Today we’d like to introduce you to Megan Littler.
So, before we jump into specific questions, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I am from a small town in Minnesota where I grew up dancing and training 30-40 hours a week. But still made National Honors Society and graduated with a 4.0 in high school! I was a grade ahead in school, so I moved out to LA all by myself after graduation when I was 17 years old. I remember I couldn’t even get a library card and a college professor had to come with me as a guardian to rent out my school books until I was 18!
The dance industry when I first moved out was one where, I felt, if I killed it in an audition there was a chance I could book the job, and a lot of the times I did! So I was very fortunate my first two years in LA and dancing professionally was my sole source of income and work! I booked basically all of my work through giant casting calls.
After a month of living in Los Angeles, I went to a huge audition call (I think 800 girls they said) for a Disney Channel movie called “Teen Beach Movie” and ended up booking it. They hired four girls. That was my first job, so I was quite spoiled. I remember feeling at the time like I was an exception to the idea that LA and the industry were “tough.” (HA!)
For the next two years that was my life! I worked on many tv shows as a dancer. The Voice, Bunheads, Good Morning America, The View, Switched at Birth, 90210 and then some. And then I was injured. I was on the job as a pointe dancer out of state, and the choreographer noticed my ankle giving me trouble. Long story short I was told I needed surgery and this choreographer dropped me for all the jobs I was lined up to do until I got the surgery “for your own good” he told me.
So, I went home and got it. There were complications. And in the end, it took me almost two years to recover from a surgery that was only supposed to require six months of recovery time. During that time it kind of seemed like everything was crashing down. I was running out of money because at 18 I made so much and never had to worry about it and I knew nothing about saving. My friends that I realized were only my friends because they considered me “successful” were slowly fading out of my life when my success was leaving me.
My boyfriend of a couple of years left me for his co-star and I got to see them on commercials and billboards together everywhere for the next few months (classic). And I was unable to dance. Unable to go anywhere really because I couldn’t drive with my club foot. I was depressed, which had never happened to me before in my life. I had always been positive, optimistic and happy. This period of time was terrifying because for the first time in my life I felt completely unable to feel happy. And I was trying everything. I had never truly understood depression before this point. I had always ignorantly thought one could “just stop” feeling that way. And when I couldn’t, I was so scared.
That being said, for my case anyway, it was a matter of building up my self-awareness and consciousness. It was hard. But I personally believe that many cases of this severe unhappiness truly have to be solved within you. I wanted someone to have an answer that would magically and instantly make me feel better. And I’m telling you, while other people’s words may aid and assist, I truly don’t think that that will happen where someone says something, and you’re “fixed” (most of the time). Support is absolutely necessary!
But understanding that to get to that place of mental strength, you’re going to have to PUSH THROUGH the uncomfortable and difficult parts within yourself and your life experience and arrive on your own while being supported along the way, is (was) key for me. I hope I’ve worded that in a way where people can read and understand its not a placing of blame on oneself, but instead an empowering statement that YOU CAN DO IT. But you have to do it. It won’t just happen.
Humans are a lot more powerful than we give ourselves credit to be. I think a lot of that is fear. With great ability and power comes responsibility and people have a weird complex with “messing up” and “being wrong” and so we’d rather be safe.
It’s easy to say now that that period of time may have been exactly what I needed. I was pretty darned alone. But it forced me to find so much strength and trust in myself. And resilience. Having dance taken away from me, made me realize that I truly didn’t ever want to live without it. I gained so much awareness of myself and also other people, and the ability to know what kinds of people I should surround myself with. And learned to stand up for myself. AND! To wisely save and invest money, haha.
After these two years, I tried to make my “comeback” if you will. The industry had changed a lot with the age of social media. I no longer felt (or feel) at most auditions that you just have to be the best talent in the room. Many auditions ask how many followers you have during your slate now, or my favorite is the dance ones that have you sign a release upon standing in a line of 600 people so they can film BTS for their grams and then hire their friends.
I was trying to break into the acting scene and was getting so frustrated while trying to find reps because nobody wants you unless you have credits, but you kind of need a rep in order to obtain any credits, haha.
My point is IT ISN’T FAIR. People hire their friends over who may be (in your opinion) “more right” for the job, (in your opinion) “talentless” influencers get the job over you because they are more popular, that girl was born into the industry, they only hire girls over 5’4 ETC. I was at the point where I could keep complaining about all the reasons why other things were keeping me from achieving my goals, or I could just figure out some other way to get them!
