During this unprecedented time in film and TV history, it may very well be that independent films are going to lead the way. As various professionals discuss the process of reopening the industry, it is a good time to focus on the “movers and shakers” of the indie film world. Since the productions are usually on a much smaller scale, social distancing and other safety practices may be easier to implement and enforce. In light of this, it is my honor to share my recent interview with industry professional extraordinaire, Kate A. McGrath. From the time Kate burst on the scene more than a decade ago, she has been making her way in theater as well as film/TV, and it is my honor to introduce this talented young lady to my readers today.
Photo by Jeffrey Hornstein – © 2011
RH: Hi, Kate, it’s so nice to chat with you today.
KAM: Hi Ruth, thank you for having me. What a pleasure.
What inspired you to pursue a career in the performing arts?
Photo by Jeffrey Hornstein – © 2011
I grew up in a family of “hams.” They played piano, sang, and showed us Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, Bing Crosby with Bob Hope or Danny Kaye, but also showed us movie greats like Rocky or Jaws – granted when I was arguably too young and terrified for the latter – but it was still iconic. My sisters and I would perform “Sisters” from White Christmas or choreograph dance routines for my Grandpop and Nana’s Thanksgivings. It’s funny how when I told them I was becoming an actor, it was a surprise. Any idea of another career path was a lie to myself – it was because it looked normal or interesting in a movie.
Those were the “daydreams,” just like what pays the bills is a “day job.” The real career is the craft. The moment I performed, my blood lit on fire within me. I was alive. It was unlike anything I felt before. My eyes saw a whole new world. It was as if I could know anything and everything, be anyone and everyone, but still be me.
Photo by Brad Rego – © 2013
I notice you have trained in many different areas within the business. Why do you believe it is so important for actors to continue to train throughout their careers?
I always wanted to be good at this, the kind of actor that was hired because she had cojanes to do whatever it took. I don’t think acting or singing is like riding a bike. It takes warming up, performance, time, care to be good. You need to have the talent within you, yes, but also study to develop it, to help establish privacy and grounding. Persistence to hit the pavement, and ironically, patience to hang in. It’s too easy to be used and abused in this business to not be the best you can be at all times – we’ve seen it play out in front of us.
It’s also not just about training to be the level of actor you admire and covering all those bases–meaning techniques, improv, and movement, but hyphenating in other art forms so that you can create your own work.
I work with actors Dave LaRosa and Janine Laino, who were just like me–sick of not getting work and craved it, so they decided, “Let’s create our own.” After much hard work in development, we produced Nicky Newark, DEALeR, and Clandestine – and our careers have blossomed. That was the best thing that happened to my career trajectory.
In production, Feenix Films LLC
What was your first professional acting job, and what are your memories of that role?
It was great. I remember getting paid for extra work on Saturday Night Live. I was literally in the sketch after the “Ashley Simpson” fiasco. I remember being lined up in the hallway where all the portraits of hosts past were, and I was mesmerized by them. Who am I kidding? I was thinking about what I would do in my portrait someday. Then all of a sudden, her song came up, and we were all looking at each other like, “This sounds familiar.”
Two seconds later, P.A.’s were running through, music was cut, and they were yelling, “Extras, move! Move out! Move out!” So there we march through darkened theatre down the main aisle to a “burger joint” set. We take our places and wait for lights up so Seth Meyers and Jude Law can enter.
Photo by Jeffrey Hornstein – © 2017
All that to say, when I found out I even got the job, it was like heaven-sent. My first day walking into that set, all I thought of was Chris Farley and Steve Martin. They were the two people I thought of when I took that first step in. I remembered Chris Farley’s “quotes guy” flying through the air and Steve Martin in a white suit in the ’70s. I just looked around at the big studio and thought: “Never forget this view, this smell, this vibration, this energy for the rest of your life Kate. This is everything.”
You know, to many, it could seem like nothing, but I still get a teary-eyed. When you’re 23/24, and you have nothing–those moments are the world. I remember my first theatre gig like that – the first opening night in a black box theatre in 2002 on 42nd Street. I had nothing but prayers. It meant the world.
