Meet Megan Reneau

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Megan Reneau. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Megan, so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?

How did you find your purpose? I feel like that has to be one of the biggest questions out there. I do not think we find our purpose but rather it seeks us out. From our youngest years till we finally come to the realization. Or maybe when I’m a senior a greater purpose will reveal itself and I’ll be able to reflect on it then. I think you have to be very aware in order to find your purpose.

Now that I am older, I can say I have a pretty good idea of my purpose. I think we discover it with subtle hints, moments where time stands still, reading between the lines of our daily lives, in small ways or a huge nudge that gives our life a plot twist and slaps us in the face if we aren’t getting it. Before I go into my bread crumbs into understanding where and how I found my purpose I am an Actress and Stuntwoman. So let’s dive into these moments that lead me to where I am now.

In my youngest years I loved playing. Outside, with my barbie dolls, with my paper dolls, my little ponies, getting piles of books from the library, all that good stuff. If I could create a world with characters and play all I day I would. I loved getting lost in my pretend worlds. So much so that I almost failed a grade because I didn’t take my studies seriously. I wanted to play. I even loved going to sleep just so I can lucid dream. Do things I couldn’t do in this reality, create my own worlds, where I could be many different professions, creatures whatever my heart desired. Getting told to go to my room was never a threat, even my mom should get a laugh at that statement.

I loved watching cartoons and drawing. Eventually finding award shows and waiting for the next magazine to come out so I could see all the beautiful actresses in their dresses. I LOVED seeing the dresses. This got me to start designing my own clothes for my dolls and more so my paper dolls, I wasn’t the best at sewing. I didn’t watch too many movies or shows that weren’t cartoons, but I do remember watching the Transporter once with my dad. There was tons of actions and I remember him being really into it and right away I started picking out what was “movie magic” and stunts. No idea where that came from. But it did make us both laugh. From there I got really into action movies, a big one for me was Angelina Jolie in Tomb Raider. That character was the dream. However looking back on that today, Female lead action movies is still my favorite kind of movie and that has been my niche in casting.

In my senior year, I had a teacher tell my parents at parent teacher interviews, “She can’t just pick one pie, she has to try them all”. I like to think that’s why I love acting to this day still. I can be so many different people, in stunts I can do so many different kinds of training. Makes sense. At my graduation walking the stage, I felt a powerful feeling and that is a big moment for me. I was so nervous but once I was up there I loved it. Who is this girl? I couldn’t figure out where all this energy hit me. I was voted most shy and quiet in every year book.

Now when I was 17, I started looking into Acting lessons. I knew absolutely no one in the industry. Very hard to know how to approach it. I was also living in Calgary, Canada whose film industry is quite a bit smaller than the bigger hubs. I started looking in the paper for local talent agencies. I remember being told to be careful about scams from my family, getting told to look for a more stable 9-5. I did find an agency, and yes after being with them it was a scam. I did however take a few weekend casting director courses if I got something out of it. But, I almost turned off the path. A casting director said we were Canadians, our accents were terrible and we weren’t very good. If we aren’t good and auditioned that we wouldn’t be forgotten as bad. That stuck with me. I knew that I’d have to invest in training more and be so good that when I finally started getting work, I wouldn’t get this reputation of being “bad”.

I started a career in esthetics. I started modeling. I wasn’t sure if I’d get anywhere as an actor, but modeling I didn’t have to speak, I could just dress up and look like characters. Modeling helped me a lot with my image confidence, because I had a very bad opinion of my self. So I can be grateful that modeling taught me a lot about being in front of a camera, how I could look as certain character’s and have fun.

I got lucky one day while I was body sugaring, that one of my clients was an assistant director and told me about a local acting school, Company of Rogues. It wasn’t till a few years later that I took that advice. My partner was diagnosed with cancer, I was in an accident and I finally decided if I wanted to do something I loved, I should before I never get the chance to. It was the best decision I ever made.

Acting school and being an esthetician taught me a lot. I grew my confidence and started meeting more like minded people. The esthetics helped me afford the training. While I was working as an Esthetician, I even got a chance to try hypnosis. I can’t remember for sure, but I am pretty sure it was to find my purpose. I’ll never forget the image I saw. I was on a red carpet, in a gold dress and I was surrounded with this glow. I was happy. So, like the graduation stage I felt again this pull to continue pursuing acting.

