Episode 5 - Keara Dooley
Maddi Albregts
This podcast is brought to you by MAD Company, a nonprofit theater company based out of New York City.
James Hale
Hello and welcome to another episode of One Hale of a Conversation. I'm your host, James Hale. I'm the executive director of MAD Company and your host for this podcast. With me in the studio today is the wonderful actor, creative, editor extraordinaire, Keara Dooley.
James Hale
Hi, Keara.
Keara Dooley
Hi, how are you?
James
I'm very well. How are you?
Keara
I'm doing well, too, thank you.
James
Excellent. Welcome to BRIC, where we do our recording. Wonderful little place.
Helena
I'm going to make you redo it.
James
I might record another one.
Lauren
It's terrifying.
Helena
And then left, left it behind, retired.
James
And we’re back after that exciting interruption. What next season will hold? My name is James Hale.
James
So, Keara, I was hoping we could start out how we start most podcasts or most episodes, rather, you on your resume. You went to USC. You then went to LAMDA. You're now here in New York City. I wonder if you could just sort of trace in your own words that journey and sort of how it evolved.
Keara
Yeah, absolutely. I yeah, USC, I went to for undergrad. I was a theater major. It was definitely my reach school was very, very surprised when I actually got it.
James
Wow congratulations.
Keara
Thank you. And the cool thing about USC is that USC had about 12 different ways that you could major in acting.
James
Okay.
Keara
So they had a BFA program, but at the time I wasn't really interested in doing like a really hardcore BFA program. I really wanted sort of the flexibility of like the undergrad life and to explore a lot of different areas. So they had a B.A. emphasis in acting program.
James
Okay.
Keara
And so that's what I did. So I went to L.A. and I did that, and I did a semester while I was at USC at BADA, much like many of our- many of our cohorts and like many of our cohorts, I very much fell in love with London and the conservatory vibe. So when I graduated from USC, I was like, I kind of would like to go back there. And so I applied for a couple of different graduate programs again, sort of very much like, ahh, this probably won't happen, but we'll-
James
See what sticks.
Keara
Yeah, we'll see what sticks. And then I very fortunately got into LAMDA as well.
James
If you don't mind my interrupting, where else did you apply?
Keara
I applied for a couple of programs at Royal Central, but it was a couple of different programs that I applied for there. But yeah, the LAMDA one, I think just right off the bat, the energy just felt really, really great. And the audition process felt really, really wonderful and comfortable. So it was exciting when that.
James
Very cool. Did you apply for that in L.A.?
Keara
Yes.
James
You did- you did the audition in L.A.?
Keara
They came to UCLA? Yeah.
James
We don't talk about them.
Keara
We don't talk about them. I had to make my way over to UCLA to do that audition. But, yes, it was right before spring break, actually. And I literally got on a plane to go back to see my family for spring break. And then it was on the plane ride back, like right before the plane took off that Rodney called, it was like, Hello, It's- it's Rodney from LAMDA. Hey, I've just gotten back. And I was like, Why are you-
James
Right, what's happening? What? What went wrong?
Keara
Yeah, exactly. I just had to call you and tell you how terrible it last. No-
James
You will never come here.
Keara
You will never be here. No.
James
Yeah. Wow. Okay, that's super cool. Yeah. So you're at LAMDA with all of us. Fortunate. Unfortunate. We'll get into that later. Graduated Lambda. It took you a little bit of time, Much like me to sort of get to New York. Yeah, I think. How did that happen and why New York and not back to L.A.?
Keara
Yeah, absolutely. Well, first of all, L.A., I. I love L.A.. I loved my experience in L.A., but L.A. and I kind of have a love/hate relationship. I'm very much like, I like things slightly rainy and cold. I'm from Seattle. I kind of enjoy weather where you can, like, bundle up and like, where things are a bit closer knit and L.A. is just very hot and spread out. Everywhere. So I did consider going back to L.A., but in the end I just didn't feel like that was the vibe. I kind of knew immediately that I wanted to go to New York, partly because so many of our group had gone to New York. But it was also sort of like this idea in the back of my mind for a while. But yeah, it did take first of all, the world was like, shut down.
James
Right. A thing happened.
Keara
A thing occurred, and at least for me, it was just not in the cards right away.
James
Yeah, of course.
Keara
And also just, I think just dealing with all the repercussions of the world ending. I think mentally it took some time to be like, yeah, I'm ready to move across the country, right? Yeah. But we got there eventually.
James
Okay. So it took you. It was, it was a little less than a year, right?
Keara
it was like 9 months or so.
James
Yeah, that's respectable. Took me like five, and I wasn't doing anything, so. Yes, I was hanging out.
Keara
I was sitting in a chair.
James
Right. Why? From Seattle West Coast. Makes sense. But why USC versus UCLA or another, like, excellent dramatic reach school?
Keara
Yeah, absolutely. I- the programs that USC had, I remember when I was looking at all the different college courses and majors that you can do and there were definitely a couple others on my list I was really considering. But what it kind of came down to for USC was one sort of the many different ways that you could major in acting while also exploring other things. But also they just had so many classes like the the list for acting classes would just go on page after page after page, and they had things like like Alexander, which I didn't end up taking, but that was an option that you could take and that was an option that you could take whenever it fit in your schedule. And it wasn't just like a conservatory offering. You could take things like voiceover or a bunch of like crazy different... You could take mask classes.
