Daily Inspiration: Meet Katherine Gage

Today we’d like to introduce you to Katherine Gage.

Hi Katherine, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I do not remember ever wanting to be anything but an actress. My parents say I made the decision when I was five. They took my sisters and me to see The Lion King on Broadway. They tell the story of how I sat bolt upright in my seat and was riveted for the entirety, while my sisters both fell asleep soon after the opening number.

I recall watching the show and not so much making a decision but rather answering a call. It sounds sappy but I believe the arts are a calling, and I’ve been doing my best to answer since I first heard it. I grew up in Rochester, NY, participating in dance, school plays, neighborhood plays, and any other type of performance I could get my hands on. I decided that if I wanted to be an actress, I would need to seize every opportunity that I could find. Two years into my college education, I realized that the program I was in was not as rigorous as I wanted or needed. I decided to drop out and attend The William Esper Studio 2-year Meisner Training program. It was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. I received impeccable training and made friends that I consider family. There are certain teachers that change the course of your life and I found the majority of mine at this conservatory. I thank the stars every day that I found that miraculous place.

After graduating Esper, I entered the industry, remaining in NYC. I began two years of heavy auditioning and survival jobbing. That first year out of school was thrilling. My inexperience, hunger, and honestly, unfounded confidence landed me in some pretty big rooms. I booked some, shot some, and learned a ton. Shakespeare was a dear love of mine ever since reading Romeo and Juliet in the 9th grade. Naturally, I craved performing his works and had my eye on the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art Summer Shakespeare program. The first time I heard of this program was actually during my initial Esper interview when I was waiting in the lobby and one of the older students mentioned it nonchalantly. Destiny works all at once sometimes. I applied and worked hard for months on my audition. I remember screaming at my computer at 1am when I got my acceptance email. Jetting off to London for three months, I attended the program in the summer of 2016. It was intensive, sometimes 12 hour days, and I adored every minute. After returning to New York, I continued to audition and work for three years. I moved to LA in August of 2019.

Alright, 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?
I wouldn’t use the word smooth. Jouncy, maybe. Knobbly perhaps. I come from a traditional family and the arts were not entertained as a serious career path. I declared my intention to pursue this life from a young age but it wasn’t really taken seriously by my family until I left college for conservatory. And even then it was as if I ran away to join the circus. I remember one time a film was being shot in Rochester (a rarity) and they were looking for local kids to audition. I was not allowed to because my parents thought that it would interfere with school. I was so angry and determined that, with the help of my best friend, I plotted to sneak away from school and audition anyway despite the trouble I’d be in. The plot was stopped by the fact that I was 13 and knew nothing of public transportation. Another time the local regional theatre was holding auditions for kids and again, I wasn’t permitted to audition. For that, I gave my parents the silent treatment for two weeks. Stubbornness runs in my family and I inherited it in scores.

Looking back, they were doing what they thought was right, for a family in western New York the prospect of anyone being an actress seemed completely unrealistic. The arts were a hobby, not a career. But to a kid, who wanted it so badly it hurt, I did not understand the reasoning. I believed in me so hard that the idea of this career being unrealistic was preposterous. Another struggle along this jaunty path is the financial aspect. The majority of actors will understand. I’ve had so many survival jobs that I’ve lost count. I’ve been a barista, a bartender, cater waitress, cat-sitter, nanny, bar back, yoga teacher, fitness studio front-desk associate, part-time writer of romance-novel-grade short stories for a slightly cerulean film company, foot model, reiki practitioner, and many many others. The burnout can be debilitating. But it’s all for a purpose. It has led me to acquire a grit that I wouldn’t trade for anything. And the stories I’ve collected over my years of survival jobbing will be the inspiration for many a screenplay that I’ve got marinating.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am an actress, writer, and producer. I did mostly theatre, with the random action film/mini series thrown in, up until I moved to LA a year and a half ago. Here I have the time/space to be able to focus on acting, writing, and producing all at once. I am one third of Desobediente Productions, a production company I helped found with two incredible artists. We focus on stories that highlight social issues and systemic injustices. Right now, we are working on a series of sketches that are a combination of satire and earnest commentary on the millennial experience of capitalism. In the coming year, we have a short film planned that my writing partner and I have just begun work on. I’ve always got several solo writing projects going as well. I’m working on a pilot that I’m incredibly proud of, which I hope to pitch to some major networks in 2021.

There are two feature screenplays at the forefront of my mind just waiting for their moment to be born, and a few more in the back. One of my biggest inspirations in the industry is Brit Marling. She wrote the roles she wanted to play, and they were beautiful. She waits for no one’s permission, and the stories she tells are breathtaking. I watched a webinar featuring Brit earlier during the pandemic and she said, “How are you pointing to the world that you want to invite in? And how are you saying no to the world that is so clearly broken?” It is my goal to create impactful work and put into the world what I want to see, what I want to change.

Do you any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
Wow, this is a tough one. I’ve been blessed with a gifted memory so there are many choices here. There was a farm in Mt. Olive, NC that had been in my family for generations. Every November, we would all pile into our minivan and drive down there for a week with my father’s side of the family. Our parents would set us free on the farm and we had the liberty to wander the soybean fields, collect pecans in the orchard, get lost in the bamboo forest, spend time at the log cabin at the edge of the property. My sisters, my cousins, and me. We would run wild. I’ll never forget that freedom.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: http://www.katherinegage.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/katherineegage/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/katherine_gage1

Image Credits
Kristin Hoebermann