Hannah Barefoot
Wendy Corr:
Hey there, folks, welcome to The Roundup. We’re a podcast featuring voices, opinions, perspectives and experiences from interesting people in - and from - the Cowboy State. I'm your host Wendy Corr. And today, I just cannot get over the fact that I'm getting to introduce people in Wyoming who may not have heard of Hannah Barefoot! Hannah Barefoot is - Hannah, can I say up and coming? Or can I say experienced? Which is it? Because you've been in LA for several years now.
Hannah Barefoot:
Yeah, I mean, I am experienced - I'm not famous, which is how, honestly, most actors are. So yeah, I'm a working actor. That's what I am.
Wendy Corr:
That IS what you are. You are a working actor living in Los Angeles, but your roots are deep here in Wyoming - in Cody in particular. So Hannah, let me first start by saying I first knew you and I first met you when you were a girl. You were a little girl, we went to the same church. You're married now, but your maiden name is Hannah Kellerby. So for people in the Cody area, Hannah Kellerby. But you married a wonderful man named Andy Barefoot. And so you've got this really unique, wonderful name that people probably think is made up, but it's not.
Hannah Barefoot:
No, they always ask me if it's a stage name and like, no, it's the real thing. It's also not Native American, people ask me that too. My husband is English and Scottish.
Wendy Corr:
So Hannah Barefoot, you left Wyoming, and you made it to the big city of Los Angeles, and you've made it as a working actress in a very, very competitive industry. So let's start out, Hannah, by talking about, how did you break out of little Wyoming to get to Los Angeles and work on shows like “NCIS,” like “Chicago Med,” like “The Chosen?” (We're going to talk about that later.) You have just made a fantastic career for yourself. How did you get from Cody, Wyoming to Los Angeles, Hannah?
Hannah Barefoot:
Well, thank you, Wendy. Well, first of all, I'm so happy to talk to you. I babysat her kids, you guys, like we go way back. So I got such a great start in Wyoming. And I mean, I had so much encouragement. It was honestly, the only thing I wanted to do, ever since I was a little kid - other than being a figure skater and a ballet dancer. And then anyways, when neither one of those seemed like they were gonna work out, I was acting. That's it.
And I had so much encouragement, just through great community plays, Missoula Children's Theater coming through, the Rotary Show, the Kiwanis Stars of Tomorrow.
And then, you know, the amazing middle school and high school theater department. Oh my gosh, my teachers were so amazing. And so before I went off to college at the University of Wyoming, I had already had so much encouragement, and just fallen so deeply in love with this industry. And I knew nothing about it.
I'll say that, but I was in love with the ‘illusion’ of this industry, I should say. And I went off to college at the University of Wyoming, which has a phenomenal Theater and Dance Department. I loved it. It's kind of a best kept secret, I think, that you can go to the University of Wyoming, which is not a state known for acting, and get one of the best theater educations, I think, anywhere.
Also being smaller, you can be on the main stage early on in your career as a student, versus like, some of my friends who I've met who went to, say, USC or you know, just a fancier school, they might not get on a mainstage play until they're a senior in college, which is ridiculous. I was on a main stage in my first semester at University of Wyoming. And it was great.
Wendy Corr:
It's a great school.
Hannah Barefoot:
I actually quit, though. I quit school. I was burned out, I was on scholarships, I was in play after play after play. I had no real grounding to myself. I was struggling as a human being, honestly. And then I met this guy that I fell in love with, and I was like, “Yeah, I'm gonna get married, and I'm going to quit acting. I'm just going to go be a wife somewhere.” And he got a job in Portland, Oregon, and so we moved out there.
And it wasn't until a few years later, I had a baby at this point, a two year old. And I really started to feel like, you know, that's the only thing I love. That's the only thing I'm really good at, you know. I was working at a bank and insurance agencies, it was just terrible. I was so bad at those kinds of jobs. And something about having this two year old child and trying to raise him in a way that would bring out the best of him, it inspired me to realize, I'm not doing that for myself. I'm not doing what's at the deepest part of me.