James
So cool. So you actually got down to like the the coursework level. That's really my program. That's pretty intensive. This is really meticulous. When I went to my undergrad, I think I just like threw a dart at the wall and was like, Oh, seems good.
Keara
I mean, I go there for some people. For me, I was like, I need to know everything. Yeah.
James
Okay, that's super cool. So and this is skipping ahead in my notes, like with the BFA or sorry, the BA program that allowed you to take all these other classes, all this coursework. What other things did you end up studying at USC?
Keara
So I ended up doing, I originally was going to do a double major in classics, which is essentially Greek Roman history and languages, etc.. The particular path that I was following just ended up the courses just didn't end up working out, so I ended up minoring it instead.
James
Okay.
Keara
But I've always just been like obsessed with history. And like I always say that if theater is my first love, history is my second, and I just love the older it is, the more interesting-
James
The better.
Keara
Exactly.
James
Excellent.
Keara
So that was definitely the- the thinking behind that.
James
Right. Well, that I mean, makes sense. Why then LAMDA and sort of this classical acting sphere that you went into. That's super interesting.
Keara
Yeah it was a lot of fun. I got to do a lot of courses on like myths and ancient wars and, yeah, all this nerdy stuff actually.
James
Yes. Right. Nerd out. Everyone has their thing that they read out on. So I respect that at least yours is, you know, more interesting than most.
Keara
What's what's your nerdy.
James
Oh, that. I don't know. Probably like what is my nerd thing? I don't know. Economics or something like this and, or like, or like something weird that- like current current events or something. I don't know. Yeah.
Keara
That's a good thing that you're at the helm then of MAD Company.
James
Well, thanks. Thank you.
Keara
Your special interest.
James
Yeah. We'll- we'll see how well that works out for all of us. So you eventually land here in New York. You didn't want to do L.A. New York. Definitely an acting city. I'm interested about the balance that you and other artists have struck between, especially our phase in our careers early sort of us establishing ourselves. How do you find balance between making money and living a life and being creative, auditioning all those things that we're compelled to do as, as artists?
Keara
Yeah, I feel like funny enough, I feel like I'm only just sort of starting to find that balance and to understand that in all honesty right when I moved to New York, so much of my time was taken up with figuring out how to make money and how to survive. And I moved to New York toward like the later end of the pandemic, but the pandemic was still going on. So even finding an entry level minimum wage type situation was a very, very difficult process, which I wasn't necessarily anticipating.
James
Sure.
Keara
So, yeah, so a lot of my time was really just figuring out, okay, how do I diversify my income and get to find something that's flexible enough? And in the end, I just had to sort of be like, Think we just need to focus on money.
James
Right. So I have to live.
Keara
Exactly. We got to live first and then you can focus on being creative. And I think I finally sort of started to get that balance. I'm now working in person somewhere. Fortunately, that is very supportive of me being an actor. They came to Romeo and Juliet.
James
Oh, no way.
Keara
Yeah, like they like they took like a work trip, which was so sweet and very nice for me because I was very scared that I would be like, Can I take time off? For a show please. I'm doing this, at least for me. So doing that, in addition to having some other sort of remote, flexible things, I can just sort of do from my right to make money, I feel like I'm just starting to now have the freedom to like I can go out and audition for more things and actually devote time to that process.
James
Yeah, I know they took time. I,t I totally feel you. It took me. I mean, also, I still feel like I'm struggling sometimes to balance, but it definitely, it took me a year and a half, two years to be like, okay, I kind of know what I'm doing now. Even like I have a job that works. I have a life that works. Should something change, I know how to change it. So it's not this, like, super precarious thing.
Keara
Exactly.
James
But good for you for for being able to take a step back and say, I just need to focus on, on the living and making money and like, the art will come back. That's I think that can be really hard for artists and creatives to be like, I'm not creating now, but that's okay. It's not exactly losing time.
Keara
There was definitely that that mental aspect of like, I'm not creating anything like, is this okay? Am I still an artist?
James
Right? Yeah. And so much of your self-image can get wrapped up in that.
Keara
Exactly. Because when you're when your self image is, Oh, I'm an artist. And by nature of circumstance, you have to take a step back and not do art and just sort of deal in the nitty gritty, the foundation that will later enable you to make art. Yeah, I can definitely mess with your head a little bit, but I think it's a really important part of the process that you don't hear about it often when doing like, oh, preparing to go out into the real world and-
James
Yeah leaving leaving our programs and or going to embark on, you know, immediate success and immediate work in the arts. And, you know, you have to make money. You have to be doing this for a long time. Now that you've found a little bit of that balance, what sorts of projects are you pursuing?
Keara
I'm finally able to do a lot more auditioning than I have, even just at all in the past. I'm also thinking a lot about writing these days and like, interestingly enough, visual art as well, because I work at a museum right now, so I'm constantly-
James
Surrounded.
