Meet Hannah Mary Simpson

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Hannah Mary Simpson a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hannah Mary, thank you so much for making time for us. We’ve always admired your ability to take risks and so maybe we can kick things off with a discussion around how you developed your ability to take and bear risk?
Not to be too cheeky, but I developed my ability to take risk by taking risks (yay exposure therapy!) Being super honest with myself about what my goals and values are also makes it easier to calculate which risks to take. For example, I quit a day job that was no longer serving me or my career last year. This was a huge leap— leaving the stability of a 9-5 desk job and taking my chances with a freelancer schedule was daunting and unfamiliar. Now, nearly a year later, I am so much happier in life and productive in my career, and I’ve found it much easier to take risks since then!

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
Hello! I’m an actor, singer, improviser, Shakespeare Coach, and teaching artist in Chicago. I’ve been living and working here since around the same time the Cubs won the World Series, my favorite deep dish is Giordano’s, and tourists ask me for directions at least once a day. Most of my performance work has been Shakespeare or musical theatre— given that these are my two favorite genres of theatre, I’m so grateful for these opportunities! I love that the theatre— particularly in Shakespeare and musicals— requires a certain amount of vulnerability and earnestness, both from the performers as well as from the audience. Given that we live in a world where most folks are operating on 500 layers of irony and sarcasm, the authenticity and abandon of the theatre reminds us (and encourages us) that it’s cool (and necessary!) to feel things. Suspend that disbelief! Allow yourself to be swept up in a fully-choreographed, mid-conversation tap number! Revel in the rhymes of Puck’s epilogue! Remember that that life is hard but also a magnificent gift and you are not weak for experiencing wonder!!

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
1) My optimism 2) My diehard love for theatre 3) My nerdiness — 1) To be an actor requires a thick-as-hell skin and a squishy-as-heck heart. It’s hard. I don’t book most of the things I audition for— that’s part of the deal. Luckily, I’m an extremely optimistic person (while also allowing myself time and space to feel the fullest range of human emotion)— I never see an unbooked audition as a waste of time— Did I get great footage out of it? Did I make a new friend in the holding room? Did I get a callback? Is this the 20th time this casting director has called me in? Those all sound like wins to me. 2) I love the theatre with my full chest. I love it so. much. If I didn’t, I don’t know how I could continue in this pursuit. 3) I am a Prepared, Color-Coded, Organized, Research-y, Curious, No-Stone-Uncovered Girlie. My liberal arts training has served me well, both in my career as well as in life in general. I don’t really know how to improve on these, but I will say really giving a damn and working on something you love does wonders.

Awesome, really appreciate you opening up with us today and before we close maybe you can share a book recommendation with us. Has there been a book that’s been impactful in your growth and development?
The Artist’s Way was a game-changer for me. The most impactful nugget of wisdom I cultivated from it was the idea that “the artist who seeks perfection in everything will find it in nothing.” Who knew my perfectionist tendencies were slowing me down instead of moving me forward!? The Artist’s Way also helped me to learn how to be kinder and gentler to myself and to my work— if I can extend that same kindness, generosity, and warmth to other people, surely I can show myself and my Inner Artist that same affection.

Contact Info:

Image Credits
Chris Popio – PopioStumpf Photography; oomphotography

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