Life and Work with Meg Gillentine

Today we’d like to introduce you to Meg Gillentine.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
At the age of nine, two pivotal events changed the course of my life. My parents divorced and I saw my first ballet on PBS. Looking back on it now, that’s when everything started coming into focus, I felt like my little life began in earnest. I was the girl sprinting to the bathroom after school, changing into leotard and tights, running to the car, shoving a Happy Meal in my mouth on the way to my most favorite place on earth, The Atlanta Ballet. Initially, I participated in class once a week, but they soon recognized my potential and I was allowed into the more advanced classes, which sent me there five days a week. At fourteen, I was accepted into their pre-professional company and I loved every minute of it. Ballet was my life. Bless my sweet mama for driving down to Buckhead most every day. She was single, nursing full time, and she managed it all with grace and style. My biggest fan, my biggest champion.

Years later, I was accepted into Pebblebrook High School Center For Excellence in the Performing Arts. I traded in the pointe shoes for heels and started my adventure into Musical Theatre, eyes focused on New York, on the great Broadway. I performed all over Atlanta, at your neighborhood mall, fairs, fashion shows, I was a Governor’s Honor recipient, danced and sang in musicals and even choreographed for some local theatre. These four years of training really helped steer me into the career that I dreamed of.

I began studies at New York University in the Fall of 1995 as a Musical Theatre major. My sophomore year I landed my first Broadway show at age 19, in the musical ‘CATS’, playing the role of Cassandra. I continued my studies at NYU while doing eight shows a week and somehow managed to graduate as planned. My schedule was bananas, but I was living my dream. After graduating I left ‘CATS’, and went out on the First National tour of ‘Fosse’, which eventually landed me back to NYC in the Broadway company. I was with ‘Fosse’ until it closed.

I’ve been really lucky, and that’s a huge part of any artist’s journey. I’ve had opportunities that most only dream of. I’ve danced on a NY stage while Wynton Marsalis improv’d to my movement. What?! I’ve performed alongside Ann Reinking, Ben Vereen, Jason Alexander, Bernadette Peters, Nathan Lane, and Martin Short. My first play was ‘Mother Courage and her Children’ with Kathleen Turner as my scene partner.  Pinch me. I’ve performed most of my dream roles, including Sally Bowles in ‘Cabaret’ and Lola in ‘Damn Yankees.’ Anybody planning a production of ‘Sweet Charity’ here in Atlanta, or anywhere else for that matter, color me at your disposal, that one’s the top of my bucket list.

‘The Producers’ took me to Los Angeles, which I called home for six years. I got married, had a sweet little boy named Cooper Jack, and got my feet wet in the film, tv, and commercial world. The work there was not nearly so steady as my time in NYC. My husband Jay Hunter Morris, Wagnerian Tenor, travels a lot for work, singing his face off in the most beautiful places. Cooper and I went with him, I mean why not? Australia, Amsterdam, Tokyo, Monte Carlo, Paris, Nice, San Francisco, Miami. When we returned to LA, I would sometimes manage to book another gig, either with Reprise Theatre Company, run by Jason Alexander, or sometimes I’d land a commercial. But I admit that after being gone for a few months, it seemed I had to introduce myself to the biz and the agents and casting directors all over again, and slowly those jobs just weren’t coming at all.

As much as we LOVED California life, we soon learned that raising babies is hard, especially without the support of family nearby. I was single parenting most of the time thanks to Jay’s hectic schedule. In fact, Jay got the biggest of all big breaks, singing Siegfried in the Metropolitan Opera’s new production of ‘The Ring.’ Most of you probably know this, but LA is expensive. Food is expensive, housing, babysitters are super expensive and we were ready for a new chapter. So, where to go? Where to go? I knew that the film industry in Atlanta was hopping, and the notion of having Grandma right down the road rang most appealing, so Georgia seemed like a smart choice. Jay’s sole requirement is a major airport, check, and we really wanted a  fabulous public school for our kiddo. We started our search for homes and ended up in Roswell, fifteen minutes from that Champion Mama of mine, in a fantastic school district, and in a house that we absolutely love.

We enrolled Cooper in Pre-school, as Jay became very familiar with Hartsfield airport. Things were working out nicely. I had a wonderful Manager in LA, Kate Edwards, that hooked me up with a fantastic Agency here called Stewart Talent, and they immediately sent me out on auditions. A couple of months later I booked my first big job, a series of commercials for Scana Energy. We shot twelve commercials over the course of 2 years, had a print campaign and our own website. The best job ever! The commercials were called “Affairs of the Flame”, and I played Margaret. We have since been replaced by large, talking bears. As you do. I gladly returned to the stage in a world premiere at The Alliance called “Bull Durham,” appeared in two shows with The Atlanta Lyric Theatre, and did “Calendar Girls” with Georgia Ensemble. I’ve also been fortunate to secure a few TV and Film jobs, working alongside Queen Latifah, Tyler Perry, Catherina Zeta-Jones, Judith Light, Gabrielle Union, and Margot Robbie. Pinch me again!

