Meet Mo Beatty

Today we’d like to introduce you to Mo Beatty.

Mo, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I moved to Los Angeles about eight years ago with big dreams and a bright hope of becoming the next Leonardo DiCaprio. Ok well, the female version of him anyway. I thought that my background in the performing arts was enough. I was a child actress starting out at the age of four: in commercials, voice-over, and two movies starring Armande Assante and Charlie Sheen. But, the proverbial “what have you done recently?” kept popping up.

After eight years of grinding through, creating my own work (The Chebo on CryptTV, Roadside Fling), taking bit parts in movies like Defending Santa & The Wrong Mother (ION TV, Lifetime), I realized that I was trying to figure out who the industry wanted me to be instead of being who I actually was. So I got married, changed my name, changed my professional name to my nickname, chopped off my hair, and this past year I have booked four commercials, two movies, and one Netflix VO dubbing alone. I stepped into the skin of a person whom I could actually relate to because it was actually who I was all along.

Has it been a smooth road?
Definitely not as I shared before. And there are still struggles ahead. The artistic life is a tough one no matter how you approach it. You just have to find the work that fulfills you every step of the way AND find stuff that fulfills you despite the many no’s that come with it.

The general obstacle is being so married to my limiting beliefs, which I have many. The main one was that I couldn’t have at all. I couldn’t be married to a person I truly love and have a career. That I couldn’t be financially stable and have time to take impromptu trips. The truth is if you want something for real, and take the action to make it happen… you CAN have at all.

One struggle is the amount of auditions versus the amount of jobs you actually get. It’s hard to explain to your lawyer brother at Christmas that the rules of probability don’t apply when your career has been a vacant warehouse for a ridiculous amount of time. So recently, I have changed my idea of what success truly is. When I get an audition I shout hooray; when I book a job, I shout hooray in the same fashion. I make them equal in my mind. I thrive on rejections. Rejections mean that one wasn’t for me, but maybe the next one will be.

The struggle is real. Every day is a grind with very little reward ninety percent of the time. But, I believe if you keep at what you want despite the no’s, big magic can happen.

A few years ago, I had two male talent managers that told me I would never have a career because I’m almost thirty and I’ve never booked a co-star on network television. “If it doesn’t happen for a woman by thirty, it will never happen.”

I carried that limiting belief around for awhile until earlier this year something shifted in my mindset. I began to focus on the actual work instead of caring about the outcome. I’m so glad I decided to give up that belief because last week I booked my very first co-star in network television. And guess what? I’m thirty.

I’ve learned to just keep at it if you love the art. Be the lightning rod in the swirling art storm, eventually the sun will shine no matter what the age.

We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
I am an actress and a producer of my own content. I’m known for my MoMotivation that I have created as a result of elevating other artists to take action in their own careers. I’m proud that I haven’t quit and instead embraced inspiring others around me. The world needs more people that are doing things that they are actually passionate about.

I am proud to say that I work with my husband on a lot of projects. People trust us a lot as a working unit and I am really stoked about some of the current films we are in pre-production for.

Being able to work in the same industry as your partner is an anomaly for some. My husband and I hope that we are shiny light for those around us: it IS possible to go into business with your partner and not want to kill each other at the end of it.

Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Los Angeles is the birthplace of film and television and it will forever be the place for it. However, I will say that with the Wild West of new technologies and viewing platforms, one could really get successfully started anywhere. Why not be a big fish in a smaller pond and expand from there? Netflix just bought ABQ Studios, Toronto has amazing tax incentives, and the iPhone has a remarkably good camera built into it. Start where you are and expand out.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://vimeo.com/mobeatty
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: @themobeatty
• Twitter: @themobeatty

Image Credit:
Personal Photo in Hammock: Ashlyn Pearce; Photo by: Matt Grashaw Photography; w/ husband Mikie Beatty; Photo from movie Roadside Fling w/ husband Mikie Beatty; Director: Norman Bertolino

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