Today we’d like to introduce you to Kate McIntyre.
Hi Kate, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I started acting when I was 18 (I’m now 68). I was one of those kids that everyone made fun of – my family was poor, I wore rummage sale clothes (before it was called “vintage”) and my parents kept goats. I was also overweight and wore thick coke-bottle bottom glasses (because of course, right?) I was also a band geek and a nerd.
My parents were abusive as well – which I’m not going to go into, but let’s just say that I spent as much time as possible away from home, or if I had to be home, I was in my room with books. Those books were my lifeline – I’d go to the library, come home with the maximum 7 books – and read every single one in two weeks.
As to my start in acting, my high school was one of the first high schools in the US to stage “Fiddler on the Roof”. I was in the orchestra, and every night I sat there with my baritone sax, gazing at all the dancing, singing and acting going on – and wishing I could do that. Because of my status as a freak, I would have not have been welcome, so I waited until I graduated from high school.
My first college class was an acting class – and I fell truly head-over-heels in love with acting. For the next 20 years, I auditioned every chance I got – in spite of my legs shaking visibly (I wore long skirts to auditions for a decade – true story!). My first stage musical was a role in the Women’s Stage Chorus of “Oklahoma” – it was such a magical experience! I’ll never forget the final chorus of “Oklahoma – where the wind comes sweeping down the plain…” – because I could feel (and almost see) those tethers of bright blue energy connecting me to 10 members of that audience. Magical.
Over the years, my craft improved. I started getting larger roles; among my favorites are Miss Adelaide from “Guys and Dolls” (I’ve been privileged to play her 5 times), Mary in “Mary, Mary”, Anne’s mother in “Diary of Anne Frank”, and Matron “Mama” Morton in “Chicago”. In all, over the years, I’ve done more than 250 plays and musicals. I also learned the other parts of the craft – I built sets, I stage-managed, I produced, and finally directed several shows. More magic. I was also working a full-time job – my schedule for years was normally work 8am-5pm Monday-Friday, rehearsal Monday-Wednesday nights and performance Thursday-Sunday… I was younger then! I jumped back into theatre this year and decided to audition for the role of Fraulein Schneider in “Cabaret” – I thought it was a small role and just the right size for me to get back in the pool. I was completely gobsmacked when they cast me in the role – and learned that she was one the main leads – with FOUR songs. It was terrifying…. but once I got back on that stage, the magic swirled right back into my heart as I lived through Fraulein Schneider’s journey from happiness to love to bitter heartbreak. I had forgotten how much I loved the stage – and I’m looking forward to my next opportunity – I guess, if I’m being honest, I could call it my next “fix.”
We almost always had a “meet and greet” with the audience members after the shows, and many people asked me if I was in TV or film because, they said, I was that good. I hadn’t ever thought of it, but the more I thought about it, the “righter” it sounded. Of course, I was still working that 8-5, and I didn’t make any move to make that happen.
However, I firmly believe that the universe has a way of …moving us along if we aren’t following the correct path. At that time I was working at a job that I friggin’ HATED – 8 hours of nearly unbearable tedium every day. The universe decided it was time to correct that – so I got fired. Now, I had to make choices – so I decided to go for it. I went through my finances, and decided to file for bankruptcy to shed the credit cards, got a roommate and cut my budget down so I only had to make $250 a week (remember this was in 1989 or so), and I signed myself up for every temp agency in town. That launched my career.
First, an on-camera class because I had absolutely no idea how it all worked, and then I got me some headshots and started submitting myself for roles. Back in that day, it was via paper headshots and a 9×12 manila envelope. I signed up at Central Casting to do background work, and I had fun working on shows like Cheers and ER. and films like “True Lies”. That was quite the adventure – it was filmed in the lobby of the Ambassador Hotel where Arnold Schwartzenegger’s stunt double rode a horse through the lobby at top speed chasing a motorcycle. This guy liked to show off, so after one scene, as he dismounted, he swung his leg over the horse’s head – and ended up kicking it in the head. The horse spooked and took off – CHAOS!!! That poor horse was terrified. It finally calmed down – but not before it nearly sat on the camera that was filming behind the motorcycle. Oh – and in those days, Arnold smoked the absolute SMELLIEST cigars ever. Ick.
Ah…I digress. Background work could be somewhat degrading at that time; on some sets, we were treated like walking furniture. The worst for me was when a PA accused me of stealing my own clothes. She went so far as to drag the first AD off the set. I was fuming, and she… well, she might’ve gotten fired. My goal with my background work was to get my SAG card – 3 SAG vouchers, and you were IN. I got one, then I booked an under-5 on an AFTRA show (Married with Children), and because there was a rule that if you were a member of AFTRA for a year, you could join SAG. After that, I sneakily called in to Central Casting’s union work line (didn’t tell them which union, ya know?).
I got that magical 3rd voucher on the movie “Dave” – I was one of the secretaries working in Bill Pullman’s temp office when Dave (Kevin Klein) brought in this little weeping lady to get her a job. (I swear, I was in awe – that little lady literally wept all day.) Anyway, I had long nails, so they gave me a couple of bottles of nail polish and an emery board, so I was filing my nails. I decided that chewing gum might be fun – so I started chewing some invisible gum. After we cut on one scene, a PA came running out to my desk, dumped 2 packs of gum on the desk and told me “The director (Ivan Reitman) really likes what you’re doing.”
What a great day! Kevin Klein introduced himself to me, said my name in the scene, I got my 3rd SAG voucher, and Ivan Reitman noticed me – an EXTRA. Wow. I always hoped to have the chance to work with him, so I could mention that the girl with the invisible gum was me, but he passed away in 2022.