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way? What advice might you give to young women seeking a similar path?
Operating as a freelance artist is rarely a smooth road, and life as an actor presents a multitude of challenges. In your first question, I gave you my highlight reel, the good stuff, the times when I was on top. The truth is there have been just as many, most probably more, times that I have felt the oppressive darkness of the valley. Afraid I’d never book another job, scared that if I changed my hair to some radical, fun style I wouldn’t be marketable. What if I have to find a “real job”, what in the blue blazes would that look like? Scared that I wasn’t good enough, that I might fail in the most important balancing act between motherhood and career. Worried that if I turned down an audition for whatever reason, a casting director might not call me in again. Submitting myself to the microscopic eye of constant judgment, it is absolutely nuts what we put ourselves through! Feeling good about one audition, and then, in the next feeling like a rookie that’s never taken an acting class. Being so close to booking a job, or even booking a job and then they’ve decided not to use it, not to run that huge commercial you just shot, watching a much-needed payday evaporate with some unseen face’s whimsy. It’s often a most frightening roller coaster ride. But, if you’re very lucky, sometimes life throws you a big curveball, to wake you, ignite you, to inspire you. To reassure, at least for a short time, that this is all worth it.

Last August, I was diagnosed with Breast Cancer. Say what?! Bam, out of nowhere, taking a walk and the phone rings. It doesn’t run in my family, I tested negative for the genetics, I was the unlucky 1 out of 8. This news immediately thrust show biz into perspective. So far, that mess, that terrifying call, has proven the ultimate gift. It’s teaching me to enjoy the highs, the lows and all the in-betweens, to relish the journey, savor the process, to completely live in the moment and not take one second for granted. I will color and cut my hair however I want. I will dream bigger than I have ever dreamt before. I will not give too much of a damn what any one person thinks about me, I will strive every day to be my true, authentic self. I come from a long line of people pleasers, I got really good at it, but now I’m asking for what I want, I’m saying “No” to things I really don’t want, and I am surrounding myself with my tribe. Trusting the gaps in jobs because just maybe they’re there for a reason. To recharge, to reflect, to appreciate the stillness, and to do other things. Like, be a Mom and a Wife. Now, let me be honest, not every day is sunflowers and enlightenment, but I’m trying. It sure feels better when I get it right.

So, what advice might I give to young women starting out on a similar journey? Mind your manners, be kind, take every second in, don’t fret about any one chapter in your life too much. Watch and study the people that have come before you, not only how they approach their craft, but how they live their lives. Enjoy the pauses. Vacation. Eat a burger. Work valiantly at keeping those few good friends. Make a phone call, stop texting, it’s not the same and won’t serve you in the long run. Pursue other things, art, hobbies that you love, that feed you, that will replenish your soul when you’re not working. Girl, wear your hair however the heck you want because when you are in your power, that’s when the good stuff comes to visit!

Please tell us about your work.
If pressed, I think I’m most proud that I’ve survived in this business as long as I have. Much of the time, I feel defeated, knocked down, disappointed, frustrated, unsure that the phone will ever ring again. But there’s a fire in me to keep going, to keep learning, keep expanding. I want more risks, I want to accomplish different, new things. I believe there’s another career out there for me. I don’t quite know what the specifics of it are just yet, but I can feel it coming and it energizes me and excites me every morning. I’m proud of my journey and of who I’m becoming, and in part, I have breast cancer to thank for that. I hope to do some good in the world. I seek out daily the opportunity to be of service to someone. Just one. At least one. I heard last night at a wonderful event in Atlanta called the “Mindful Entrepreneur”, that having a portfolio career is ok. That’s exactly what I have, diversity, variety, options. Lucky me.

Often it feels as if the media, by and large, is only focused on the obstacles faced by women, but we feel it’s important to also look for the opportunities. In your view, are there opportunities that you see that women are particularly well positioned for?
We have an opportunity to be kind to one another. To support each other and raise each other up. We have an opportunity to go above the call of friendship and just do better, to look out for one another. We must teach this, show this, by example, to the little girls of our world. Protect their hearts and their spirits. Lead them far away from the comparison trap. Teach them the value of their individuality. Every day, when my child leaves for school, I look him in the face and say, “Don’t let anyone steal your Joy!” Because in the end, a joyful life is the very best life and all the other nonsense is just a waste of time.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: Meggillentine
• Facebook: Meg Gillentine Morris

Image Credit:
Joan Marcus, Justin Patterson, Stan Barouh, Teresa Wood

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