You have been involved in theater and film. What are the benefits of both disciplines?
Both are so important. If you think about it, everything started with theatre. This whole craft started on a stage. For me, the obsession and pursuit of it started by seeing movies, but the real love of it and the challenges began with the stage.
Clandestine – winner of the 2016 Gold Remi Award at WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival
For stage work, you learn the importance of living every moment and overcoming the mistakes in each performance, and the show must go on thereafter. I just did a show where I learned things like, yes, you MUST know the lines and the pacing, BUT to over-rehearse takes the moment-to-moment out of it. It takes the “living/breathing” out of it. And this was because I was scared to miss a line or something when all you need to do is realize that the show goes on. Just like when you’re talking to someone, and you stumble on your words…it’s living. These are things I knew in the brain as an actor, but it was my first time doing a comedy on stage after like ten years of dramas, and I was nervous…so guess what?
It ain’t like riding a bike; I needed a refresher.
Janine Laino and Kate A. McGrath in DEALeR
Mistakes happen in film as well, and people will always say, “Eh it’s different. They just cut it”. But I always argue for film to the naysayers. Film taught me subtlety, delicacy. I learned breathing, intimacy. For film, I am not just an actor, but a writer and a filmmaker as well. It has saved me from some very dangerous times. It has brought me everywhere because it could be anywhere. That medium really has changed my life–especially independent film. With indie film, there was a closeness to heart and mind.
I was able to embrace all my weirdness, my inadequacy, my ugliness. In independent film, all of that was considered beauty on the big screen.
Movies also brought dinosaurs back to life. That was kind of amazing.
In addition to acting, you also do some writing. In this day and age, why do you believe it’s important to diversify your skills within the industry?
Nick DeMatteo and Kate A. McGrath in DEALeR
Like I mentioned earlier, there are too many people out there willing to use and abuse. If they aren’t abusive in Hollywood, many of them are apologists or silent about it. To me, the more hyphenated you are, the more of a voice you can have, the more power you have solidified for yourself as an artist. I grew up being disregarded and silenced often…more so, I allowed it to happen. It wasn’t until theatre that I opened my mind and mouth and stopped shutting up. I can’t imagine my life without acting, writing, and producing…particularly considering that it’s an industry mired in rejection, cruelty, vanity, and vapidity.
If you have an idea, write it down. I had a boyfriend years ago–a very talented comic named Lenny Marcus–who always carried a small piece of folded paper and pencil in his pocket. I always had a large bag with a history book, a notebook, pens, and pencils, etc. Guess who wrote more–Lenny.
He made sure that any time he saw something, whether it ended up being a successful punchline or not, it was recorded.
Guess who ended up on Letterman too. It wasn’t me.
Lock-Load-Love
Please tell us a little about your films that have already been released, including any awards they have received.
Currently, we have a film streaming on Amazon Prime called Clandestine, which I wrote and Dave LaRosa directed. It racked up a nice array of awards and nominations, including a win of the Gold Remi for Crime Drama at 49th Annual WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival in 2016 and the Alex Georges Memorial Award for Best Supporting Actress for my work in the film. Acting nominations also went to Dave and Christopher Ryan, among others. Chris has associate produced a lot of our projects. He’s a great writer and former journalist. He’s also written some great crime novels.
Our first release, however, was Lock-Load-Love back in 2010, written by Dave and Chris and directed by Dave. It was a hilarious anthology of bad-date examples that got some local “Official Selections” in New York City. To the day, my sister Tara says that she can relate to more than a few of them.
Our first official feature was Dave’s screenplay Nicky Newark, which he directed and we released in 2011. It won an award with the Los Angeles Reel Film Fest and was nominated for Best Screenplay at the Golden Door International Film Fest in Jersey City. Thereafter, my screenplay DEALeR was released in 2012 and nominated in the same festival for Best Screenplay. It also won Most Watched Movie and Audience Choice in an online festival called FlipsideTV Film Festival.
With each film, we made headway on something: enhanced picture, improved sound, better budget, name actor, superior distribution deal. And we’ve done it together. It’s been a blessing and a ride each time.
