We recently connected with Melanie McNulty and have shared our conversation below.

Melanie, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

As basic as it sounds, I’ve known I wanted to be an actor for as long as I can remember. Where it really solidified as a possibility for me was after I booked my first paid acting job, I was 17 years old, and I booked a commercial that landed me my SAG-AFTRA (Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) eligibility. Which is not an easy thing to get! I’m also lucky that I went to a high school that fostered passion in the arts. I was able to dance, sing, and act both in electives during the day, and in extra-curricular activities after school. I had a director, Stevi Marks, who really believed in me. One day after a rehearsal, she called me into her office and told me I had “it,” and to keep pursuing my dream to be a professional actor. It was that confidence and encouragement that solidified that I really could follow this career path.
From that moment, I suddenly had my eyes opened to other graduates from my high school who had gone on to pursue arts careers. After that, I realized that a career in the arts was both viable and possible, and from there I never turned back. I was certain I would major in theatre and acting, and follow my passion in college and beyond.

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 back background and context?

I am an actor/director/writer/acting teacher and acting coach. First and foremost I am an actor who works in theatre, on camera, and as a voiceover artist both commercially and theatrically. As a girl I grew up dancing, which is where I was exposed to being on stage. As I got older I realized what I loved about dance was expressing emotion. From there I got into theatre and musical theatre, and then on camera acting, and most recently in the last few years, voiceover.

As an acting teacher and coach, I work with actors on their acting and audition technique. I help actors get specific with their work by diving into script analysis and identifying story structure. As a writer and director, I have a deep understanding and passion for text analysis. An actors job is to tell the story from the character’s point of view, which can only be done through comprehending what the character’s role in the story is. So in class or 1:1 sessions, I work with actors on text analysis, and coach them through auditions and practice material. Ultimately, it’s my goal to find what makes an actor unique so they can bring that uniqueness to their character.

Because I wear many hats in the entertainment industry, and I’ve been trained in both theatre and on camera work, I have a well-rounded foundation in understanding both the creative and business sides. It’s through bringing a mix of this knowledge to every audition, rehearsal, class, session, or creative meeting, that I can come up with creative solutions to storytelling. For me, it always comes back to story. What are you here to say? What is the message you want to leave your audience with? I’m always focused on how can I embody that through whatever medium I’m working with.

Recently I was nominated for a Jeff Award for ‘Cry It Out’ which I directed last year at Theatre Above the Law. In the Chicago theatre community, the Jeff Awards are like a local Tony Awards, so it’s a huge honor to be recognized amongst all of the incredible theatre artists here. I am particularly passionate about works written by women about women’s stories, and elevating as many women artists as possible. ‘Cry It Out’ was exactly that, and it’s amazing how many people that production was able to touch.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

As an actor, I am being rejected constantly. It is baked into the profession. In the numbers, you are destined to not book most of the jobs you audition for. I keep an audition tracking spreadsheet for data and connections, and in my first year after graduation, I literally went on 100 auditions. I got 3 offers that year, of which I only took 1. I remember feeling like such a shell of myself, I would be shaking in so many of those rooms. But looking back it’s one of the best experiences I could ask for as a very green actor. Through putting myself through all of those rooms, I took so many risks, made a complete fool out of myself multiple times, but I never let that get me down. I kept going because I knew eventually someone would give me a chance. I still keep track of auditions, and I still don’t book many of them, but I don’t let that keep me from quitting, because I know that a lot of the time, it has nothing to do with talent, and maybe you’re not right for the look or the character, but every time you put yourself out there you are planting seeds and making connections that could lead you somewhere in the future.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

I love engaging in performance and storytelling arts because it’s how I process my experience as a human on this planet. It’s my way of working through feelings and processing my experience. I love getting to share that with others in hopes that they can also see themselves, or even see someone else and have the opportunity to empathize with them. Human psychology and our sociology is fascinating to me. I love to turn on the social scientist and athropologist part of brain when attacking a story. The most rewarding part is in the doing for myself because I love the moment when I discover something new. But I would also say tied with when your piece really speaks to an audience and connects with them, and their world view expands or they’re touched emotionally. Sharing that connection with an audience is after all what makes storytelling so special.

Contact Info:

• Website: melaniemcnulty.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/melaniemcnulty_
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/melaniepmcnulty/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melanie-mcnulty-890004163/

Image Credits
Simeon Pratt, Tyler Core, Works by Willow