And so up in Portland, Oregon, I started taking acting classes, and eventually got an agent up there. There's a small film industry up there. There's a lot of non-union projects up there. So I just started doing, like, local car dealership commercials and working in short films or student films, or free movies, whatever I could do. And eventually I joined the (SAG-AFTRA) union, because there's enough union commercials that come through there.
And then I was on the TV show “Grimm” up there. It was my very first TV role ever. And, honestly, it was like, I look back at it, you can see my bangs for like half a second. Because that's kind of what my role was, but it was a real role. It was accredited. And I got paid, and I joined the union.
Once I joined the union, though, I couldn't work in a non-union market anymore. The Screen Actors Guild is the union, I should say. So then we moved to Los Angeles, with my husband and my then four -, almost five year old son. And yeah, it's been a ride. That was now nine years ago. We've been in LA for nine years, which is amazing.
And, man, it's not an easy industry. But I should say, the illusion of the industry has worn off. It's not what it once was to me, but I love it more. I love acting, I actually really feel called to the industry itself, not just to being a star. That's not really my path. I feel called to the industry. I love this industry. I love actors. I love filmmakers.
I still love, like, I love old Hollywood, it just gives me goosebumps. But I love it. And so now I've had over, what, 62 credits on TV and film? And I'm just really thankful that God has allowed me to come back in from this long stretch where I wasn't pursuing (acting), and I really thought that I'd missed my window.
You know, all my peers that I went to college with, they were now, seeming to work. And I was just like, well, maybe I'm washed up. But I'm just so thankful that I'm here. And you know, like I said, I'm not a famous actor, but I'm a working actor. And that's something that I'm really proud of, because that's a very good place to be. And it's a very satisfying place to be.
Wendy Corr:
And it's difficult to get there, when you are working, like you say, to get those continuous roles, to make a living. You've managed to do that. And you model as well, right?
Hannah Barefoot:
I do. I don't model so much as I used to.
Wendy Corr:
I remember the first time I saw you in a Starbucks commercial, and I just like, oh my gosh, that's Hannah, doing a Starbucks commercial!
Hannah Barefoot:
That was my first job in Los Angeles. That was my very first job. It was a print ad. I think I'd been in LA for a month and I got that job. So I was like, “This is gonna be easy.” And then, it's not as easy.
Wendy Corr:
But let's go back to some of these roles that you have played. You've been in some major television series. The first time I remember - and just full disclosure, I go to church with (Hannah’s) mom. And so Anita keeps me informed as to, “Oh, Hannah's gonna be doing this. And Hannah's gonna be doing that.” So I keep an eye out. But I remember when she was telling me all these wonderful things you were doing, and she said “She's going to be on NCIS.” And that is my absolute favorite television show. Sure enough, there's Hannah, Hannah's on NCIS talking with Leroy Jethro Gibbs! It was a mind-bender for me. But you've done so many of those.
Hannah Barefoot:
Now, Mark Harmon is the nicest actor I've ever met. Really one of the nicest people. So I was a guest star - and there's different tiers of billing. So that role that I had on Grimm was a nonspeaking costar, essentially an extra. And then you work up to co-star, and then there's guest star, and recurring, and then there's series regular. There's all these things.
And on NCIS I was a guest star, so I was a major part of the story, but I'm not a part of the regular cast. But I was on set with them for, I want to say like four or five days, and my very first day, I show up - and I was just, like, hungry. I wanted to grab a cup of coffee or something, but I couldn't find where it was. And out of nowhere, Mark Harmon just walks up to me. He's like, “You look like you're lost. Can I help you?” And I'm like, “Oh, yeah.” And so, everyone was on a little bit of a break. So he's like, “Come sit with us.” And he was sitting with, like, the props guy and a grip and all these people. He's just such not a… he's a major star, and he's so normal, just so nice. And my mom was selling her property at the time up, on Sage Creek (near Cody). And I was telling him how sad I was that she was selling it, and I wanted to buy it. And I was like, “Do you want to buy it?” And he's like, “Well, show me the picture.” So I showed him my mom's property. And I mean, he didn't buy it, but he was the nicest actor.