And we always have that choice. (YES YOU DO). You always have a choice. We don’t like to hear that our life is in our own hands. Too much responsibility to hold if we “fail” (and the idea of what we think failure is is a totally different conversation we can have, haha).
SO I chose to learn how to play this game with its new rules instead of continuing to blame everybody else for why I’m not doing anything. I was taking a bunch of classes.
Improv, dance, acting, voice, dialect classes, etc. I was taking workshops. I made it my Wednesday morning routine to research reps and reach out to people for specific, well-researched reasons and then people started responding because it made sense! Get specific.
My new manager I am still with is AMAZING. We game planned and have intentionally pigeonholed me in a niche that I am good at. On social media, I call it “goth teen.” AND IT”S WORKING. GET SPECIFIC.
This last year and a half I became an actual working actress. I booked a role on Will and Grace because we got the audition the day off and it happened to require an Irish dialect and I happened to be working with a dialect coach this whole time to learn new skills, so I was ready when they called. I booked my first starring role in a Lifetime movie because the casting director received my very specifically designed “goth teen” postcard and called me in to audition.
He told me at our table read that he had been auditioning the role for a few days and then received my postcard and because I had footage up on my actors access to back up the character niche I was promoting for myself, that he had actually already pinned me for the role before I even came in to read. I just booked and filmed my first role in a pilot (that happens to be being directed by the amazing Zoe Lister-Jones for ABC)… GOTH TEEN.
I’m not saying you have to niche yourself. What I’m saying is, when you get SPECIFIC with what you want, and all of your daily choices are made with that in mind. Things do begin to happen. And when you are specific with what you want, it also becomes more clear what you don’t want. It becomes easier to make choices.
My life goal is to make the world a better place. I want to impact change on a grand scale. I want to reform education and save lots of animals. I want to learn as much as I can about everyone I can and connect and share and help people, which is why acting and storytelling makes the most sense for me and my life.
Right now, I AM A STUDENT in an improv class at Second City and with my coach Victor Villar-Hauser. I have recently begun guitar lessons and sign language classes.
I am a working actor. A working dancer. A dance teacher and choreographer for a studio of young students. I am directing and choreographing theatre shows for kids at Gray Studios in North Hollywood. And I am a full-time volunteer and member of animal rescue, CARE RESCUE LA.
I am tired a lot, haha. But I love filling my life with all of these things! And I do truly believe that every single person is capable of whatever they choose if they are willing to be open and resilient. That was so not brief, haha. I’m so sorry! The question was so broad, and I have had so much happen to me here.
We’d love to hear more about what you do. What else should we know?
Also mentioned this in my first answer haha. I wanna do everything. That’s a lot of why I chose this profession because it is constantly changing and I have to learn to be so many different people that I get to dip my toes in many worlds. It also gives me the outreach and platform to help people (hopefully).
I don’t want to be another wasted voice. It frustrates me at times how many people are in places of power and who have such loud voices, and they don’t use them for good. Many do! Don’t get me wrong. But it’s crazy that the world is in the condition it’s in with so many people that could help! Not even with money, but just with time and voice! I think it’s great to “raise awareness” about issues on social media.
But often as of late, people use the excuse of “raising awareness” to complain about things. Let’s start trying to “raise awareness” about some solutions! Some actionable steps that people can take to actually solve the problem and not just complain about it.
Again, there are a lot of people that do that! That use their voice to help create proactive change. I just wish they were the majority. I don’t know what I’m most proud of. Feels odd to say I’m particularly proud of myself. But I am happy with the person I’ve become through these challenges and happy that as a teacher I can directly help others and same as an animal rescuer.
I’m becoming much better at also helping myself a bit too, which was a hard lesson for a Minnesotan to learn (you midwesterners understand).
What were you like growing up?
Bright. Haha. My parents were spectacular. I never felt like I was incapable of anything. I truly grew up believing that I could achieve whatever I wanted as long as I worked hard and was kind.
My dad would always tell me as a young girl that I was “tougher than all the boys,” and my mom was an amazing example of an independent woman who paid her own way through school and climbed her career ladder in the male-dominated field of science. So I was very fortunate in that regard. I never felt unequal to a man.
In fact, I usually felt like I was better, haha. I was a perfectionist, which was my downfall often. “Failure” always hit me super hard. But I was a resilient kid. Made me work harder. I always loved animals and being outside. My family camped a lot.
My brother is also an awesome human. I’ve always admired his patience (which I had none of as a child) and his wisdom. It helped growing up with him too.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @_meglittler
- Twitter: @its_meggers
Image Credit:
Bobby Quillard. Lily K. Wes Klain
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