Today we’d like to introduce you to Heidi Schooler.
Hi Heidi, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
So, I’m from NY originally, & come from a family where my Mom was my role model for getting involved in the arts at a very young age! The rest of my family is involved in computers, and of course, they think we both are NUTS, but that’s okay with me since I can’t see doing anything else where I’m as happy as when I’m performing or being creative!
My Mom is an Opera singer & has sung with some wonderful people affiliated with the Metropolitan Opera, and some of my first memories were sitting underneath the stage at the MET with my Mom’s Opera coach, who also is the “prompter” of all the singers at the MET. (ie. This means she sits in a little area under the stage during all their performances, & is an 8-count of music ahead of the orchestra in case any of the singers forget their words or need help.) – So, I remember seeing the HUGE backdrops being “flown” in by wire, and I was mesmerized & in awe by the thought of being involved in the theatre! I also would go with my Mom to many of her singing coaching sessions as a kid, & sit under the piano, and listen to her lesson from under there. I was hooked from then on!!
As a child, I went into the City (NYC) to study ballet at the ABT (American Ballet Theatre) school and several other dance schools at Carnegie Hall for jazz, & modern dance. As a kid, I did a lot of things, & played all kinds of sports. I was in all of the theatre school productions, but once I went to some art camps, it just reinforced my interest in theatre/dance.
Once a bit older, I worked one Summer at the local Dunkin’ Donuts & rode my bike at 6 am to do the 6 am-12 Noon shift there and put aside half the wages, for I had promised my Mom it would go towards my studying in the City at AMDA: (The American Musical & Dramatic Academy) for musical theatre, dance, acting, etc. – She knew how hard our Industry was, & wanted to make sure my interest in the Industry wasn’t a passing fancy, so I proved it by helping with some of the tuition. So… now I know EVERYTHING you need to know about DONUTS if you ever need to know!! Haha!…
BUT, It was a wonderful school, and I also continued to take master classes with some amazing dance companies in the City over the years as well, and thought I was going to dance professionally once I was out of high school.
But, my family is also very realistic, and they thought I also should get a college degree, so I went to Syracuse U’s musical theatre program, studied there for 2 years, and then finished my degree at USC for both Dramatic Arts & Dance. The first year I was in a school production at USC, a friend’s Aunt was a commercial agent, & saw the production, & wanted to rep me, so I started auditioning for commercials while in school, and still do them today.
I was already involved in the world of VO (Animation, Comm’l, etc.) ever since I was a kid, so this just added to all I was doing in LA now as an actor. For several years, I did the commercial VO for TV & radio for Walmart, & also LOVE doing animation!
One of the first places I studied in town was at the Actors Studio & met some wonderful actors & directors. I also continued my studying with some other wonderful teachers/coaches & mentors (Susan Anspach being one of them), and studied with some comedic Improv. places, like w/ Gary Austin, the founder of the Groundlings & Second City. Studied most recently with a great acting teacher, Stephen Book.
Before I started making a living as an actor & VO artist, I did all kinds of telemarketing in LA. I sold PENCILS!, (NO Joke!), telemarketed for KCET and PBS, & found my way to the Music Center where I telemarketed for every program that had a subscription for: The Mark Taper Forum, the Dorothy Chandler Pavillion, The Ahmanson Theatre, the LA Opera, the Master Chorale, visiting Dance companies, you name it, I telemarketed for it! I then started booking VO work, so I am not telemarketing today. Also, only 1 time after this, once I met my husband, Ken, I went back for a short stint to the Hollywood Bowl & telemarketed for them in order to help pay for my wedding dress! The best perk was getting FREE tickets to everything, so it was still worth it back then, but it is definitely a lot of rejection…
BUT, being an actor, that is par for the course, and doing the telemarketing helped with any rejection I ever got as an actor! (Esp. after you’ve heard mostly “NO” for interrupting people at dinner time, haha!).