Wendy Corr:
I bet you've got so many of these stories, that you've rubbed elbows with the celebrities that we all know. And they're just regular people, the only thing that sets them apart is that so many people know who they are. And so you've had that, but you've also been the star of some of these shows! The number of Lifetime movies - how many did you say you've done?
Hannah Barefoot:
I've actually done seven or eight Lifetime movies.
Wendy Corr:
You have been the star in several of those. I remember your Country Christmas, was it “Card?”
Hannah Barefoot:
“Country Christmas Album.”
Wendy Corr:
“Country Christmas Album.” I remember watching that, and thinking, “There she is. She's the star of this.” And you sang on that one as well.
Hannah Barefoot:
I did. Yeah, that was really fun. I played a country singer, who was forced to make an album with a pop star. And we of course, fell in love.
Wendy Corr:
Of course.
Hannah Barefoot:
And that yeah, that was cool, because I am a singer in real life. My husband and I have a band, called The Luminous Grey. And so I got to sing on camera, which was so much fun. I got to play the guitar - I'm not an amazing guitar player. But I played it on that, and that was really fun.
And then what was really cool, was that my husband and I, we write a lot of music together. And there was a moment in the script where I noticed she's playing a song and she's singing a song, but we don't know what song that is. And so I was like, “Can we write it? We’ll write it.” And so we wrote it, and we recorded it, and they used it. And people download it a lot.
We did that for another movie as well. There was another film I was the lead in called “Off the Rails.”
Wendy Corr:
It was very dark.
Hannah Barefoot:
That one was a thriller. I loved that one. It was really good, about a woman who is trying to piece back her life, trying to figure out who her husband is versus her lover.
Wendy Corr:
It was on Lifetime?
Hannah Barefoot:
A very, very “Lifetime movie.” (laughs) But it was actually a really good one. There's variations. There's some that I'm like, (not impressed with), and then there's some that are like, “Oh, that's actually a good movie.” This was a really good one. And we wrote a song for that, that plays over the entire final sequence of the movie. And that one, I'm really proud of that song. That one's called “See Your Smile.”
Wendy Corr:
“See Your Smile” by The Luminous Grey. You can find that on Spotify and Apple Music, and you can download it anywhere, right?
Hannah Barefoot:
Yep. And then the other song for “Country Christmas Album” was called “Geronimo.”
Wendy Corr:
Geronimo.
Hannah Barefoot:
A really good song. Yeah.
Wendy Corr:
I love the fact that you and Andy get to work together, in this fast paced job that you have, this career that you have. You and Andy are finding ways to make things work together, and raise your son.
Hannah Barefoot:
Yeah, and it's cool. And I work in his industry too. So my husband's a worship pastor at a church, and I sing with him every weekend, so we work really well. We’re together for each other's paths, which is great.
Wendy Corr:
That really is. One of the things that I have loved watching on your social media is, you post really fantastic pictures from various, either modeling shoots that you've done, or headshots, things like that. Like you say, you love old Hollywood. I kind of get the idea you love playing dress up?
Hannah Barefoot:
I do. Doesn't everyone love it?
Wendy Corr:
Yes. But you also have, there was a time where you were posting a bunch of pictures, like action stuff. You were fighting, and you had all the blood and things like that. Tell me about that, because that looks really entertaining.
Hannah Barefoot:
I love action. I love performing action sequences. I would love to be in a movie like Mission Impossible. That's like, such a dream. But yeah, so honestly, when I was in Portland, I was coming up and I was becoming the leads in a lot of things, but I was being cast a lot as the nice girl next door. The sweet, pretty girl, who is like, a victim all the time. And I was just getting so bored with those characters - like, they have a place for sure, of course, always, but I was just not having fun playing those time after time after time.