Keara
Surrounded by artwork, which is very nice in its own way. But yeah, I have about a trillion different like plays or books that are that have been living up in my head for so long and I'm finally getting to a point where I'm like, I should write words. I should actually write these down and work on them, because I think these are good ideas, but they've just been living up in here forever. Also even. I mean, this is kind of I don't know, but even just like doing the editing for like MAD Company, like even just getting into the rhythm of doing that kind of technical, creative aspect consistently, I think it's been really helpful and really nice as well, just to be able to be like, I have something consistently I have to work on.
James
Yeah, just something. And you're accountable to something other than just exactly, I want to do this thing, but it doesn't, like no one cares if I do not like, you know, I think that's such an underrated or underappreciated part of being especially sort of a solo artist as actors often are. Is that aside from being in a show or having an audition to work on, no one cares or no one will ever know if you are putting in the work outside of that. And so even just a modicum of accountability in any sort of creative sphere, I think, I know it helps me so much to know that someone else is going to look at this. Someone else knows this is happening, any of that.
Keara
Yeah.
James
And especially something like editing, which you've been doing a ton of, is such a useful skill and can be either transferred into something else entirely or just useful as an actor.
Keara
Yeah, no, it's really, I think it's a really difficult- I mean, I especially find this with myself personally as well, that when I'm the only person that I'm held accountable to, I can so easily just be like, Oh, I'm kind of tired today. Oh, I'll do that tomorrow. Oh, like when such and such is in place, right?
James
Yeah.
Keara
Feel like you can find yourself in this trap of always waiting for the perfect time. Or when I'm a certain version of myself to do something. But I kind of think what I'm realizing more recently is that it's more just about doing something and just seeing where that takes you rather than being like, Oh, it has to be this thing.
James
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And there's always a million reasons to not do something or a million reasons I can give myself to not do something. But the only reason that will make me do it is just I'm doing it right now and that's how it's going to go.
Keara
Yeah.
James
So you're auditioning more, which is excellent. Are you looking- what sorts of projects are you finding that you are interested in auditioning for? Is this like larger scale off-Broadway? Is this tiny little things in basements, the weird art, the corporate art, the classical art? What are you what are you interested in?
Keara
Yeah, I like it. The weird art. I'm kind of focusing more on plays of whatever nature that they may be. I'm really just sort of scrolling through backstage and just being like, What might I fit right? And just sort of saying, you know, we're just going to send something off to whatever and just sort of see what happens, Throw the spaghetti noodle at the wall.
James
Right.
Keara
I have auditioned for some like Shakespearean type things.
James
Okay. Returning to your roots.
Keara
Exactly. I feel like with like this part of process, the part of this process of like returning more to auditioning more, I- it's a little easier, I find, to sort of start with something that I know I have a specific skill set in.
James
Yeah, absolutely.
Keara
That I can point to be like, I've gotten this degree, I've done so such and such many shows. Like this is something I'm very confident and confident advertising myself in, especially even just like returning with Romeo and Juliet.
James
Yeah.
Keara
I get so much of that process, I think for me was just, hey, remember what it's like to be an actor.
James
Shake the rust off.
Keara
Exactly, Exactly. So I have done a couple of those auditions and we'll- we'll see where they lead.
James
Right. All you can do is the audition.
Keara
Yeah.
James
So speaking of your extensive training in the classical world, I'd like to just chat about LAMDA and sort of see your perspective. Is there a favorite role that you had at LAMDA?
Keara
Oh, at LAMDA.
James
Yes.
Keara
I feel like. I feel like I have two. One of them was just the whole process of Margaret of Anjou. I thought it was just so much fun, first of all, because one of my nerdy special interests being history and especially the that there was-
James
Absolutely
Keara
I was like, yes, finally, because this is perfect for me. And I got to do a really fun scene as Richard the third, which, like is just so much fun to just go way, way deep into something that is so completely unlike yourself, I hope.
James
Yeah, well, yet to be seen.
Keara
Yeah. And then I also feel and this relates to you as well Flamineo in the White Devil, the role that we shared. Yeah for similar reasons was also just very very fun. Someone so completely out of what you would be in your everyday life but also Flamineo I just found he- he talked like big, big game like he was really he's like, yeah, I'm so evil and right and I'm so tough and all these evil things. And then at the end he was like, Oh, I have feelings. Like he sees this mother's crying and he's like, Oh, interesting.
James
I'm a real boy.
Keara
Emotions, which is just a very fun transformation.
James
Absolutely. Yeah. So I was, I was going to talk about that later, but actually now is a great time. So specifically with Flamineo, that's a role that I think for you is something very much against your type in a really interesting way. But you also were sharing this role with me and we are very much not the same type. And specifically in our cut, if I remember correctly, I had the first, say, act and then you took over for the second act.
Keara
Yeah.
James
So I'm curious like, did that- did the fact that you were sharing what's supposed to be a continuous role with another actor who's very different from yourself, did that affect the way you approached this role? Did you not think about it at all? And just like, I'm going to do whatever I do and whatever James does is whatever he does, and we'll see how it works. Or with what were your considerations going in?