But getting up to speed closer to today, I’ve continued to network at events, & in Industry groups and met some wonderful collaborators & directors, & have kept in touch after working on their projects. Also as of 2015, a director friend introduced me to & have participated as part of a collective of independent creatives in town, a group called We Make Movies, and have met some wonderful collaborators there as well. I developed and created several short films (in diff. stages of development now), & also started to produce a few projects of my own.
In 2017, I performed in a live show in town a few musical theatre numbers that I gave a twist to: I added my side-kick mouse puppet, Millicent, as a funny character to sing & act with me!
I brought this into this group’s (WMM) performance night, and a wonderful director friend, John Beaton Hill, said I should make it into a short film, & we should shoot it. He saw it occurring on a rooftop. Another friend said, “I have a roof”, & yet another said “I have the lights”… & I began to put together this project called “Millicent and Me and The Apple Tree”. (Because 2 of the songs were based on a musical from the 1960’s called “The Apple Tree”.) – Also, this is what this group is all about: making your own films; since then, I’ve worked on other collaborations with several of the other directors that are there as well.
This short film now has gone on to WIN & be Nominated in over 15 festivals so far, winning Best Actress & Best Comedic Short Film or Best Musical Comedy Short, with the latest being at The Culver City Film Festival, the Golden State Film Festival, & at the French Riviera Film Festival (in Cannes)! It is still in film festivals & I’ll definitely keep you posted on future festival wins as well!
These last several years, I’ve been collaborating with some other directors. In 2021, I shot the feature film, “Half Dead Fred”, directed/written by Bron Theron. I play the female lead character of Roberta Dalton, and it was a FAB experience! We shot it in Flint, Michigan, and we had our Opening screening in August of last year. Since then, it’s Won at many Film festivals, & one of the LA festivals, the Skiptown Playhouse Internat’l Film Festival, acknowledged me with the Best Supporting Actress award for their feature film category for this role.
Bron wrote a suspenseful, ghost-themed private detective story with super funny overtones in the script, & I was excited to work with the lead actors, Corin Nemec, Jason London, & Jordan C. Michael in it! The wonderful recent news is: it’s coming out on Amazon tomorrow (3/15/23) for audiences everywhere to stream it! So please look for it!!
There’s a lot going on in my life now as far as work, and the last thing I will share about where I am today (since you asked) is I also voiced a few characters on a new animated Nickelodeon show coming out soon, & that’s called “Rock, Paper, Scissors”. Definitely check that out as well.
I’m continuing to work on a few other projects that are coming up… – One is already out there, it’s called “Read To Me, Heidi” & it’s on the Youtube channel of the same name, where me and my same side-kick mouse puppet, Millicent, read together children’s stories from around the world. This idea came to me all those years ago when in the hospital recovering from my spinal cord surgery. I noticed many children were recovering (some from cancer or other ailments or diseases) and had no family in their rooms. There were large chunks of time when these children could use a good story or fairytale to help them sleep (ie) nap or get to bed at night. (Or if families wanted to hear some classic stories or tales and learn about many different cultures, etc. as well.)
So, in this show, I narrate & do LIVE-TIME readings of fairytales/stories and entertain, encourage, & help children of all ages by nourishing them in this way & to make sure they also laugh. LIVE-TIME readings mean I act out all the voices in the story, with no stopping in between characters, and add different accents, attitudes, speech impediments, or whatever you can imagine to separate out the characters and make it FUN & Lively to listen to.
The original interest is still to help kids that are going through tough times, so we have affiliated already with a few hospitals, 1 in NY, and a few out here- which, when it is official, will be announced who they are… I’m excited about giving back to these children, & hoping it makes an impact in their lives! But this is now for all kids, everywhere, not just children in hospitals; but we are expanding it to all kids/families that would like to subscribe and check it out!
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?
Well, this is interesting… I have had some challenges, but looking back on them, they made me into who I am today: More determined than ever to keep going… But all of what we’ve spoken about already prepared me for a moment in my life when I had to learn HUGE skills in patience with my career…
I have seen the ups and downs of being an actor, and will always be GRATEFUL and stay determined in continuing on, no matter what, since I had a health situation interrupt my performing ability several years ago, in the middle of the upswing in my early career as an actor. I had a benign spinal tumor change the way my world was going, and for 3-5 years my focus switched to re-learning how to walk again. I had a walker, then a 3-pointed cane, and then a regular cane for 3 years after that.