So I wrote an action film called “Incendio.” It's a short film, and you can watch it on YouTube. And I wrote it simply for the point of showing other people that I can do more. And so I wrote it, she has an accent, she's quite not a nice person. And it's about a blind date that goes terribly wrong. And essentially, what happens is they beat each other up in this restaurant.
Wendy Corr:
Oh, my.
Hannah Barefoot:
So, by the end of the film, we're all very bloody. But it's really fun. I don't even know if it's a good story. It's probably not, but it was the first thing I ever wrote. And what is good about it is, the action is awesome. So I hired a stunt coordinator and a great cinematographer, and we just created this action film. It’s kind of, very John Wick-inspired action.
Wendy Corr:
Oh, okay.
Hannah Barefoot:
So what was cool about that was, after I did that, and we submitted it to festivals - we got into 17 festivals internationally. So it actually was really successful. And then all of a sudden, I have this footage of me being tough and being strong. And then I started getting cast as the villain in all sorts of things. And I get to do a lot of those roles now, which I love.
So I would tell that to anybody who's in my industry, but I think also in anything - if people don't think you can do something, you just need to figure out how to do it. And then once they can see that you CAN do something, then they're like, “Oh, yeah.” But I think a lot of times people just need to be shown the way a little bit.
So I don't play the sweet girl next door very often anymore, which I'm fine with.
Wendy Corr:
You're fine with that. Well, you have certainly had quite a range in your roles, obviously! Let's talk about one of your most recent roles. I mean, everybody is watching “The Chosen.” It’s become so popular. It is, of course, about the life of Jesus. And you have a recurring role in “The Chosen.” Tell us about this. I think this is fantastic, Hannah.
Hannah Barefoot:
Yeah, that's been really special. I love that show. And it's interesting, because I was aware of that show, but my reps weren't submitting me for it because it was a faith-based project. They weren't sure what the quality would be, and all that stuff, in the early seasons. But I kept watching it and was like, I love this. I want to be on this show. I want to be part of telling the story.
And interestingly enough, I booked a big role on a TV show, but I had to turn it down because it conflicted with two days of a show I was already on. And I was just heartbroken. And then that same day, I got a call from my agent that “The Chosen” wanted me for this one episode. And I was like, you know, it just came out of nowhere. And it was such a gift.
And essentially, I play - my character's name is Livia. One of the major characters in the show, his name is Gaius, he's a Roman Centurion. And he's a deeply beloved character in the show, people just have loved him from start to finish, because he's got a great journey. And so now in season three, they started to introduce his family. So I play his wife.
And then I'm in season four again, as well. My episode is actually in theaters right now, because they're releasing them in chunks in theaters, and then they're going to move it into streaming. So by the time this airs, mine will be out of theaters, but then it'll be on streaming at some point. And then I hope I come back. I'm not sure, my storyline is not really closed, but I also don't know what they're going to do with me. But it's been such a great, it's an amazing group of people.
What's remarkable about that show is that it's all crowdfunded. So we were able to shoot during the actor’s strike, which happened last year, because we weren't striking against them. Like, they were not part of the companies that we were striking against, and so we were able to actually qualify for what was called an interim agreement, which allowed us to continue shooting during the actor’s strike. And that's all just because they're crowdfunded, they're not connected to any studios. They're just themselves.
And it's really a remarkable, differently done show, that now at this point is just like - the quality's gotten so good. The acting is amazing. The sets are made, the costumes, and the writing… I was able to see the first several episodes of this season in theaters, and they're just so good. They're so good.
Wendy Corr:
What an exciting project to be a part of. You've grown so much in the industry, like you say, you're not just acting and modeling anymore. You really have gotten behind the scenes. You've written one, you've written “Incendio.” But you are working on another project that's even bigger than that, and you want to bring it home to Wyoming. Tell us, Hannah, about “Midnight Clear.”