Keara
Absolutely, Yeah, I definitely will, because we all did our text work together. So I would definitely like pay really close attention when like, you were working through your text work because obviously with the earlier scenes you did your textwork before me.
James
Yeah.
Keara
And so I would take into consideration that like the conclusions that you guys were drawing and the- I feel like that sort of dealt a lot with Flamineo’s back story as well. So I definitely took some of that on board and I definitely deviated a little bit because there, obviously whenever you're sharing a role with someone, there comes a point where you just have to be like and, and now I'll, I'll just do whatever I do recommend and we'll see there. But definitely the, the work that you guys were doing definitely fed into that and kind of established this foundation, I think, upon which I could like sprinkle Oh, and I think I observed this as well or like because I dealt a lot more with Flamineo being like, Oh, emotions.
James
Right. Yeah, Yeah. You had the sort of the sort of reverse not reversal, what's the word. The, the changing character. Versus I was doing the establishing character in establishing the world. Do you find that or did you find I guess that in hearing all of this text work on the character that you would be playing, that you had to like fight against just- like taking everything that we were saying that- we being myself and Jeremy, our director, were saying and like accepting that to be true. Did you ever want to push back and say, later, I think something different? So we should establish that.
Keara
Oh, I don't- I don't think there was ever anything where I was like, I really intensely disagree. I know everything that you guys worked through. If I if I'm remembering correctly, it all made sense. I think for me, it was just a lot of finding out. Okay, so now where does the softness come in, if that makes sense? Because I had to get to a place where there is both the acknowledgment of, Oh, I have feelings. And actually I'm, like sad that my mom is sad and I've killed my brother and maybe I shouldn't have done that. But then in the next scene I have to go be like, And now I'm going to kill my sister too.
James
Weird character.
Keara
Exactly. Fascinating. Fascinating character. So yeah, I think a lot of it for me was just figuring out how do I kind of make him a little more unhinged in a way.
James
Sure.
Keara
Because the Flamineo in the first act is very much like, I know what I'm doing right. I have everything under control.
James
The Provocateur, yeah. The devious…
Keara
Yeah. I have all these connections…
James
Right. The Iago character.
Keara
Yeah.
James
Almost.
Keara
So a lot of my work was figuring out, okay, how this could all go horribly wrong and how do I just, like, completely fall apart.
James
When shit hits the fan. What does Flamineo do?
Keara
Exactly.
James
Interesting. Well, yeah, that performance, production was all sorts of crazy because of the onset of COVID and everything. But I think we pulled through. I think, funnily enough. Margaret of Anjou, I think everyone I've talked to about it says that might be like the seminal moment for them at LAMDA. Which is insane because it was two and a half months into our training, like we hadn't even been there that long. But everyone looks back at this project and just thinks, what an incredible time. Either the character I was playing or working with Rodney or something. But there was something magical about that time for sure.
Keara
Oh, absolutely. It was like December. We were, like just wrapping up our first semester. We were like, Wow, we're learning so many things. I also think until we got to the very end of our program, it was like the most complete thing we accomplished.
James
Sure.
Keara
And it had the most like feeling of an actual show, like the Spanish plays that we did. They- it wasn't that they were in, like any different spaces, like they were in smaller spaces, but they were still in those, like concrete LAMDA rooms. But I think on Margaret of Anjou, there was this vision of like, we are actually going to create a different space for the audience, which was like the rest of us and some of our teachers to actually go to. And the vision was really strong.
James
Right.
Keara
And we were like, We're going to do candles. And then we we leaned in-
James
Live fire everywhere.
Keara
Llive fire everywhere. Absolutely amazing. But yeah, it didn't burn down.
James
Yeah, we survived.
Keara
We were running around with those candles. We were doing war scenes. We were-
James
And I was dragging poor Lucy through hot wax. Not necessarily on purpose, but.
Keara
So it had it to be in character.
James
That's right. Yes. It's real. Exactly. Okay. So Flamineo, Richard the Third, is there a favorite class that you remember or not necessarily favorite, but maybe most useful. Or like, what class do you look back on with the most appreciation?
Keara
I feel like I, like off the top of my head a lot of the any of the work that was very rooted in like the imagination or like utilizing your imagination in order to facilitate changes in your breath or in your body or so like a lot of the work that we did with Robert, I would say sort of fits in that. And like with Heriberto as well, some of the elements work a lot, but now I'm just thinking of every class.
James
Right? Yeah, just everything.
Keara
I'm like, Wow, everything was so impactful. But as anything that kind of took you out of yourself, like there was this one, I think this was in Robert's class. There was this one exercise we did where, like, you imagined a butterfly landing on your fingertip and you let the butterfly go, and then you could breathe so easily. And for me, like, I don't know if anyone else had the same experience, but for me, I was like, I can breathe so easily. And he was like, use the Ahh. And I was like, I feel it. I understand it was one of those like LAMDA lightbulb moments. Or when, whenever we would figure out who different like movie characters, like what efforts they were in Laban.
James
Oh, the Laban. Sure.
Keara
That was I always found that to be very enjoyable.
James
So you appreciated like the psycho physical connection.
