Today we’d like to introduce you to Megan Rippey.
Megan, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
My story begins in Baltimore, where I’m from. If you know me at all you know I’m proud to have cut my teeth there; Baltimore is known for being a tough city but what some people don’t know is it’s also full of good-hearted, blue collar salt-of-the-earth people who love crabs and baseball and Old Bay seasoning and who are quirky and creative and usually say what they mean and mean what they say. Before I moved to California to attend grad school at the California Institute of the Arts, I was adamant that I would never move there permanently; in fact the idea of moving to Los Angeles sounded like something a “bougie sell-out actress” would do. “Not me, I’m a real artist,” I told all my friends at my farewell party. Even though I planned to study Theatre at CalArts for three years, I promised I would always call Baltimore home.
So, obviously I underestimated how Graduate Art School can change you. I went through a metamorphosis that rocked my world. To explain how, I first need to tell you about the little secret I had in Baltimore. In between working multiple jobs as an after-school theatre educator and a cafe barista and doing back-to-back plays at all the community theaters around town, I was also working as an exotic dancer at an eccentric, unique club that offered a show more akin to classic burlesque than the typical strip club bump and grind. This club, called the Crazy Russian, was a fanciful little treasure trove of theatricality and European flair on a truck route in an industrial part of town, and it was delightful. The walls were decorated with feather boas and masks and mannequin legs and costume wings and hats, and the girls were decorated in gowns and gloves and three bras stacked on top of each other which, when stripped one by one, would reveal glittering pasties. This playful little establishment is where I unofficially learned mime and clown and physical comedy, not to mention exotic pole dance and burlesque technique. But I was nervous about people finding out that I worked there, for fear of it being taken out of context and having unfair assumptions made about me. So I kept it a secret from most of my friends and family.
When I moved to California to study Acting, someone close to me gave me some advice. He said, “Now that you’re out there, you can really focus on Acting and leave the Dancing stuff behind.” I’m sure that was well-intentioned, but it cut me to the core. I wasn’t ashamed of being a dancer. I loved it. It was fun and empowering and I wasn’t even close to being done with it. Leaving the city I loved to chase a dream and become a better artist and open myself up to possibilities and GROW was not compatible with stifling, disowning and amputating a part of me. He mistakenly thought that exotic dancing was something I was ready to shed, like a skin that was ready to molt, but in fact it was my wings and my goddamn superpower and I didn’t wanna hide it anymore.
So when I started dancing in Los Angeles at the world famous Jumbos Clown Room, I didn’t keep it a secret. I love telling people about where I work, because it’s just as unique and quirky as the Crazy Russian: it’s a rock and roll burlesque dive bar with pole dancing, located in a weird little strip mall on Hollywood Boulevard. I have fun, I meet new people all the time, I’m surrounded by dancers who are just as multifaceted, talented and full of dreams as I am, and I’m constantly inspired.
In addition to dancing I also audition a lot, I act in films, I usually travel at least once a year to do theatre all over the country, I do performance art, and I’ve started writing my own stuff.
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?
I don’t think it’s easy to leave your hometown to follow a dream. I don’t think it’s an easy thing to be an artist.
That being said, I feel extraordinarily lucky. If I had left Baltimore to come to Los Angeles to just, like, be an actor, I probably would have failed. I’m not ashamed to admit that. It’s hard if you don’t have some kind of community to hold you up and nurture you through the transition — it’s difficult to focus on your work. CalArts was my community and honestly, it was the most perfect incubator for me to really mature into the artist I am today. And it can’t be understated that I owe a lot of my success and growth to the privilege of being able to dance for money so that I’m not starving in between acting gigs. Finding the “survival job” is a crucial part of making a life out here as an artist, and I don’t take that for granted.
