Meet Susan-Kate Heaney

Today we’d like to introduce you to Susan-Kate Heaney.

So, before we jump into specific questions, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
Ever since I was little, I was always fascinated by different characters and personalities and hearing people’s stories. One day, when I was about five years old, I saw a mop leaning up against the side of my aunt’s house and to me she looked just like a woman, with stories of her own to tell. This began a lifelong fascination with mops (I have over forty of them, each with different personalities, passions and voices). They truly are part of my life (they came to our wedding!) and have now become part of my work as well, telling their stories through one-woman shows, web series and a feature film currently being developed.

My love of telling stories and embodying different characters never waned, so I performed wherever and whenever I could growing up on Long Island, including summer stock and children’s theater. I also made all of my school projects a performance in some way. For History Day in sixth grade, I wrote a solo show about the Mason-Dixon Line, playing all different characters, which I went on to perform all around New York. And I vividly remember having to do a presentation on The Great Depression and dressing in full costume including soot covering my face and performing musical numbers of the 1920’s with character shoes and a rucksack. Other students had posterboard, I had a fully costumed ten minute cabaret.

I was a wacky (and bold!) child, but it all led me down a path of becoming an actor and writer. It’s the classic- “remember what lit your soul up when you were little and do that for your career” advice, and for me it’s always been using my imagination and performing. I went to Tisch at NYU, spent years doing theater and indie film in NYC, and then moved to LA to focus on film and television. I’ve been lucky to have been on some shows I love (The Mindy Project, Masters of Sex, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend) and to still be able to perform my first love, theater, at various theaters around LA. My love of weird behavior and stories led me to start a podcast called “The Quirks”, where we unpack and ultimately celebrate people’s little oddball behaviors.

Has it been a smooth road?
Okay. So I’m a demented optimist meaning no matter how bleak things look I can always find a silver lining. That has certainly helped me in this crazy world of show business, and so my inner Mary Sunshine wants to put a positive spin on this- and let’s be honest, every- question. But the truth is of course the road is not always smooth. You put your heart on the line and show up for auditions of roles you long to play and you don’t book it because you aren’t tall enough (this happened). Or you book it and film the movie but wind up on the cutting room floor (also happened) or record an episode of the podcast and miss a slight yet annoying clicking noise so have to re-record the entire thing (spoiler alert- just happened)! When setbacks and heartbreaks occur, I breathe. I create something. I live my life. I get inspired by other art forms. I refocus on my moments of pure delight in this job and the why of how I became an actor and creator to begin with. I remember that this is something I get to do, and I choose to do it every day, and when I allow myself the time and space to do all that, Mary Sunshine is never far behind.

We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
I love all different genres of acting, but comedy with a little heart has my heart. I like quirky. I like all different forms of the comedy experience: I perform sketch, improv, on screens, on stage. I threw a live version of “The Quirks” podcast show in the winter when I was eight months pregnant. It was a big extravaganza with fun guests, storytelling, games, prizes, and musical numbers. My doctor forbid me from doing the tap dance I planned, saying she thought I may go into labor. But I did my tap dance because I will do almost anything for a laugh. And I also thought going into labor during a live show at the Comedy Central Stage would be pretty fantastic and would probably go viral. I love my characters fiercely and like to delve into them as deeply as possible. I played Jiminy Cricket in Pinocchio when I was twelve (this still seems like good casting for me) and wrote a twenty page character bio for his wants, passions, desires, and quirks. I still treat my characters with the same respect as I did that little bug.

Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
I’m a New York transplant (hello half of LA!), and at the beginning it was hard to adjust to how much space there is between yourself and other people. I always say in New York you get your heart touched over a hundred times a day with all you see and experience walking and riding subways, and in LA you can go a whole day without ever really interacting with anyone else. But- now that I live here, and I mean really live here, I’ve found ways to get at least a modified version of that connected New York feeling while appreciating the actual space. Let me say that in most of my NYC and Brooklyn apartments my bed touched three walls and here that bed is just chilling, unencumbered. In LA you have to dive in to create connection and stay involved and find your people but it is very doable.

Here’s a random list of my favorite things in and about LA: The Magic Castle, the film industry, The Broad, Son of a Gun, the plethora of oat milk, the beach (shout out to El Matador), the opportunities, swimming pools, the comedy theaters, the sushi (Hama and Sushi Spot and Sugarfish), The Hollywood Bowl, DDPPLA (all lady in the dark dance party, Sundays), the woo-woo, Jon and Vinny’s, the varied neighborhoods and cultures, The Gentle Barn, the dreamers and their dreams, and Musso and Frank’s and their amazing and unmissable dirty martinis.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.susan-kate.com
• Email: susankate.heaney@gmail.com
• Instagram: @susan_kate, @thequirksshow
• Twitter: @sue_kate

Image Credit:
Balloons, Mops and Cinema: Marc Kelly, B & W and Swan: Eric Johnson, Headshot: Dana Patrick

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