Keara
Yeah.
James
Yeah, I mean, I- that's actually probably what I learned the most at LAMDA was that there is, when we talked about it like, figure of eight, inner and outer that definitely was something that I- was revelatory for me. You know, not only can it come from the inside and affect the outside, but what is outside can also come in and allowing it to work both ways. It felt beautiful and natural and I had never thought about acting in that way.
Keara
It makes it makes it so much easier in a way to think of it like that.
James
Right.
Keara
Which- anything that can make it easier is only a good thing.
James
Exactly. So in that vein, we've been out of LAMDA now for almost three years, which is crazy to me. I'm wondering if there's anything in particular that you or that we learned or were exposed to at LAMDA that you still feel like you heavily lean on either in your own creative practice or just in life today, what's sort of stuck with you?
Keara
Yeah, I think kind of, well, I think to an extent the, what we were talking about earlier, the just, do art, show whatever it is, even if it's, you know, not up to your standards, just do it. And the process of doing that is the important thing. I think also just the idea of approaching not even just an audition, but like anything with confidence and the preparation that you do in advance is what gives you that confidence.
James
Okay.
Keara
Like doing that, that background work and knowing everything you're saying, knowing why you're saying what you're saying in that moment, and then just being able to have the freedom when you're doing the thing to be like, okay, I know what I'm saying. I know what my goal is.
James
Right.
Keara
I know this character I can just play right, just have fun. I do also think I feel like I just saw on like Instagram the other day it was Rodney saying, if you can do Shakespeare or if you can do, you know the classics, you can do everything. And I was like, Yes.
James
Hell yeah.
Keara
Because if you if you've done like, I'm a king and my I'm going to go to hell or I'm going to lose my kingdom or all my family's going to die, or I've killed my brother. Like, if you've done that major thing, then you can do contemporary anything else.
James
Exactly. I had a- short anecdote for me real quick- there was a moment during Margaret of Anjou, I think about all the time we were doing the scene where the queens bring the princes- or go visit the Tower of London, try and visit the princes on the eve of them actually being executed. But they think they're going to be crowned and they're not allowed into the castle. They're not allowed into the fort. They're stopped at the gate. And we were doing the scene and I mean, I don't know the text anymore, but one of the actresses doing the scene, Michelle, like, did it and I thought did it well, she was begging. She was asking. She was saying to the like, stones weep for me or something, something like that, or protect my children. Stones protect my children. She did it, it was, it, it was lovely. And Rodney basically said, stop. We just want to explain what's happening. Your children are on the other side of that wall. You know they are going to be killed at this point because you have figured it out. You can't get in. So you're- the only thing you can do. The only thing you can do to protect your children is to beg these inanimate stones to come to life to protect your children. Now go. It was like, goddammit, Rodney.
Keara
There was yeah, there was an extent of like, leaning into the metaphor and, like, doing. Exactly. Yeah. Like. Like, don't just say beg the stones. You beg to do it.
James
Right? And it's the absolute most of human experience. Like, what an insane thing for a real person to do. But if we're up on stage and this is a real world that we're creating, that person is actually doing that. So if you can nail that, anything else is possible for sure. I mean any modern drama of, you know, sometimes life and death, sometimes family, sometimes self-fulfillment. But if it's as real and alive as the only thing I can do is beg for these stones to somehow become alive. You can. You can handle that. I think is incredible.
James
I once had a- I once had an acting teacher say to our class, if you ever get a line and this was in a contemporary class, if you ever get a line that is just so like saccharine or so, like cringe or just so fluffy, and you're like, Why? Why did I say this line? You have to think of it in the sense that you say this thought this way because of this, the only way you can say it. So if you're using like the most flowery words or like the weirdest metaphor, it has to be because that is the only way that you can possibly express it.
James
Right. You have to lean in. It has to be this-
Keara
You can't apologize for the metaphor. You have to let it live within you.
James
Right. Yeah.
Keara
Yeah, some of it.
James
Right. I'm getting tingles in you guys. You can't. You can't see this. But, so I'm curious. We, at LAMDA, we heard about this, or at least I remember hearing about this occasionally, that a lot of the things we were learning, we wouldn't understand yet. That every- over the course of a career, would take years, decades sometimes for us to be like, Oh, I understand this thing now. I'm curious, has there been anything, has anything in the last three years like, clicked for you that didn't while we were at LAMDA any new secret knowledge, secret knowledge that is just absorbed?
Keara
Yeah, we would hear that all the time. Yeah, I remember. I think it was, it was a Judith who would describe it as you are going to become… Oh, what was it. Oh oh, it was like the, the competency.
James
Right. It was unconsciously incompetent, consciously incompetent, consciously competent, and unconsciously competent.
Keara
Yeah.
James
Right. Like the levels of learning.
Keara
Exactly. And she was like, you were going to spend most of this entire experience being consciously incompetent pretty early on in and our LAMDA journey, we were like, No…
James
Damn that sucks.
Keara
That's like, I want to know things. And I honestly feel like most of the time I still live there.
James
Sure.
