We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Suzanne McCormick a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Suzanne thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. The first dollar you earn is always exciting – it’s like the start of a new chapter and so we’d love to hear about the first time you sold or generated revenue from your creative work?
My first paying project was ‘many moons’ ago. I was an extra on an Aaron Spelling TV pilot, in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida called Pier 66. The scene I was needed for was an office scene and I was to be one of the many office workers that day working at a cubicle. It was the first time I was ever on a film set! It was so thrilling to be working on a project in the Aaron Spelling universe!
For those that don’t know him, Aaron Spelling was a hugely successful television producer, producing incredibly successful television shows like ‘Beverly Hills, 90210, Charlies Angels, Melrose Place, Dynasty, The Love Boat and 7th Heaven just to name a few. I thought I’d won the Lotto! While on set I was picked from this group of extras, to walk in front of the camera. Now, this might sound trivial to most but as an actor that’s a huge deal; its an opportunity to been seen on camera and more importantly an opportunity to be seen by casting directors for other shows, which could lead to better roles and more opportunties, such as speaking roles etc.
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’m an actress and stand up comedian. I think I’ve always known that I wanted to be an entertainer. As a child, I held a recital in my basement in the 4th grade, dancing to ‘Rhinestone Cowboy” with my friend Gina. I also developed my penchant for voice impersonations around the same time-oftentimes entertaining family with my Howard Cosell and Mohommed Ali impersonations. As the years rolled past I would entertain friends with my Carol Burnett characters but my first stage experience wouldn’t happen until my senior year of high school. I played a quirky character I had developed called Freda, to help our school during fundraisers and I vividly recall hearing that first bit of laughter…and I was hooked.
After graduation I decided to pursue acting schools rather than traditional universities, mostly because I was not a good student and booked my first commercials right off the batt. I was in haven. Unfortunately, life took a series of twists and turns which pulled me out of the acting world for several years. Then I discovered local theater. Shakespeare’s “Macbeth”, ” Much Ado about Nothing”, Neil Simons “Play it Again, Sam”, Tennessee Williams, “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” and more. After a bitter divorce I moved to South Florida which was experiencing an explosion of TV and Film shows at that time. It was through that move that I was to be in Aaron Spellings pilot, Pier 66. I also worked on Bird Cage starring Robin Williams, Strip Tease starring Demi Moore and Up Close and Personal starring Robert Redford and Michelle Pfeiffer just to name a few projects. After a short break, and a move back to Connecticut I once again dabbled in local theater and stagged readings just to keep my toe in the water so to speak when I learned about comedy classes in New York City and my thought was….’where do I sign up’?
Caroline’s Comedy Club was the venue and my teacher was the amazingly talented and very funny, Linda Smith. Her training and guidance helped to shape my comedy ‘schtick’ to find its voice and her attention to detail shaped my routine. which encompassed more of situational comedy rather then full on jokes and audience banter. It didn’t hurt that I was remarried with a full house of kids and pets, but ulitmately it gave me great content for my stand up. I was fortunate enough to play in some great clubs; Caroline’s Comedy Club in NYC, Governor’s in Long Island, NY, Twin Rivers Casino in Rhode Island and was even offered my own weekly hosting and performing gig at the former Joker’s Wild Comedy Club in New Haven, which I couldn’t take due to work committments but was always honored to have been asked. Please keep in mind too that in having a family I now had to work full-time so comedy and local theater filled in the gaps as best I could and mostly whenever I could.
Fast forward a few years, after my kids were grown, I resigned myself to the fact that perhaps my acting and comedy was just a hobby but fate thought otherwise. Three years ago my middle sister, Cathy was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. She was my hero and battled her diagnosis with incredible strength but it was a horrible time to watch her suffer and not be able to help her-to free her of this pain. But it was during one of our many days together as she was nearing the end of her life that she leaned over and said ‘get back to acting, Suzanne. I know you love your job as an office manager, but its not your passion. Its always been acting. Do what you love in this world and the pieces will all fall together-do it for me”. Cathy was always my biggest supporter in our family and she was one of my closest friends, and she was always right. And so several weeks after her passing, I did in fact quit my lucrative job-a job I’d invested 9 and a half years in to pursue this passion. And not a day goes by that I don’t regret it.
