houston, Texas and decided early on I wanted to move to LA immediately after graduation to pursue film/acting full time. Then during my senior year of 2020, the pandemic hit. My plans were derailed as they were for so many and I spent months waiting for the safest and right opportunity to arise for me to finally move. I am so fortunate to have an incredible family who has always supported me as an artist and encouraged me to pursue my passions and creativity. In June of 2021, I booked a featured background role on Damien Chazelle’s Babylon and took the leap to move to LA… a week before shooting started. In the midst of the unknown, I risked everything and jumped right in. I had nothing to lose. The next thing I know, I’m in the middle of the desert at 4am on a bus full of strangers being shuttled to set. Initially, I wasn’t even 100% sure the film was Babylon because there was a lot of effort to keep the details of the film under wraps! Fortunately it was, and I was rewarded with an amazing group of friends as well as an incredible opportunity to experience how a big budget film set operated. If I hadn’t taken the risk and been driven I would probably still be at home waiting. Instead I took agency over my own career and decided when my future would begin.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your background and context?
My name is Maye Garner Harris and I’ve been living in Los Angeles, California for 2 years auditioning, filmmaking, writing and making art. As a kid I was really shy but found an outlet of self expression and creativity in theater. My love for theater transformed into a love for film when I was around 14 and I started taking film classes. I signed with an agent in Houston and was cast in films such as Thistle Creek, an NYU thesis Western film in Comanche, Texas, Return to Sender, a gritty Houston short, and Ribbons, a feel good coming of age film in Brownsville, Texas. I also starred in Broken Hearts, a UT Graduate film in Austin which is now screening in the AGBO and Slamdance film festival here in LA. After moving from Texas, I signed with an LA agent to pursue acting full time. I’m also an oil painter and have been painting and surrounded by art my whole life, as my mom is an artist. I like to explore figurative realism and themes of time and sadness. Recently, my love of acting and fine art intersected as I was cast in the upcoming short film The Blue Period inspired by Picasso’s blue period of painting. I’m currently writing poetry and screenplays as well as exploring other facets of art where I can convey myself creatively. In addition, I admire other art forms such as alternative music and contemporary fiction. I think my constant immersion in creativity has cultivated my empathy and emotional availability in my artwork. I’ve also been a vegetarian for 6 years and encourage animal advocacy and protection.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
I was fortunate to have so many of my early projects led by female directors who are such talented and strong women, and who inspire who I want to be in this industry. Working with them sparked my love for complex female characters who evoke strength but also a raw authenticity on screen. My goal is to lift other women up in this industry and one day be a role model to young women as my first directors were for me. As an artist, I want to be able to advocate for others. I am currently in the process of writing a short film inspired by my brother, Jack, who is on the Autism spectrum and we hope to bring a realistic portrayal of Autism to the film industry which I don’t think has yet captured Autistic voices truthfully or been represented enough. My mission with the project, and my art in general, is to showcase adversity and meaningful connection in our society. My brother is the most intelligent, funny, compassionate person I know and I can’t wait to make this film in honor of him.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
As I touched on earlier, I grew up as a really quiet and shy kid. I didn’t speak up and didn’t talk unless I had to. It was my way of observing the world but also a defense mechanism against getting hurt or made fun of. Visual art was always a way for me to communicate all the hidden parts of myself with the world. With acting I found a way to hide behind characters and to be big and bold on stage but not have the anxiety of being judged as myself. However as an adult I’ve really tried to unpack what acting means to me and how to act genuinely from a place of truth. I have had to unlearn that acting is hiding. Now, I try to find the strength and vulnerability to be myself in my characters and show who I am authentically to facilitate important themes and stories in film. I’ve had to shed my ego and just be myself for the sake of making art which has been really liberating.
Contact Info:
- Website: mayeharris.com
- Instagram: @mayegharris
Image Credits
Kurt Boomer (3 beach photos) Charlie Babcock (1) Mert Atlas (Gucci) The New York Times (Babylon) Broken Hearts Still Alessandra Lichtenfeld Painting by Maye Harris 30×40 oil on canvas “Papa”