Keara
But I do feel like some of the yeah, I feel like a lot of these things are going to be years long processes. I think one of the things that maybe I feel like I understand a little better now. Hmm. I'm trying to I'm like, trying to go through every class in my head.
James
Right. The totality of the year we were there. Distill it right now.
Keara
Yeah, maybe. I don't know. Maybe I haven’t...
James
I mean, that's fine. Like, it's only been a few years. There's not necessarily a bunch of secret knowledge that you should have unlocked.
Keara
I'm going to, I'm going to remember something the second I leave here.
James
Excellent. We'll splice it in later.
Keara
Yes.
James
Very cool. So leaving LAMDA slightly behind. I'm going to look at your resume here, in front of us. Very impressive. Lots and lots of classical.
Keara
Yes.
James
Including at USC. I see BADA. I see LAMDA. So. And we've talked about this a little bit. Your appreciation for classics and history. So I'm assuming that this classical, especially like sort of Shakespearean bent, is intentional on your resume. This is not something that happened by accident and you happened to fall into all these classical programs and all these classical shows.
Keara
I feel like it's kind of a little bit of both. I think like I definitely do go out for Shakespeare things or classical things because I love them, I love working on them, I love going into these worlds that was written by someone 500 or a thousand years ago. And I'm like, and I'm saying these words. I think that's the coolest thing. And you're like, begging to gods and you're, you know, plotting things. It's so much fun. But I also think because I love it, it in a way, that does sort of make you fall into it a little more like I certainly auditioned for contemporary things while I was at USC. I certainly and I would get sometimes I would get offers for contemporary things and sometimes I wasn't. At USC, they have like their mainstage shows, which are about like depending on the program you're in can be like five, ten or so shows that you can audition for in the season.
James
Okay.
Keara
But there are a lot of acting students there and like that many shows comparatively. So they have a really strong independent student theater tradition, and a lot of independent student theater companies. And so I found myself doing a lot of auditions for those types of shows, mostly, which are what a lot of these are. And right when I got back from BADA actually was when I started getting really involved in classical shows at USC and so because that sort of became what I, not what I was known for, but what was it was clear what my strengths were.
James
Sure.
Keara
Then it became like, Oh, like, yeah, if it's between such and such contemporary play or like, such and such classical play, I just kind of felt like I fit more in that classical play world and I got more offers for those. So sort of a ,sort of a it was kind of a self-fulfilling cycle.
James
Right. Yeah. I mean, that makes, I feel like that happens to, you know, professional actors all over the place. Oh, yeah, you're good at something, so you do it a lot and then that's the only thing you do. Not that that's the only thing you've done, but-
Keara
It's a lot of what I’ve done.
James
Yeah, I mean, looking at all these credits, a significant portion of them are, are Shakespearean, which is great.
Keara
Yeah.
James
I also notice there's a fun thing here. If we flip the page to page two, your number one special skill is crochet.
Keara
Well, first of all, how first of all, this is alphabetically organized.
James
I know, but it's still, yes, it does look like still number one.
Keara
it does look like it has a prominent, but listen, I wouldn't say that I am the greatest crocheter in the world. I certainly wouldn't say that. In fact, if anything, that was a bit more of like a pandemic and like me sitting in a chair doing like, what can I do? I can crochet like we have like crochet needles around the house. I wouldn't say I could make anything like super elaborate, but I can do like a mean baby blanket.
James
Oh, okay. Have you, are there a lot of baby blankets that you've somehow that you've finished and are sending out to all the new babies in the world?
Keara
I should. I should, that's a great idea. I have some yarn. I could do it.
James
A yarn and a baby.
Keara
And a baby. Oh, that's so exciting. I heard. So happy.
James
That was great. Yes.
Keara
Yeah, I can do, like, a nice little granny square for you. It's not like I'm, I don't expect that to do great things for me. But if anything like, if they need a random gremlin in the background doing something crochet, I can absolutely, they know I can.
James
That's right. Somewhere in the world there is performance art that requires live crochet.
Keara
Yes. Yes.
James
And they're just looking for you. Yeah. So if you're listening to this podcast, it's Keara Dooley.
Keara
Thank you.
James
For your, for your project.
Keara
Yeah, I have I love seeing what people put on their, on their special skills, on their resume. I have a friend from undergrad who puts can burp on command on her resume and she gets asked about it all the time.
James
I mean, oh, honestly that- if any non-actors are listening, that sounds like something that is actually very useful for an actor.
Keara
Right?
James
Because the one scene that requires you to burp every time…
Keara
You know that they're just looking for that one person.
James
Right. Yeah, right. Otherwise that's a sound effect and it just doesn't hit the same.
Keara
No no no.
James
It doesn't land.
Keara
Yeah.
James
Yeah. No I, I completely agree my- especially on actors access there's just like buttons you click. Yeah I've done things once in my life right.
Keara
Yeah.
James
Or I'm reasonably confident that I could dive on command. I don’t know.
Keara.
Yeah I could. I could learn this in a couple of weeks. What's your most like, what's your most reach, you know, the one where you're like, you know, I don’t have a lot of experience…
James
I don't actually know how to do this.
Keara
Right. I can learn. I'm sure.