Hannah Barefoot:
Yes. Thank you so much. So, I've written a feature film called “Midnight Clear.” It's actually my second feature that I've written. I have another one that I'm shopping around as well, but this one is the one that's the most dear to my heart, because it's set in Cody. All the locations are Cody. I mean, it's set at a dude ranch that's an actual friend’s, family friend’s, dude ranch out in between Cody and Yellowstone. And I grew up with this family. I swam with their daughters on the swim team - so as I was writing the story, I was just like, “Yeah, I know that kitchen looks like that.” And then of course, there's a scene in the Cowboy Palace, that wonderful Western wear store on Main Street. There's a scene in the Irma Hotel. There's a scene at Cassie’s Steak House, you know. There's all these scenes and all these places that, as I was writing this script, it just came so easily.
Wendy Corr:
It took you home, I'm sure.
Hannah Barefoot:
Yeah. And what was really cool was that I wrote this script several years ago, actually, the first iterations of it. And as I was shopping it around to different people that I was working with out here, they all really liked it. They were like, “Oh, yeah, we love this. This is great. But we'll shoot it in Canada.” Or, “Oh, yeah, we love this. We'll have to shoot in Montana, we can swap Montana for Wyoming.” Because Wyoming doesn't have a film incentive. And those other places do. Montana, Utah, New Mexico, all these places that could play Wyoming offer film incentives, which makes it just an obvious choice for a filmmaker to go, if they need a Rocky Mountain scene. Like, they all want the 30% tax rebate that they would get. So I mean, it makes a lot of sense to shoot in a state with a tax incentive.
But I just couldn't do it. At the time, this movie actually had “Wyoming” in the title. And I was just thinking, I would be so mad if I shot this movie with “Wyoming” in the title, in Montana. I love Montana, but come on - I'm from Wyoming, and it has to be here.
And so somebody advised me just go to Wyoming and go start talking to these locations, see who you can line up, you know. And so my mom again - my mother, God bless her - my mom flew me out. She was like, I've got miles. So she flew me out, and I just spent basically three or four days talking. I went to the airport, because there's a scene in the airport. I went to the Cowboy Palace, to all these places, Cassie’s, all these places, and they were all just like, “Yeah, you can shoot here.” You know, just the most generous people. And I spoke with Cody/Yellowstone, which is an organization with Ryan Hauck and Kelly Eustis, and they were just basically like, “Yeah, we want to help you however we can, whatever we can do.”
And then, through another mutual contact, I met a director who happens to live in Cody, who also owns one of the premiere visual effects companies in Los Angeles and New York, but he lives in Cody, and he's a director. His last movie had Robert Duvall in it.
Wendy Corr:
Yeah.
Hannah Barefoot:
So I met him and he's terrific, and he's my director. And he brought on his producing partner, who's an Academy Award nominated producer, Mark Mathis. So I've got this director, Matt Russell, this Academy Award nominated producer, Mark Mathis. And then I've got Kelly and Ryan at Cody/Yellowstone, who are also our big partners. Jacob Graham, who's a local guy, is one of our partners. Just some incredible local partners and man, I couldn't be more excited about it, I couldn't be more proud.
Wendy Corr:
You're proving that it can be done - you're proving that even without the film incentives it can be done, you just have to work harder.
Hannah Barefoot:
You have to work harder, and it is more expensive. So that's the tricky part, because we are going out to investors, saying, this is what we're trying to do, and it's actually to benefit the town. I wrote this set in the winter, because I knew that I wanted to shoot it in Cody's off season, because I grew up watching all these businesses really thrive in the summer, and then struggle in the winter. And so I knew that if I set it in summer, like, they wouldn't know there's even an option, there's so much happening in Cody. But in the winter there's all these open hotels, you know, there's restaurants that need patrons, there's all sorts of things that we could be flooding cash into.
And film productions bring a lot of money - because not only do you have people there for pre-production, you have people there for the production, you have people there for some of post-production; and then you've got people buying things for carpentry from local lumber shops, you're buying props from Walmart or from local businesses; and then you've got hungry, tired people wanting to relax, going out to bars and restaurants after wrap. And so you've got all sorts of people flooding money into your town. And so that's what I wanted to offer. I wanted to bring that to Cody in its offseason. So we're aiming to shoot this winter.