What are your current/upcoming works that you can mention? Feel free to elaborate as much as you would like.
We have two films in development with L.A.-based producer Franco Sama. One is a thriller, and the other is a comedy. Dave and Janine wrote the thriller; Dave wrote the comedy.
Still from Clandestine, Dir. by David LaRosa, Dir. of Photography Brad Rego, 2016
As for me, I have one thriller that was just scored and needs work, a memoir in-writing, and a war drama in its first draft. Every week yields about two or three auditions for a show and a voice lesson. That’s the game right now. It’s a hustle.
As a young woman in the industry, how do you feel the industry has changed in terms of the opportunities available for women? How you hope to see things continue to progress for women in the industry in the years ahead?
Well, we’re still hearing nightmare stories and hoping that a judge and jury do the right thing, no? At least at the time of this writing. Oscars 2020 just passed and we are not seeing many Greta Gerwigs or Lulu Wangs receiving awards. Then again, I think that we are starting to see that awards don’t define the craft at all. Most actors are hunkering down, trying to make it, paying the union dues, rehearsing, memorizing, or warming up.
What I like now is that we’re talking about these matters and getting riled up by it. Women know that we can speak up and out, perform, produce, write, run the show, be the show, have or not have kids, homes, and the careers we want and deserve–including within the arts–without threatening, belittling, assaulting. Should the latter occur, justice should and will be done.
Michelle Pfeiffer said in an interview in the ’90s, “You can have it all, but you can’t do it all.” It made sense at the time. Part of me thinks for my life, I want to switch it. I want to do everything I can as an artist. I don’t need much in my life, but I want to use everything God gave me, so I don’t waste a thing. When I meet Him, I don’t want Him to tell me I squandered something.
Which professionals in the industry have most influenced and inspired you? Why did you choose these people?
That’s changed as I’ve gotten older. When I was a teen, it was Wynona Ryder, but she’s even better now.
For a while, it was Patti Smith, the Godmother of Punk. She acted in plays in New York by and with Sam Shepard–God rest him, studied art, wrote poetry and music, and performed. She was courageous–nearly fearless. Nikki Sixx was another one. He survived a lot of demons, but he let no one get in the way of what he wanted. He’s a talent; he came from very little, but he fought anyone who told him no. That was a huge lesson for me. Courage!
Maud Gonne was a British-born Irish revolutionary and actress during the 1916 uprising. I could read her autobiography all day any day. She believed in the freedom of the Irish people, even over her own monarch, and was still an artist at The Abbey Theatre and memoir writer.
Now, I read about Sherry Lansing. She is an incredible producer and performer, even though she has claimed she can’t act. What a legacy. She has been thanked by Jim Carrey, Shonda Rhimes, Chris Farley, David Spade, Jennifer Lawrence–you name em’. She was head of departments at MGM and 20th Century Fox. She was the first female Chairperson of Paramount Pictures. She had to go toe-to-toe about salary inequities, about the men she dated, all while making huge hit films, many of which were about women who were survivors. And she was a caller on Frasier! Sherry Lansing is an icon.
When you’re not working, what do you like to do in your free time?
I wish there was room for more, but I would say read, cycle, play with my cat Heidi, and see friends and fellow artists.
Thank you so much for being here today, Kate.
Blessings to you. Thanks again to you and Wendy {Shepherd, her publicist}.
McGrath performing Live in Trip Sweet 16
There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that Kate’s passion abides in all aspects of the performing arts, and she is definitely on a quest to learn every aspect of the industry and maximize those skills to the fullest extent. While I have not yet had the opportunity to watch any of her works, her infectious enthusiasm practically radiates from the page as she details her experience within and adoration for film and TV. I readily relate to the favorites she mentioned as she was growing up, and I can hardly wait to see what is in store for her in the near and distant future. I invite all of my readers to visit her links below and consider following her and/or watching any of her works that are currently available. I applaud her dedication to her craft and her willingness to stand against criticism and those who wish to undermine her ultimate success within her chosen profession. I wish her every blessing under the sun, and may God enable her to accomplish to the best of her innate abilities all the dreams and goals contained within her heart and soul.
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