James
Actually, probably skiing, like specifically downhill.
Keara
Is there uphill skiing?
James
No, like cross-country.
Keara
Okay.
James
So, like, I can- I grew up in Vermont, so I can, I can snowboard, I can ski. I can, now, because I'm an old man with a broken body. I can cross-country ski.
Keara
Okay.
James
So my skiing, if you put me on skis, I wouldn't necessarily fall over, but I wouldn't look good doing it. So, like-
Keara
I love that. I wouldn't fall over. I could stay upright for the most part.
James
For most of the mountain I would be upright, but it's not going to look good. So I feel like there's a lot of that on my resume. There's a lot of, like, I've done before. I can do it. But if you're looking for it to look good on TV, probably not me.
Keara
Yeah. Yeah.
James
We’ll want my double to get in.
Keara
Exactly. I can't say any of my baby blankets look brilliant, but right now, maybe. But they exist.
James
But as long as you look good doing it, I think that's more important.
Keara
That's more. There we go. Exactly.
James
Perfect. Great. Yeah. So I have some sort of extra time questions here that we’ll just burn through, we'll see what's going on. So firstly, any dream roles you have, you could do any role ever in any place. Which ones would you pick?
Keara
I- this is more like a dream project.
James
Sure.
Keara
I just feel like I need to be on a period drama at some point in my life. I just need to, like, wear a big, fluffy dress.
James
Okay.
Keara
And, like, run down the castle corridor.
James
Sure.
Keara
I don't know what role that would be, but I mean, any role that will like-
James
Seems like there's plenty of them.
Keara
Yeah, I feel like there's a market. I would love to do- because Lady Macbeth was one of those that, like the role is split between-
James
The split role, sure.
Keara
It would be very fun to do Lady Macbeth, the whole journey.
James
Absolutely.
Keara
Yeah.
James
Okay. All right. Good answer. Next question. What- I'm trying to rephrase this in my head. Why acting and art and theater, what sort of drew you into that world?
Keara
At a certain point, there just couldn't be anything else.
James
Interesting.
Keara
I feel- the- I- as a child, when I was a child.
James
When I was a baby, yes.
Keara
I was crazy. I would like I would like watch movies and TV shows. And I would immediately, like, internalize them and memorize them. And then I would do them by myself. And my family had no idea what to do with me. There are. Like those old, like VHS videos of like me doing the entire dream sequence from Fiddler on the Roof by myself, like-
James
Oh, that's kind of, like, It's scary.
Keara
Yeah.
James
I mean, it's like weird and dark.
Keara
It is weird and dark. I do love some weird and dark.
James
That's, that's my wheelhouse.
Keara
Yeah. But no. So I think my family kind of immediately was like, let's put her in theater. And you, I saw, you know, the school plays at my middle school. I just love seeing them. They seem so magical to me. So I started doing those when I was old enough. And then in high school I was like, Well, I need to do right theater. And then it was like, Well, you could do this. Like-
James
This is a job.
Keara
This is a job. Like, you could do this and you could spend every day studying this and learning about this and just performing and when you first have that thought, I feel like it's kind of like, Oh, no, like that's not real.
James
Right.
Keara
But the more time went on, the more it was just like, well, I could theoretically do something else. Would it make me as happy or fulfilled? And a certain point it was just like probably not. If I end up doing something else later down the line, and that's fine. But I think I will hate myself forever if I don't.
James
You don't give it a shot.
Keara
Try. Yeah.
James
Absolutely. And I feel like a lot of at least from the outside as actors, a lot of the sort of negative feedback we get over, oh, you want to be an actor is the the percentage of people who make a full time living and frankly live really well doing this is minuscule.
Keara
Yeah.
James
Minuscule. But there is a whole industry of people who either have multiple jobs within the industry. They are writers, they're producers, they're directors, they're actors, they're technical people, or they dabble while, you know, having a second career or they are high quality amateurs. Like if this is something that people are passionate about, especially young people like, it is entirely possible to do this for your entire life. You know, there is no mandatory retirement age for creatives. It might not be and frankly probably won't be fame and fortune and turning down movie roles because you're so in demand. Might be.
Keara
Yeah.
James
But if you're if this is what you want to do, you can do it.
Keara
Yeah.
James
Which gives me a lot of hope when I'm still sitting and not doing it that, you know, I will do it again someday. Maybe I'll never be rich. Maybe I'll never be on a, you know, a network TV show or on Broadway. But, you know, I can- I can perform and be on stage for the rest of my life if that's what I want.
Keara
Yeah. And there is that sort of connection of this is when I feel most me. Most like myself, which again, might not be fame fortune turning down movie roles, but nonetheless is a pretty significant aspect of yourself.
James
Absolutely.
Keara
And your health and happiness and all that whatnot.
James
So you were, you were a theater kid through and through?
Keara
Oh, yeah. Growing up, I and it was funny because I definitely was like, because I was like, oh, I don't know. And I think my family in the back of their minds was always like, start preparing like you go to drama school. Like, I think they 100% knew I was going to drama school and pursuing this way before.
James
Before you did
Keara
Before I could admit it to myself, but that's what I wanted in life.