I feel because of all of my early disciplined dance training, I continued on, even when they said I had a 50-50% chance to walk again. I continued to do all kinds of standard & alternative therapies that you can think of that helped with nerve control, muscle & nerve re-learning, & finally got back my walking back to 100%! I continue to monitor my health and always remember to never overdo it, which is important.
SO… when people first meet me, they may think I’m unusually upbeat or happy… (i.e. Not that that’s a bad thing! But, believe it or not, sometimes people as me WHY I am so happy!) I mean, I’ve always been an upbeat person, but this just bumped it up a notch! Because there’s a reason: I went through a lot, & am GRATEFUL for coming through the other side of that situation!!.. & anything else that may occur is nothing to ever get “bent out of shape” about concerning our Industry.
So, after this experience, I delved back out there into the world of acting and added writing to my interests when I had downtime since I focused a little more on that, as well as VO (not being in front of the camera during that time), and of course also spirituality.”
BUT I will express a story about one of my challenges while in college to explain another kind of challenge others may relate to better… So, I was in college, & each year we had these singing “juries” they’re called, where the whole Dept. judges you singing musical theatre, but also we had to sing a classical piece of opera as well. I’ve always had a lower registered singing voice; not just as an “Alto”, but always as a “Contralto”, which is even a lower register than “Alto”. It was a very vigorous audition to get into this Musical theatre program (where I went for half of my degree), & never understood why they made it so difficult for people that were not Sopranos. (after accepting you into their program) – It never made sense to me, but this is part of the lesson: sometimes things are not about you or make sense; you just have to keep going!…
To explain: During the two years there, besides transposing all of my music to keys that I could sing in for everything we were assigned, I continued to try and convince the program I was in of what I knew: my voice did not have a node on it. I even had the most famous ENT doctor in NYC (where all of the MET opera singers went) give proof & show that 1 of my vocal chords had air pass through it, which gave it its’ husky quality or sound.
SO, for the 2nd year in a row, when another teacher on the Juries Board questioned me about the same issue, I realized I had to go and be a part of a program where I was not having to explain myself and be accepted for who I was, not keep trying to continue to explain who I was, and having it fall on deaf ears. They had a great program, but at this time, it needed to become even more diverse, and in the meantime, I had to find “my people” somewhere else.
So, while other students were registering at USC, I applied on the very last date you could, got in, and flew to CA. to start the rest of my schooling at USC. They took many of my credits, but not all, and had to go to Summer school at UCLA in between both years there, to take or repeat certain classes by their own standards to get my degree finally! But, I kept on pushing! :-)!
The moral of the story is to: “Keep Going”! The thing they were putting me down about now makes me money in the VO industry, so I stayed true to myself and found somewhere I could continue to grow – which being so young at the time, devastated me at first, but I Kept On Going, & am where I was meant to be now, in CA. – all these years later!
I already shared the largest physical challenge I ever had to overcome towards the beginning- middle of my career (about my coming back into walking) but again, I learned a lot walking with a cane, and now use it, (those emotions) if I ever need it for dramatic parts, etc. – I had a lot of time to write & didn’t know it at the time, but did a lot of character study of other types of people, riding on the bus to the Spinal Cord Institute. – BUT, again, I am appreciative of that experience even though it was rough, but I am grateful for the people in my life that also have helped me through it: my family & my husband, Ken. My motto has been, & continues to be: “Never Give Up”! – If it worked for Winston Churchill, then it works for me!
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
What I do: I’m an actress/VO gal/writer/producer. I have worked in all areas of acting as an actor: Film & TV, live theatre, musical theatre, dance & singing, as well as in commercials, VO, video games, motion capture, etc.