While taking my acting lessons, we had a one off stunt weekend to work with Steven McMichael. He had done a lot of big movies and shows. I wasn’t able to fully participate as I was recovering from an accident. I can tell you, that class lite something inside of me. I knew that stunts was what I wanted to do. To be a Stunt Actress, Action Actress, whatever you’d like to call it.

For years, I trained in different disciplines and travelled for stunt courses both nationally and internationally. I loved it. Like everyone though, the money wasn’t supporting it and I thought maybe I needed to reconsider what I should be doing. I applied and was accepting in taking Kinesiology in University. That same week, I got a call from McMichael. He offered me my first stunt job. This is where I mean that life starts to redirect you if you try to stray. This is when my career really started.

I was getting stunt jobs, special skills, stand in and more. I was loving all of it. I was excited.

Things got slow at one point for me again, Covid happened, I wasn’t able to train. I wasn’t sure what to do. Things were slow. I redirected myself from stunts during covid, by taking acting classes online through Ruskin school of Acting in LA. I had no idea if I was going to get any stunt work anytime soon. It was nice to go back to what first got me in the industry. I even tried some crew work just to get on set. Although it wasn’t necessarily for me, I learned a great deal from it.

I then applied to get a Entertainment Visa to work stateside. Following advice I got from all the great people I had met in the industry. I was getting some work to act in the states once I got my visa. Not enough though, not enough paid opportunities. So i decided to find a job to save for a bit before moving to the US. I decided to work on a pipeline up north in Canada. Well remember how I said life seems to slap you in the face when you go off course? I was in a very bad accident. A hit and run with a Semi. So I stopped everything. I was lucky to come out of that one in one piece. I didn’t know what to do. I sat in silence.

I then got an opportunity to come to the states and so I took it. I knew I needed to come and take the acting opportunity to do something for my soul. I’ve been here ever since, successfully getting more and more opportunities in both acting and stunts. So I guess I found my silver lining to the accident.

In sharing all of that, that’s how I can say I developed an understanding and awareness to my purpose. It was always there since I was little. Lots of bread crumbs, interests, chance encounters that guided me a long the way. Anytime I veered off my path a big opportunity came, or i got a wake up that I couldn’t ignore. Now I watch for these clues, or during slow times I meditate and find something that supports my career. Sometimes that’s helping others learn what I didn’t earlier on. If I had just listened to my intuition sooner, maybe I would have moved to a bigger hub sooner, gotten a bigger opportunity sooner. That’s hindsight though and I love where I have gotten to. Do I fully know my purpose to all of this, no? But i do know this is the path to my purpose. Maybe I’ll play a role that inspires thousands. Maybe someone will read this, identify with my earlier signs and take the risk sooner to pursue their passion. Life will find a way.

All I know, my purpose is in the Entertainment Industry. It’s continuing on no matter the challenges.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

I am an Actress and Stuntwoman based in Cleveland, Ohio. I came from Canada through an Entertainment Visa looking for more opportunities to further my career. I can say since coming here, the support you find in the US for pursuing acting and stunts is amazing. I wish I had come sooner! There is so much love and community here for it. A lot of people ask me why Cleveland? Well, I was on a set and met the love of my life. Whose also in the industry and his home is here in Cleveland. Just like not being in a big hub in Canada, I believe you can find success no matter where you are. I guess I like the challenge!

Right now, I am currently prepping a few roles, getting to know more locals in the industry and traveling between states for acting. It’s been quite the adventure. I am also trying to find new places for stunt training. It is always hard changing gyms. I have found a great MMA place, Hooligans here in North Ridgeville. I am also trying to start a parkour community here, as so far I have not found an establishment for it locally. For stunt training there are also a ton of great workshops to go to all across the US. Some for stunt driving, stunt schools that focus on more than one discipline, helicopter training and more.

The possibilities are endless. What I find is so special about pursing acting is finding the people you love to work with. You keep hiring each other, giving each other opportunities and growing your team. It’s a really great feeling to find a production team that even while you are filming one movie, you have several in the works and you get excited to say “Hey, I have this coming, can you do (insert job here), would you be interested in working together again?” It’s not surprising that this industry is all about who you know and networking. It takes a lot of time to find the people you work well with though and helping each other bring visions and scripts to life. What still surprises me here in the US, is everyone’s willingness to travel and put the time in. Their is a great passion here for it.