James
That's fair. I mean, sometimes family just knows that.
Keara
Yeah.
James
Okay. So with that in mind, I wonder if you could chart out or frankly, just make one up here on the spot either a, like, personal and or professional 5 to 10 year plan. Like where, where would you like? And this can be entirely fanciful.
Keara
Yeah.
James
You know, there's no one here to judge. What would you like the next five years or ten years or whatever to look like?
Keara
Yeah, for the next five years. I would love to just. Hmm. I feel like I would love to just do anything I want without restraining myself or without imposing any self judgment on it. Like, if, if in ten years I've, like, written some books or some plays and, you know, done however many plays or, I dunno, TV shows or whatever, I don't know, as long as I have put myself forward for anything that I want, essentially, without thinking, Oh, I don't I don't know if I would be the best for that or I don't know if my skills are up to par with that or like, Oh, I've never done something like that before.
James
Right.
Keara
Then I think I will be happy with that.
James
Okay, so it's more about pursuit of the dream and, and putting yourself out there than it is about in the next five years. I'd like to be on, off, I'd like to be off-Broadway twice. I'd like to be whatever.
Keara
In the next ten years. I would love to be a movie star.
James
Right. Right. I'm waiting for the millions to come in.
Keara
Yeah, Yeah, we. We just talked about how that's not important. No, it's important. I will make the millions, turn down the movie roles.
James
Right. Except nothing less kids.
Keara
Exactly. I think as long as I just sort of allow myself to truly pursue and to truly reach, reach for the stars or whatever, then I think that I won't have any regrets.
James
Oh, yeah, I'm- Beautiful. I think- I wish that for you.
Keara
Thank you.
James
So you have lived and trained in sort of the three big, at least English speaking creative cities in the world. LA, London, New York City. I'm wondering, do you have a favorite? Is there-
Keara
Oh, London. Take me back to London. There we go a ten year plan.
James
Back to London.
Keara
The thing the thing about London, I feel, at least for me, partly because of the theater, partly because of the history, it's- it is one of those places where I just felt like, oh, this is the most true version of me. Also, I think kind of like how we were discussing earlier there, at least in the States and I think, you know, slightly less so in New York, but still present is very much like, when you tell someone that you're an actor or that you're pursuing an acting career, they're like, Oh, great.
James
Good for you.
Keara
But what do you do, but like for money? Like it's very much like, Oh yeah, but you're not in a marvel movie or something like that.
James
Right. You don't make your living as, as an actor.
Keara
Exactly. Whereas I felt like in London, if someone was like, Oh, what are you studying? I'd be like, theater, I'm going to be an actor. They'd be like, Oh, that's great. We love that. But it was very much more it felt more respected regardless of what level that you were at. So yeah, I feel like even just for that support, supportive attitude alone, but also I just love London. Like London.
James
London, London is wonderful.
Keara
Yeah, I do love New York though as well. And I-
James
Also great.
Keara
And I and I have love for L.A.
James
And love somewhere in Me exists-
Keara
For L.A.
James
Yeah. No, I totally agree. It feels like I think the- particularly the English have a very different relationship with, in particular like, performance art than we do here in the States. And I mean, talking about a country as diverse as England and then a country as huge and diverse as the United States is slightly different things.
Keara
Exactly.
James
But yeah, no, I agree. It does feel like there's some sort of connection there. And it might be just the fact that London sort of is the cultural center of at least England, if not the entire UK, whereas New York is just one of them.
Keara
True.
James
You know, yeah, we have so many other cities, cultural centers. Okay, so you're, you're London and in your ten year plan, you're heading-
Keara
In my ten year plan I'm going back there. I have a little townhouse. There we go. In my ten year plan, I'll have a little townhouse.
James
Yes, You just jet, jet everywhere.
Keara
Exactly.
James
On and off the West End. Yeah, Yeah. Living the dream.
Keara
Oh, they need me to. Come on.
James
Yes.
Keara
If I might, I suppose.
James
Yeah. Great. So this is something that I've asked everyone who's been on the show so far. I'm very curious about this for you. Oh, if you were not an actor and or creative, what would you be?
Keara
If you had asked me when I was in like, middle school, I would say a veterinarian. I thought I was going to be a veterinarian for, for the longest time.
James
Okay.
Keara
But, like, absolutely not anymore. Um, probably like a professor or like, an archeologist or something.
James
Classics again.
Keara
Yeah. Okay, I'll go. I'm going back to my-
James
Back to your roots.
Keara
Yeah. I feel like I need to do something in my life that I am passionate about.
James
That's something you need to know about yourself.
Keara
Exactly.
James
And I'm very glad that we got to know a little bit more about you. Keara Dooley.
Keara
Thank you.
James
We appreciate you coming on.
Keara
Thank you for having me. You're most welcome.
James
This was one Hale of a Conversation we were speaking with the wonderful Keara Dooley. Thank you so much for joining us, everyone, and we hope to see you again soon. Bye bye.
Maddi Albregts
Thanks for listening. To learn more about any of the creatives who spoke in this episode, check out their social media links in the episode Description.