I don’t think it’s easy to really own your shit and be who you wanna be in the face of naysayers, non-believers, enviers, and haters. But I believe it’s important to recognize the bad advice when we hear it. Someone may love you and want what’s best for you, and they could also be the one giving you the shittiest advice. Listen to your heart. If something makes you feel good about yourself even if someone else thinks it should make you feel bad, don’t believe them. You know yourself better than anyone. Be your own best friend; be your own cheerleader! Be who you wanna be.
There’s another part of my story I want to share. I was very recently sexually assaulted by someone I considered a close friend, personal advocate and professional colleague. He is someone who wields power in the film industry and someone I greatly admired. I can only speculate that he assumed I would not tell anyone about the assault because I would want to continue working with him and be given more artistic opportunities. He was wrong. I didn’t become the empowered woman I am today to be abused and exploited in my career. #TimesUp for that sort of thing.
So, when you ask me what are the challenges I’ve had to overcome, my answer today is different than it was a few weeks ago. I‘m doing a lot of soulful, intentional art-making, as well as utilizing some nontraditional therapies to help me reclaim my power and recover from this betrayal. It’s not been easy; this is by far the most difficult and shittiest time of my life thus far. But, I know that I‘m doing the right thing in speaking out about it. I‘m ready to be a part of the solution and for me, that means telling my truth.
I‘m so lucky to be surrounded by friends and family who support and love me. If I had to go through this on my own, I don’t know what kind of shape I would be in right now. But everyone in my life, and especially my husband, has been holding me up with love and compassion, and I am obscenely grateful.
And, counterintuitive as it might seem to some, this life event has not affected the joy I get from dancing, like at all. Dancing for me is owning my body, owning my sexuality and power, and demanding to be seen on my own terms. It’s helping me heal. It’s part of who I am and I’m not sorry.
We’d love to hear more about your work.
Currently I am obsessed with Western films. In June I played a “soiled dove” by the name of Nellie Lyle in the recently released Western feature film Badland, and that was an amazing experience and also earned me my coveted SAG eligibility! I love playing women who are sex workers or who are touched by sex work in some way, whether the story is contemporary, historical or otherwise. Humanizing sex workers by playing them with empathy and drawing upon my own real life experience is something that is very important to me and my artistic mission.
In fact, in October I attended the premiere of the feature film Mermaid Down (my first big red carpet event!) in which I play Reyna, a meaty supporting character whose backstory was cut from the film, but I’ll tell you a secret: she was a dancer in a club before she was committed to Beyer Psychiatric Facility for Women, the gloomy setting for the indie horror flick.
Recently I wrote a one-woman show that premiered at the Son of Semele Solo Creation Festival in Los Angeles, and I am really proud of it. It’s called Deer Woman: An Autobiographical Fairytale of an Exotic Dancer and a Magical Encounter, and it’s a 40 minute storytelling piece with character vignettes, music, transformations, and pole dancing. I wrote it this year but it’s the cumulation of a decade of journaling about my experiences as a dancer. The first iteration of it I performed at CalArts, but this version had the benefit of an incredible visionary director, Valerie Hager, and she has really inspired me to keep writing and performing my own work and telling my own story.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
It’s my plan to perform my Deer Woman show in Fringe Festivals all over the country, starting with the Hollywood Fringe right here in town. But before that, Deer Woman has got a one-night-only engagement at the Whitefire Theatre in Sherman Oaks as part of their SoloFest 2020! So please mark your calendar for January 22nd, it will be a special event — and not just because it’s right around my birthday!
I was also cast as the lead in a Western feature called She Was The Deputy’s Wife that will shoot in March in Arizona, directed by Travis Mills. I can’t wait to do another Western; my heart belongs to bygone eras and period films! I feel so at home there.
Thank you for reading my story! I’m honored to have been asked to tell it.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://meganrippey.com
- Instagram:@meganrippey
- Facebook: http://facebook.com/meganrippeyactor
Image Credit:
Chris Violette
Don Curry
Christopher Jewell Lanier
Andrew Wofford
Joseph Canoza
Rashid Belt
Kestrel Leah
Laura Cantwell
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