Wendy Corr:
Where are you at in the process? Do you have your cast yet? What are you looking at there?
Hannah Barefoot:
Right now we're still finalizing all the details. We were really hoping to shoot this actually last year, but then the strike really put a damper on some of that. So we had to kind of rework some things. So right now we're just finalizing the details with our core team. I don't want to say too much right now about where we're at specifically, but I'm really, really proud of my team.
I'm really excited about all these incredible artists that have come up out of the woodwork in Cody that we're going to be working with, we want to work with as many local crew as we can. If there's local actors that want to audition, we want to do that. We want to work with students, we want to offer opportunities to people who are interested in filmmaking to maybe join in and be a part of it somehow. So there's a lot of things we want to, like, feed into the community with this.
At the end of the day, this has become so much more than just, “I want to make a movie.” This is a community thing I want to do. I want to, yeah, make a great movie, but I also want to give to the community.
Wendy Corr:
Well, we will take it, thank you very much, Hannah. But again, you're kind of making inroads here, you're kind of plowing the way for other people who might want to do the same sorts of things, not just in Cody, but in other places in Wyoming. What are some of the other projects that you've got coming up? Or is this all consuming?
Hannah Barefoot:
No, so one of the other things that we're doing, one of our visions is to create a film industry in Cody. So we want to show that we're doing without the film incentive, and we want to basically say, “Look what we did without the film incentive - but look how much more we could do if there were a film incentive.” And because we want there to be an actual viable film industry, not to exploit the state in any way, but just to showcase it into and to provide a year round economic market. And so that's one of our goals.
We also are hoping to launch a film festival in Cody, also in the off season, because of course, we want to, you know, pour in where it's most needed. So those are the two main things that I'm working on right now. But I also have a couple other scripts that I'm working on, and one is a comedy and another one's a really heavy drama. So they're very broad. There have been a lot of things going on.
Wendy Corr:
Well, we had to postpone this (interview), we were going to do this interview a couple of days ago, and you said, Hey, I got an audition.
Hannah Barefoot:
So yeah, there's always something that comes up. So I definitely will never know what my week looks like.
Wendy Corr:
I understand this. This is my life as well.
Tell me though, what do you love most about your life right now? What do you love most about what you're doing there? Do you feel like you're bringing Wyoming to LA, and Wyoming values to such a big city compared to here in Wyoming? There's not a lot of people that have high opinions of Los Angeles, but you have embraced this city.
Hannah Barefoot:
I do. Yeah, it's funny. I don't know a lot of people who do have high opinions of LA, even when I lived in Portland. We were like, we're moving to LA, and there was, like, why? But I love Los Angeles. I think it's partly because I've learned I love the people. You know, Los Angeles is a city of dreamers. And Los Angeles is a city of people who have mostly left someplace to come here. There are local Angelenos, but mostly there are people that have come from someplace else to do something. And it might just be that I'm one of them, that I resonate with that.
But I just really, I think I see the heart of it. Yeah, there's superficiality. Sure, there's traffic. Sure there's, you know, all that concrete. ButvI think I see beneath that to the heart of it. I love the people in this industry.
Also, Los Angeles is a beautiful city, if you've never been here, I think it's a really beautiful city, there's some really cool Art Deco architecture. Hollywood itself is like a mixed bag of grime and glory. It's just beautiful and smells like pee. You know, it's like, it's all these things. But then there's Griffith Park, which is right in the middle of the city, which is this huge, urban - it's like just an open space in the city, and it's a bit of a mountain. And that's where the Hollywood sign is. That's where the Griffith Park Observatory is, if you've seen like Rebel Without a Cause,
Wendy Corr:
Oh, yeah, “La La Land.”
Hannah Barefoot:
That's where Griffith Park is. “La La Land” did a great job of showcasing the beautiful parts of Los Angeles, and there are many. There's also some parts that are not so beautiful.
Wendy Corr:
But those are the times that you miss Wyoming.