As far as acting is concerned, I feel like my own life experiences have helped me understand a wide range of characters from the lovable comedic heroine and quirky sidekick to darker, more character-driven dramatic roles requiring a depth of emotion and sensitivity.
Known for or sets me apart from others:
I’ve recently worked with a wonderful coach who said my specialty was portraying characters that had an element of “eccentric grace” to them. The “eccentric” part covers all the whacky VoiceOver I love doing, & those quirky comedic roles, and the “grace” part I guess, covers all of the emotional Moms or dramatic parts I have played (or will play) that take a piece of your heart as characters, or who gives you a piece of theirs.
Specialize in VO: My favorite types of animated characters are small furry, adorable, or snively creatures (preferably w speech impediments!); &/or Evil sorceresses (bellowing, & with crazy laughs), and everything in between! If they have an accent from some other country or have to sing in character, I think that’s super fun as well!
Most proud of: Recently, being the female lead in “Half Dead Fred”. Over the years: Working with Gary Sinise in “CSI-NY”, & with Vin Diesel in “Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena” (videogame/ Mo-cap). Being the voice of Walmart for several years on TV & Radio, & recently on TV in a show called “Cypher” that was on the Roku Channel.”
What would you say have been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
I think the most important thing is to never take anything personally, no matter what! – Just do your best, & always be appreciative of the chance to collaborate and be creative with others or within a project! So much is really outside of our control, and all you can do is do your best, & specifically for actors, just be thankful you are being asked to create a character and that you get to BE them for a while in the world of that project. Ya know?
Also, I think it’s majorly important to always be Grateful for all that you have first and foremost! Then, be patient with yourself, and not be too hard on yourself as you pursue all of the dreams you are wanting to fulfill as a creative person. – If you just try and do a little towards your career every day, you will keep moving forward with it.
Also, these days, definitely if you are an actor, begin to write stories that you’re interested in, passionate about, or see yourself playing a part in. – Because these days, you can keep yourself busy and inspired by working on your own projects and getting them out there to be seen, and continue to show people work you can be proud of.
Lastly, I wish we had these digital CRM (Customer Relationship Management) programs that make it easier to track how & when you meet people you network with- so you can keep in touch better- & I really would’ve liked to have used this earlier in my career. But it’s been a big help recently. This definitely was a lesson learned, & recommend doing this for people just starting their career in the Industry. – It’ll track your progress & keep you in touch with directors, writers, producers, and casting people better.
Contact Info:
- Website: Heidischooler.com & imdb.me/heidischooler
- Instagram: @heidischooler
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HeidiSchooler.Fans
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heidischooler/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/heidischooler
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@heidischooler6370 AND: https://www.youtube.com/@readtomeheidi
- Other: https://resumes.actorsaccess.com/heidischooler AND: linktr.ee/heidischooler
Image Credits
1) group photo of director & cast of “Half Dead Fred” the opening screening in Flint, MI- credits (from L to R, actors:) Jackson Doherty, Heidi Schooler, Zachery Wood, Corin Nemec, Jordan C. Michael, & director/writer, Bron Theron.
2) The award pic of Heidi (Best Supporting Actress) at the Skiptown Playhouse Int’l Film Festival- credits photographer Ken Pivak
3) The BTS pic of being on set for “Read To Me, Heidi” with the producers Lauren Jones & Nadya Rousseau, & famous side-kick mouse puppet, MIllicent – credits photographer, Ken Pivak
4) The Culver City Film festival group photo: Credits Jon Gursha (Co-Head of the festival) with Director John Beaton Hill, Heidi Schooler & (Co-Head of the festival) Peter Greene. Photo credit: Steve Escarcega
5) Photo still from TV series “Cypher”: credit actor: Martin Dingle Wall & Heidi Schooler
6) On set pic of “Cypher”: actors Martin Dingle Wall & Heidi Schooler
7) headshot of Heidi S. – photo credit: Ken Pivak
8) Heidi & Millicent, her side-kick mouse puppet in the LIVE show of “Millicent & Me and The Apple Tree” at We Make Movies, L.A.
