Today we’d like to introduce you to Megan Gill.
Megan, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
In middle school, I found *cue accent* The Theatre. I pursued musical theatre, in particular, throughout high school and knew I wanted to study it in college. At the time, I was a large kid and had trouble getting cast in high school productions. My mentor in high school warned me of the harsh reality of the industry’s physical standards. My mentor is wonderful; the toxic societal standards the entertainment industry succumbs to are not. I didn’t realize the full weight of it all at the time, but this did not stop me.
I attended Wichita State University and spent my summers performing in summer stock across the Midwest. I’d lost a ton of weight throughout my time in college, and not necessarily the healthy way. The summer after I graduated, I was cast in Music Theatre Wichita’s 42nd Street. At the time, this had been my highest professional point, yet my lowest health point. I was eating a paleo diet, clocking my calories. I was in rehearsals (and shows) for multiple hours a day and didn’t allow myself to eat anything off of the sweets table. Needless to say, I was hungry and didn’t have enough energy to sustain myself. There was a cast party at the end of the show that I didn’t want to attend out of fear that I wouldn’t be able to eat anything that aligned with my diet. In the days following the show, I binged. I will never forget that I couldn’t stop eating sweets (I recall mounds of dark chocolate peanut butter peanuts, in particular) — just shoving anything sugary in my mouth.
After that, I spent a year doing regional theatre (still struggling, might I add) and eventually ended up in my hometown of Chicago. Throughout my three years there, I went on to yo-yo diet and beat myself up for not exercising as much as I should have, always trying new toxic things to keep the weight I’d lost off. While I was struggling with my weight, watching it go up and down and up again and down again, I was performing in theatres from equity houses and small, intimate black boxes across the city. It was here where I also found film. I fell in love with film. In 2018, I randomly got a wild hair to move to LA, and six months later I did.
I didn’t realize exactly how much I’d been struggling until a year after I’d moved to LA. This was March 2020 when COVID struck. I’d still been up and down with my relationship to food, exercise, and my body. I’d never taken the time to truly examine what was going on there. However, during lockdown, I allowed myself to eat what I wanted, exercise how and when I wanted and had more grace for my body and my habits than I’d ever had before. Throughout the remainder of 2020, I had the time to sit with myself and unpack all of my experiences with my body. I began to see where my problems were and that I was struggling with some form of undiagnosed orthorexia without even realizing it. I’m so thankful for that time to slow down and really examine what I’d gone through with my relationship to my body and how I wanted to continue to move forward in an actually healthy way.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It wasn’t always a smooth road, no. It’s also kind of weird calling these experiences struggles because what I’ve gone through (good or bad) is a part of who I am today. One thing I’m grateful for is that performance opportunities weren’t simply handed to me on a silver platter. Had they have been, had I not had to “struggle,” I don’t think I would have an ounce of the resilience that is in my blood today. I don’t think I would have worked as hard as I have to pursue this work while changing the way it’s traditionally done.
On the same note, had I not experienced the journey I had with my body, I never would have written A BROADWAY BODY. I never would have had the opportunity to expose what is happening in collegiate musical theatre programs and push the entertainment industry to do better. I never would have had the intimate conversations with other women, both who inspired the story and related to the story. I never would have understood what so many women (and people) deal with by just existing. Our bodies aren’t here to be poked and prodded at; our bodies are our business, and they deserve to exist both on stage and on screen.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar, what can you tell them about what you do?
I’ve always been an actor. I started out on stage and migrated into the film world. During quarantine, I wrote multiple Disney song parodies and I also do VO work. I’m passionate about telling real, raw stories and working with all types of humans with different stories to tell.
I recently wrote, produced, and starred in a short film. We shot in LA this October. This is my most proud accomplishment to date. I’ve acted in many short films over the years, but A BROADWAY BODY is the first script I’ve written. This film has brought more joy than I ever could have imagined. What started out as an idea to “create my own work” turned into one of the most powerful and rewarding experiences of my life — and it’s not because I created a film. It’s the message behind the piece, it’s the dedication and gratitude crowdfunding taught me, it’s the incredible team of women that came together to tell this story. A big part of my mission with the film was to curate a mostly female / very diverse team. I wanted to give women the opportunity to have their voices, creativity, and stories heard through this film. The diversity on the team is what made it the best because we included everyone. It’s a personal mission of mine to continue to work with diverse teams in the future.
I also love telling stories in non-verbal ways. I’ve done a lot of narrative music video work, and coming from the musical theatre world, I truly believe there’s nothing more powerful than music paired with storytelling. Naturally, it was important to me to ensure that a big portion of A BROADWAY BODY included non-verbal action, and there’s also a voiceover element to it as well. I wanted to implement all of my loves into one under-ten-minute piece, and I’m so proud to say that with the help of so many wonderful humans, I pulled it off!
Alright so before we go can you talk to us a bit about how people can work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
Now that I’ve been bit by the producing bug, I know there will be more films down the pipeline. I already have my idea for the next film. Though unlike with A BROADWAY BODY, I think I will sit with the script longer and send it around the screenwriting festival circuit. I am always open to pursuing new projects with other filmmakers! I am definitely excited to collaborate and work with more creatives of all walks of life. You can connect with me through Instagram, through my IMDb or website.
People can support me and my mission by writing for the unheard, giving everyone a chance, and telling more stories about disappointing societal standards. I will say, though, that the campaign for A BROADWAY BODY is still open as we will be raising more money to successfully complete post-production.
Oh! Please reach out if you have a story to share or would like to connect about your own experiences with your body or any other challenge you’re facing. Whether you’re an actor, in business, a musician, a brewer, a sound person – I would love to hear your story. I can only hope that by telling mine, I will give others space to share theirs.
I also want to shout out Leah Huebner of Huebner Headshots for being open to hearing my story during our shoot and for capturing the REAL me – thank you!
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: http://www.megangill.com
- Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/themegangill
http://www.instagram.com/abroadwaybody - Other: https://igg.me/at/a-broadway-body
Image Credits:
Leah Huebner – Huebner Headshots