Hannah Barefoot:
Yeah, yeah. But actually, one of my favorite things lately is, I work at a stable out here. I've started volunteering, I should say, at a barn. Because for this film that I've written, I just wanted to make sure I was a really good horsewoman for it, and also for this film and others I want to make. I want to do westerns, I love westerns. And so I started taking lessons at a barn and then they were like, “You're trustworthy. You're not going to go crazy on us. You want to volunteer?” And so anyways, I also work with horses a lot every week now, which is just so fun.
Wendy Corr:
Boy, you really have brought a little bit of Wyoming there to Los Angeles.
Hannah Barefoot:
Yeah, I mean, I love it. I love it here. But I do miss Wyoming, too. I miss it. It's still what I consider my home.
Wendy Corr:
Well, and you've got one sister here. You got another sister over in Vermont. But your mother's here. So do you get home frequently?
Hannah Barefoot:
I do.
Wendy Corr:
Hannah, this has been so interesting. And we're so proud to have somebody that is really homegrown, out there on the big screen, and we can say, “You know what, look at her, she followed her dreams, she followed her dreams.” And yet, we can share in your dream, that's one of the beautiful things about the industry that you're in, is that we get to share in your dream.
Thank you so much for your time today, and good luck in your upcoming projects. We are really excited about the film projects that you want to bring to Cody and to Wyoming as well. Do you have any advice for anybody who's got a dream like you? Who's like, “You know what? I want to sing, I want to act. But I also want to maintain my connection to my home.” Because you've managed to make that balance.
Hannah Barefoot:
Yeah, well, I don't remember, I think it was Jim Carrey who said, you can fail at anything. You can fail at being an accountant, you know, something like that, something practical. So if you have a dream that you just can't shake, and you feel like, “I should do something practical,” you know, well, just at least try, right? Try your dream - because you might fail, you probably WILL fail several times. I mean, I fail all the time, I fail. The average is like, 75 to 100 auditions before you book one job.
Wendy Corr:
Oh my gosh.
Hannah Barefoot:
I'm like, I'm failure city over here all the time. And that's how you maintain, that's how you do this industry. So I think if you just set out to say, “You know, I'm not here to book every audition. I'm not here to win every time at anything I do. I'm here for the long haul. I'm here for the journey. I'm here for the marathon. I'm here to find life in this space and to make meaning here and to contribute and to grow and get better every time.” Then overall, you will find yourself in a career, I think.
And I think that's true for anything, whether you're a kid who wants to be a singer or a writer, or an actor, or another type of field that also requires a lot of effort and striving, and you just don't see a natural path forward. I think, you just try it, because you can always try something else. You know, though, I don't think you're ever too old to try something else. But you will always regret not having tried the thing that you wanted to do.
And so at least try it, and at least give it your all for a good chunk of time. I mean, a long time, not like, “Oh, I'll give it six months or a year.” Make sure you've given all you have to that first, before you move on, but then you can feel free to move on. I am a big proponent of people trying.
Wendy Corr:
Well, we are so grateful to have an example like you for somebody who has come from Wyoming and done great things, and a product of the Wyoming public school system, and a product of the University of Wyoming. All the things that you experienced here, have helped you succeed in your chosen career. So, we're just proud of you, Hannah.
Hannah Barefoot:
I just feel like I want to say some names - like Larry Munari, Anne Eckhart. I mean, all these people… Liz Danforth, all these people that were so - Cindy Aune… I mean, all these people that nurture students and who are into lifting up young artists. They made a huge difference in my life, so I'm grateful to them.
Wendy Corr:
And they are wonderful people, I agree. Hannah, thank you for your time today, and thank you for being a great example for us! Folks, thank you for tuning in to The Roundup. We've had a wonderful visit today with actress Hannah Kellerby Barefoot, originally from Cody, and now off making movies - and hoping to make those movies here in Wyoming. So we're looking forward to that project.
Folks, tune in next week, we've got more great guests coming up every week.
I've been your host, Wendy Corr. Have a great week. Thank you!