Right now as an up and coming Actress and Stuntwoman the best support that readers and fans can do is support us on social media, watch our movies in theatres and help us network if you know someone in the industry. It’s amazing how a little support can lead to a big step. Readers and fans should also not feel shy with reaching out if they are interested in where they can take acting or stunt lessons/training with myself or others I work with. It’s a small world! Hopefully I’ll have more to share with what’s coming soon.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

The three biggest qualities I can say that have helped me along the way was the endurance to never give up, patience to enjoy the journey and humility to accept my failures and learn from them. I don’t think I could have kept going if I had not accepted those three qualities, the film industry will test you in so many ways.

The best way for folks who are early on in pursuing a career in film, is to keep working on it. That endurance will get you somewhere! Keep taking classes, be willing to learn and try new things, find niches that will help you stand out. When you get an opportunity to be on set, be open to learning and observing everything you can. If you start out as a Background Artist, you have a front row seat to watch and learn how bigger Actors work with the Directors, for example. Take a chance to work crew on a set, to learn how a sets works which will help ease your nerves. Especially if your goal is to be in front of the camera. There are so many ways to keep taking another step. Just don’t be so hard on yourself if your opportunity takes longer than you wanted.

That goes into the second quality, patience. The biggest mistake I have made early on and the biggest mistake I see new actors, and stunt people, making is being “hungry”. It’s great to be excited, but also easy to be perceived as annoying. Some artists are so hungry for that opportunity that they make big mistakes, try to go faster than they are ready and it can damage their career. I think a better way and I wish I could have told younger me this, is to be patient. The opportunities will come. So enjoy the journey, if you love what you do others will see that and see how hard you are working and they will contact you when they have something. You just can’t put a time stamp on it, trust the process. I know, easier said then done when you are a starving artist. Patience really can be a beautiful thing just find things to do to get by while you are working towards your goals.

The third quality I mentioned is humility. You have to be able to take rejection in this industry. You also need to be able to get back up after you make mistakes. Sometimes you can’t even verbally make things better and instead you have to do things to show you have grown before whatever happens can just be a memory. It’s better to laugh at yourself, see that it is okay to be in the poop of a situation and move on. It is okay to have been wrong, it is okay that you made a fool of yourself, and it is okay to fail. I have had my share of humiliating moments. Best you can do is learn from them, take that laugh and show that you are better than your past mistakes. After that it is outside your control and you can’t control other people.

I hope that these perspectives help young artists so that they keep going, are patient with themselves and their journey and take pride in both the good and the bad. As an artist we pull from all our life experiences to make our art. As a stuntwoman if I biff it really badly in real life, I can use that for when I am getting a stunt job where I need to do exactly that. As an actress if I have to pull from a memory to play a moment where life didn’t feel so great, I can use that to my advantage. Nothing is ever an end. It’s just another step in the right direction.

One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?

There are still many Producers, Directors, Casting Directors and Productions I’d love to collaborate with. Like many actors and stuntwomen, I’d love to work on a Marvel or DC movie. It has always been a dream of mine. Next to working on a Hunger Games, Lara Croft, Lord of The Rings, Game of Thrones; movies and shows like that, that I have been looking up to as goals for many many years. I’d have to be crazy not to take an opportunity to say what kind of shows I’d love to work on. There are also many directors I have wanted to work with. James Gunn, Steven Spielberg, James Cameron, Ari Astor, and so many more. There is so much to learn from these directors. I have remembered everything I learned when I worked with Jason Reitman on Ghostbusters Afterlife. Those memories are with me every day and had a huge impact on me. I’d be blessed to be able to work with any of them. Most of these projects have Casting Directors that can find me on IMDb, social media and through agencies. I’ll keep my fingers crossed that one of them see’s this article. Thank you for having me!

Contact Info:

Image Credits

First Shot: On Set of “In The Hands of Fate”

Makeup on set of 1-1-5

Water Stunt from the set of Abducted

Play within a movie set of Brothers Grimm Sisters Wild

Stunt Doubling on JANN

Dancing on set of 1-1-5

Model Sunflower Credits:
Photographer Donn Horbach

Family photo from on set of UnNatural

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