Today we’d like to introduce you to Katharine McEwan.
Hi Katharine, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
It was one of those classic Hollywood tales really – I arrived in LA from England in 2002 with $100 and a suitcase and didn’t know a single soul. A girl I worked with back in London gave me a scrap of paper with “Sunset and La Brea” written on it. I handed it to the taxi driver at LAX, and off I went. I found a motel on Sunset Blvd and thought, “That looks like a nice place” – the palm trees and blue skies made everything seem magical to me. It ended up being one of those rent by the hour places, although I didn’t figure that out for a while! Eventually, I got a proper place to live and was accepted into drama school, and the rest, as they say, is history.
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
My journey as an actress and filmmaker hasn’t been in the least bit smooth, but it would probably be boring if it was! I think the core struggle for me for a long time was the transient nature of the city – and the entertainment industry in particular. Good friends are rare here, and it’s doubly hard because a lot of people end up leaving town. Loyalty is hard to come by and there’s a competitive edge unlike anywhere I’ve ever lived. A lot of people, myself included, come here to change their destiny, and that in itself brings all the beauty and the bloodshed. But a drive out to the desert puts everything in perspective. After the glitz and glamor and neon fades away, there will be the desert, unfazed by our grand plans and eventually grinding everything to dust.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
As an actress, writer, and producer, I’ve stayed mainly in the independent space as it’s those kinds of stories and characters that interest me the most. The voiceless, the disenfranchised, the people living on the edges. Film is a powerful medium to connect humanity to highlight our similarities rather than create more division. I’m not interested in lecturing people or forcing my opinion on the world; I want to tell stories that ask questions, transcend boundaries, soften hearts, and open minds.
Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
I’ve been lucky to have many wonderful cheerleaders over the years, and there will never be enough room for them all, but to name a couple: writer/director Bobby Moresco, who taught me generosity of creative spirit; my manager Michael Colucci, who has always believed in me – even during the slowest of years, and producers Sara Victoria Bjerre Pedersen and Rebecca Berg who I’m currently producing a feature film with. They all have one thing in common – they give me permission to be unabashedly myself. That’s the real superpower. So much of the world demands that we cut ourselves into little pieces and serve them up in tidy, palatable spoonfuls. Not a recipe for success or happiness.
Contact Info:
- Website: katharinemcewan.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/katharinemcewan/
- Youtube: @KatharineMcEwanOfficialChannel
- Other: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2608287/
Image Credits
Whitney Otte
