Today we’d like to introduce you to Margaux Leigh Hamilton.
So, before we jump into specific questions, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
From a very young age, I knew I wanted to be Little Orphan Annie. No, I didn’t want to be an orphan but I did want to work with Carol Burnett and make all the other children laugh. My parents divorced when I was two and I spent most of my time begging for their attention by acting out “Summer Nights” from Grease and practicing my impressions of SNL characters. When they finally had enough they enrolled me in a local Soccer team. Shortly after they realized I was more interested in making friends with the opposing team and dancing in the field- so they signed me up to audition for our local community theatre. (Thank God)
Guess what?! I got the part and for the next six summers I smiled cheerfully in the background while the “big kids” got to say their lines.
Ten years later and about 50 performances I moved to New York City to pursue my BFA in Acting from a small liberal arts college. I never liked school but I did like my persona as “Class Clown”. During my mandatory Improv class sophomore year, my professor recommended start taking classes at Upright Citizens Brigade- a place where I could really do and perform whatever I wanted. Done! I immediately started taking classes in-between college classes and my babysitting gigs. A few months later, I manipulated my way into an internship at a production company where one of the Executive Producers and I fell in love. While hiding in her office one day, joking my way into disregarding my work she looked at me and said, “Hey kid, I have a room for rent in LA, do you wanna move in?” “Sure!” I said as I slowly finished my Starbucks Vanilla Bean scone that she paid for.
About a year later I graduated and a week after that I bought a one-way ticket to LA and moved in. I started taking classes at The Groundlings and small acting classes around town. With a lot of hustle and luck, I landed an agent, manager and lots of “content”. And now I’m here. Sitting in my bed, writing this article with about seven different beverages on my bed stand.
Great, 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?
Are any of the roads in LA smooth? No way! There are potholes and construction and should I even mention the traffic?!
Like most actors, I have audition horror stories. Like the time I accidentally called a Casting Director “my bestie” when it clearly not the appropriate time to do that! Or when I was completely and horrendously sexually harassed by male in a position of authority. No shocker there.
At the end of the day, you still get to drive on the roads with the car you bought yourself with your server money. You get to that damn audition in Santa Monica at 5pm, where all you can think about during the audition is how much your ticket is going to be for the very illegal parking job you did.
But hey! You got an audition! Congrats!
What else should our readers know?
In my 40s I’d like to be the Show-runner of a show I’ve written and created. Much like Amy, Mindy & Lena.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
In 2007, I won a date with the Jonas Brothers through a teeny-bopper magazine I bought with my birthday money. Crazy right?! I didn’t know it at the time but it set the tone for my life. That I too, could hang out with celebs and eat cupcakes with a newly diabetic Nick Jonas.
I wrote, produced and acted in a short Mockumentary called “Margaux Goes South”. It’s a heightened and more dramatic telling of the story about winning a date with the Jonas Brothers. I wrote it with a pal I met at The Groundlings and it is premiering this August. The process was exciting, messy and wonderful all at the same time. It’s my proudest piece of my career thus far and I am thrilled to share it with the world.
You can follow the Instagram account: @margauxgoessouth for more updates and links to the short.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @homegirlmargs
- Other: https://vimeo.com/351512557
Image Credit:
Dana Patrick Photography, Twist Magazine, Wild Dogs Productions, Sky Bartlett Photography
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