I’ve met incredible people along the way as well. Since I take my craft very seriously I make sure to stay in acting classes to keep my skills sharp and to be able to form great connections with my fellow actors as well. But this latest chapter in my career has truly been very fulfilling. I was contacted by Fox Nation to be on the Pilot episode of ‘Taxi Cab Comedy with Jimmy Failla”, I have a co-starring role in an upcoming Amazon Prime series which is loosely based on a real crime family. I also have a wonderful film called ‘The 7th Day’ about to hit the film festival circuits, and I’ll be filming another psychological thriller early 2026, as well as a few commercials, voice over projects and vertical short films too. So its been a steady, fun ride and I am thrilled to see what else comes along in 2026.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
I love what I do every day now. And yes, I do it for me but I’m simultaneously doing it for my sister as well-and that makes me so happy to honor her this way. In addition, I truly love the acting process. I love the creative process of delving into character creation. Creating a narrative for who my character is, what’s the story behind who they are and how they got to where they are now in this story that I’m portraying. I find that this helps me to perform better as I can draw parallels from there life to mine, to keep my performance authentic yet believable and real.
In my comedy, I love making people laugh, and I always have. It warms my heart to see people react to the unexpected or absurd. One of my favorite compliments is that I’m so unpredictable, they just never know what’s coming. And I face my acting the same way. I’ve played cute, kind, funny women as well as strong, untrustworthy or often times psychologically flawed people-and I relish each and every one of them. I can’t say that I want to be the next Meryl Streep because let’s face it, there’s only ONE Meryl Streep and she’s in a category all by herself, and there’s no duplicating that woman. However; I would like to be a female version of Tom Hanks. I feel I can relate more to him in his journey. Tom started in comedy on Bosom Buddies the comedy sitcom way back when and look at how far he’s come-the diversity his roles. Look at his range! He’s a true chameleon (just like Meryl) and I just adore him. He is my idol. I too found my voice in comedy and once I found my footing, I felt much more comfortable and ready to stretch myself as an actor. And now.. I have no limits.
One of the reasons I’m happy I waited till now to pursue this full-time is because I’m much more mature now. I can handle the rejection that comes so frequently with this job. I wouldn’t have been able to handle that when I was younger. This business takes a toll on you which is why its important you have tools to help you stay focused. For me that’s my faith. I know someone reading this just spit out their coffee, but truly, my faith keeps me grounded and centered and I rely on it daily in all areas of my life. I also write creatively as well as my own comedy, and, have just completed my first mini one woman show. I’m also working on another one woman show centered around true crime as well. I’ve also found ways to be in the business when I’m in between acting jobs and that’s been my voice over work and behind the scenes volunteering. Both extremely fulfilling. My voice over work allows me to use my many character voices, which is a true perk for me as I’m dying to work in video games and animation. My volunteer work allows me to help others with whatever gifts I can share with others and that is always equally fulfilling.
When I first started in this industry in the mid to late 80’s, you were either an actor or you were a behind the scenes person, i.e. production assistant, script supervisor, driver, casting assistant, location scouts etc. Now you can do both and its not frowned upon. As an actor you need to work to help subsidize your income in between acting jobs. You can also do background work, which helps to get you on set while exposing you to the ins and outs of the industry. Its a win, win situation. I just wouldn’t recommend putting background work on your resume’ as it could pigeon hole you to agents. So keep a running list of them for sure, with dates worked, who the director was, name of film as well as production company for your own records and for when you meet a talent agent or talent manager. This way you can discuss your on set exposure to them. That will show that you know your way around a set and how to behave on set as well. But thanks to Covid, there is so much more available to showcase yourselves when you have work or even when you don’t, to build your resume. There are also UGC, User Generated Content videos for tiktok and Instagram, you can volunteer to teach, you can volunteer to be a production assistant or even just create and post your own acting shorts via social median…because the world truly is your oyster. For any newbies or returning actors I’d say go for it all. You never know who you will meet on set and you never know who will see you and pull you from the crowd to be in a shot. So enjoy the process but never stop learning. Keep taking classes to stay current, network whenever you can, join organizations for theatrical people. My favorite is Women in Film and Video New England (Boston Branch). These organizations are always running great showcases, annual functions, guest (industry) speakers and classes. Register on all the main sites to find work; Backstage.com, Actorsaccess.com, CastingNetworks.com, Centralcasting.com and get an acting profile on IMDB.com.
And for any new actors reading this please note, you don’t need to have acting work on your resume’ to get acting work. You do need a love and a respect for the craft and a willingness to step outside of yourself. Don’t have the money for acting lessons? Jump on Youtube and watch as many free classes as you can to gain some basic skills. Start reading out loud daily and testing yourself on memorization skills-try to memorize an article, paragraph a week to start building those skills. The rest will fall into place as you go and always have fun with it. Its a wonderful industry.
Contact Info:
- Website: don’t have one
- Instagram: suzanne_mccormick_1
- Other: IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm7562046/
Image Credits
Photo by Nile Scott Studios (Rhode Island)and Dina K. Photography (Massachusetts) Jennifer Higham Photography (Connecticut)