Meet Mak Shealy

Today we’d like to introduce you to Mak Shealy.

Hi Mak, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story? 
For sure! I grew up in a small town (580 people, cliche! I know!) in rural South Carolina with absolutely no idea what being an “artist” meant. 

I started performing in my living room with a toy handheld karaoke machine and would rope my little brother into putting on shows for my mom and dad. I remember being interested in anything where I could be messy as a kid – so painting, singing, dancing like a wild child, etc. – those were the things I leaned into. I was also a notorious bookworm, always begging for more reading material, and I remain pretty committed to collecting books, plays, poetry, lit mags, and art books to this day. 

I caught the theatre bug in middle school, got accepted into a summer program called NSLC and felt totally at home around fellow theatre nerds for the first time. It was the first moment I remember feeling the shift from … “oh, this is my embarrassingly earnest hobby” to “I have to do this for the rest of my life.” 

We all went to see Our Town (with Helen Hunt as the Stage Manager) at Barrow Street Theatre in Greenwich Village, and it remains a core memory of what I love most about live performance. The reveal of an entire working kitchen with bacon popping in the pan in the last part of the play made me so hungry (for breakfast and) for more. 

After the show, we walked around Washington Square Park. I saw purple NYU flags everywhere, and I naively said: “I’m gonna go to college here.” This was 2010. I was in 10th grade, and my parents and I were 1000% in the dark about what it took to get into a liberal arts college for acting. 

When I came home, I told them about my big plans, and my mom and I researched local theaters. I’ll never stop saying it, but my parents really are incredibly remarkable people – if I wanted to try something, even if it was extremely new to them, they were supportive, helped me figure out a logical (or logical enough) pathway and held my hand through any insecurities or anxieties that came up. My mom was never a “mom-ager”. She was just an exceptional role model and a really hardworking human being willing to help her kids follow their dreams. My dad totally delivered my sense of “play,” and if you ever meet him, it’s like hanging out with a big kid – he is unequivocally kind, generous, and an absolutely hilarious storyteller. 

I started auditioning for community theatre and got cast in It’s a Wonderful Life as Frankie, the Angel – it was a blast. I did a few other shows before I had my NYU audition, and my favorite was Gilligan’s Island the Musical (I played MaryAnn) – because I got to mix the campy sense of humor my dad and I share with an earnest love interest arc. We did it in a coffee shop/dinner, and I loved every bit of the scrappy energy the entire team had. 

I didn’t realize what a big deal it was to get into NYU until it actually happened (and now that I’m paying off my student loans, I’m AWARE!) but I found my footing and fell even more in love with performing during my 4 years there and got obsessed with film, TV and comedy too. 

I’ve been pretty lucky to have stayed relatively busy after graduating – I mean, I’ll always take more work, and I’ve also had a steady stream of day jobs to pay the bills, but I’m very grateful to have been able to wear lots of different creative hats in my life. I started writing plays a few years ago, have developed some profoundly meaningful relationships with cohorts of other playwrights and screenwriters I’ve met along the way. 

Right now, I’m writing two new plays, just finished polish of a pilot for a series I’m excited to pitch, and I am currently on set in Ashland, Ohio, filming as a co-lead in a queer holiday rom-com called The Holiday Club! 

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
If any of the above sounds glossy, it’s just because memory is always tinged with rose-colored glasses for me. I’m generally a pretty optimistic and happy person, but there have been big-time hurdles throughout my creative journey. Like almost everyone I know, I’ve struggled with imposter syndrome, self-doubt, and anxiety. It’s hard to know if you’re on the right track when the track keeps changing all the time, but that’s the nature of an artistic life – in my opinion – working your ass off to cultivate the kind of resilience you need to be adaptable, to be at home in your own skin and to be relentlessly excited when you get to make the work you want to make. Every single play that gets a production is a miracle. Making a movie is a miracle. Getting to the end of a script while balancing survival jobs and having time to rest and be a human being is a miracle. It’s so hard and expensive to make things, so when you get to the final stages of a project, at any level – you know, I try and take the time to really sit in gratitude for whatever it is. 

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’m most proud of the rural queer stories I’ve written, and I’m excited to see them onstage and onscreen. Those are the stories I care about because they center queer people living in spaces where there hasn’t historically been authentic visibility. Right now, my biggest goals are around finding funding for some of my more ambitious projects and partnering with investors and producers who are enthusiastic about supporting queer storytelling in places like my rural hometown, where I’m chomping at the bit to shoot my pilot (and series!). So, if you’re out there looking for a rural queer writer with a great sense of humor and a really gritty work ethic, hit me up! 

I’ve got a ton of plays available on New Play Exchange, so check them out! 

Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
My solo show, LEAKY, about recovering from digestive trauma, is coming up in Los Angeles at The Lyric Hyperion on Friday, May 24th at 7:30 pm. It’s a raunchy good time, and I’d love to see you there! 

Here’s the link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/leaky-tickets-884960549827 

Contact Info:

• Website: www.makwashere.org
• Instagram: @makattackssnacks
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mak-shealy-85a6a7231/
• Other: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/leaky-tickets-884960549827

Image Credits
Jill Petracek
Arin Sang-urai