I joined SAG in 1992 and continued to do background work after that – because I figured I’d rather work on a set than a stuffy old office. Unfortunately, at that time, there was a serious stigma attached to background actors – you just “didn’t do that”, because if you did, you “weren’t a real actor”. At that time, I had been acting for more than 20 years, so that didn’t sit well with me. Finally, the indignities of being an extra got to me – whether it was the stealing my own clothes or not being allowed to sit in chairs on one set – we had to sit on backless wooden benches – or the craft services for background on a major film set that consisted of apples and water. I had had enough.
Anyway, I finally got an agent – a good one and got my first network credits (Grace Under Fire, Brimstone, The Practice). It has been up and down since then – the actors’ strike, the writers’ strike, losing my agent, getting a new agent, etc. I was trying to work a full-time job again and sneaking out to go to auditions… I got fired more times than I can count. The universe again, yanno?
Fast forward to 2018 – I got fired again. I faced another major decision. I was 63 years old – not yet eligible for Social Security/Medicare. I didn’t want to get another job – besides, who would hire a 63 years old? (The answer is essentially nobody.) So I made the decision to go all in – I had a decent 401K, so I decided that I’d bet on myself and my talent – and use my 401K to live on while I pursued acting full time. By this time, I had a great agent and I was making steady progress.
So now, I’m always hustling for work – small gigs, music videos, and yes, background work (like I said, a girl’s gotta eat), and I now teach private acting lessons to my six current students, which helps. I used my time during COVID to write – and I wrote a romantic dramedy sitcom based on my life and two feature films.
And now? I am truly fortunate to have a wonderful agent (who is also a dear friend) who gets me quality auditions (VO, commercials, film, TV, modeling, etc.), and I have an amazing manager who has gotten me several guest star and co-star auditions and I look forward to a great year in 2023.
So, like The Jeffersons, I”m “Movin’ on Up.” And now? I have a self-tape, so I gotta go learn my lines.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Yes, abusive parents led to my marrying an abusive man (the worst two years of my life)… which led to lots of therapy, where I learned about alcoholic families (I’m the “Hero Child”).
I was seriously bullied (and then fired) at one of my final full-time jobs to the point where I was so depressed and traumatized that I considered suicide. I was blessed to find a compassionate therapist who literally saved my life. But… I did get an amazing blessing from that experience: I can now cry at the drop of a hat. So… lemonade from lemons. Always.
Now it’s just the day-to-day stress of trying to pay my bills with 8 bucks in my bank account and the continued hustling for work. The universe generally takes care of me, though – now that on the right path, the universe sees to it that I book something that will bring in some money —- for which I’m grateful.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
My manager gave me one of the best compliments I’ve ever had in my acting career; she said I was a “chameleon”, in that I am able to transform myself into a wide range of characters, from a cannibal grandma to a mob matriarch to a woman with Alzheimer’s dementia to a 1950’s librarian to a ghoulish host for a program of horror shorts.
I have so much fun with all that – 20 years of community theatre equipped me well for doing character makeup, wardrobe (I have a 2nd closet full of wardrobe pieces from gold-sequined pants to leather gear) and hair.
The characters in my wheelhouse are always somewhat flawed, quirky, and somewhat outside of “normal” – with a sadness and vulnerability underlying nearly every character I play, comedy or drama. My horrible childhood and young adulthood have given me what I call “a deep well” – an ability to see into my characters’ hearts and find that something that makes them come alive. I was told several times during the run of “Cabaret” that my portrayal of Fraulein Schneider had people in the audience crying. Oh, how I loved that!! That’s a precious gift to an actor – the ability to take the audience with you on whatever journey you undertake.
Have you learned any interesting or important lessons due to the Covid-19 Crisis?
I’ve always been rather solitary; books were my best friends, so I was very well set up to cope during Covid. So, I decided to try something I had never done before: write for TV/film.
I have always been a writer – I’ve written copy, newspaper articles, and I have a personal blog that I wrote faithfully for more than 3 years. But – I had never tried my hand at writing fiction because I didn’t think I had a talent for it. So during Covid, decided to give it a try.
I had written a simple little story – only 2 pages – about a cheerful, happy, (lonely) fat girl who was everybody’s jolly pal and shoulder to cry on… who never got asked to the prom, who believed that she had no chance of finding love because she was too fat, so she lived her life being everybody’s buddy. Until that day the cutest guy in the office casually asked her to go to lunch with him. My fat girl thought that maybe he had a lady problem he wanted to ask for advice from her, or maybe how to get wine stains out of a white shirt…
So they went to lunch at a Chinese restaurant, discovered a mutual love of garlic and a lot of other things. They laughed and talked… until the conversation got a little more serious. At the end of this magical lunch, the cutest guy in the office had told the fat girl that he had wanted to ask her out on a date for a long time… and he did. And she said yes.
That simple little story expanded into an 8-episode half-hour romantic dramady – I’m very proud of it. It’s funny and touching and also includes some of the more traumatic events of my life. I used the time during Covid to have table reads on Zoom for each episode, and that was so much fun.
Below is the link to the 20-minute proof of concept (originally intended to be a standalone short but expanded into 8 episodes). Now, if I can find $50,000, I can film the revised and expanded 30-minute pilot. (Still working on that….)
https://tinyurl.com/LifesABanquet
Pricing:
- 1 hr private coaching, audition prep – $35
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.kate-mcintyre-actor.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kate.mcintyre.actor/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/actorkate.mcintyre/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/IAmKateMc1
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gt6mHyiI__Q
- Yelp: https://vimeo.com/katemcintyre
- Other: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0570776/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0
