Meet Kate Bergeron

I got my degree in Musical Theater from the Acting Conservatory at The Chicago College of Performing Arts. In Chicago, I explored The Second City, got my SAG card, and at night sang with local legend Ray St Ray The Singing Cab Driver in Chameleon World (yes, seriously!). I met my now-husband in that band actually. He’s a drummer, I’m a singer. We just had 2 kids so, fingers crossed, that’s Family Band 2.0! While in Chicago I also took my first steps into producing my own content, creating 2 live shows with my all-female performance art group.

When I found myself drawn to TV and Film, I moved out here to LA. Seeing how many young women in my category there were here, I decided to focus on comedy to set myself apart. I’ve studied at a number of studios but really found my home at The Actor’s Comedy Studio.
A believer in “making your own luck”, I quickly began self-producing again, writing sketch comedy and comedic web series, which led me eventually to half-hour sitcoms.Wanting to express myself using all my skills, I produced two seasons of Katie-Do; a one-woman variety show for the digital age. (https://youtu.be/cWUvWqNTYLk)Katie-Do is comprised of sketches, songs, interviews, and inspiration. Some of the episodes are serious and beautiful, some funny, some weird. I like weird. It was a crash course in editing, directing, producing — so many things.

One of my favorite shorts from the Katie-Do series, “Meditations By Shadow” made it to the final round in the LA Funny Women Festival. Another short I wrote and co-produced was featured on WhoHaHa. I’m proud that I was able to create quality shorts on small budgets with a whole lot of grit and determination.

After a few false starts, I found an agent who truly gets what I’m selling, both as an actor and as a writer, and is incredibly supportive.I work as an actor for hire, primarily in TV and film, my agent’s shopping one of my scripts while I’m developing a couple others, and I’m singing in a band with my husband again. In between all that, I get to snuggle and laugh with my beautiful baby and preschooler. I’m tired! But life is pretty dang good.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Uprooting your life to move to a new city is scary. I’ve done it multiple times. When I moved to Chicago, I didn’t know anyone. I was coming from a very small town. There were cows across the street from my house. Moving into my dorm in downtown Chicago was thrilling and terrifying.

And also, can I just share this? When I was at The Second City Chicago, right before I came to LA, I was told: “You’re too pretty to be funny.” And I know — boo hoo, someone told you you’re pretty, right? But screw that. That was a twisted way to put me in my place, and it made me incredibly self-conscious. I have absolutely tried to take more “charactery” headshots to find my way into an area I know I deserve to be in.

Still, I did head out here and decided to focus on comedy so… I guess the rebel in me is strong enough to overcome my insecurities.

And then, of course, there’s the internal struggles. I don’t think I know anyone — seriously not one single person — who doesn’t experience imposter syndrome at one point or another.

As someone in a creative career (or two or three of them), where judgment of the work is so subjective, it can be really hard to trust yourself sometimes. It’s my job to be emotionally open and available. Actually, that’s my job AND how I navigate close relationships. It’s a challenge walking that fine line between emotional availability and thick skin!

We’d love to hear more about what you do.
I’m known for my comedic timing and musicality, my fearlessness, and honestly, for my big blue eyes.

As an actor, my ideal workload is to go to work every day on a show where I make people laugh. Then once a year I want to dig into a dark, gritty drama and make people sob. Catharsis, baby.

As a writer, I write comedy primarily. Sketch, sitcoms, blog posts about finding rogue spit-up as you walk into the audition. But every third post is about something hard.

And as a singer, I love to make you dance your bad mood away or feel sexy as hell. But at the end of the day, sad ballads are my favorite. The light and the dark. That’s life.

Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
Perseverance. Guts. Whatever you want to call it. A “don’t tell me what I can and can’t do”-ness! It’s not that I’m not afraid to take risks or to put myself out there. I’ve got my fair share of anxiety and self-doubt just like everyone else. But bravery is being afraid and then doing it anyway. And frankly, I’m more frightened of regret than I am of failure.