I’ve been an actor for my kids’ whole lives and a long time before that. So they’ve never known anything different. People often ask me if they think it’s cool, having a mom who’s been on TV?
Hm…
Sometimes my kiddos will come in and sit in my taping studio while I’m auditioning. They think it’s pretty fun to watch me audition. That might be mostly about only being allowed in occasionally (no kids allowed for the darker material). Or maybe it’s about having to be very quiet while I tape and then giggling and running commentary between takes. For some reason, they seem to like that challenge (although they are not always the best at the quiet part – lol)
But I’m not sure how much my career actually registers with them otherwise. For example, I showed them my episodes of The Really Loud House, a Nickelodeon show. (Check out the story of that crazy audition here.) I sat there watching them watch it, waiting for that moment of recognition – that “hey, that’s Mama!” moment and… it never came! They did not catch it. I had to rewind and point and say, “Who’s that? Recognize that person?” And they’re like, “Nah, I don’t know.” Ha! Too out of context, I guess.
So I’m not sure how much they care what I do. It’s just a job to them. Nothing magical about it.
In fact, I was filling out some applications for theater camps for my daughter, and the form asked about previous acting training.
“Have you worked with any acting teachers or coaches?”
I started to write yes but she disagreed with me. I said,
“Yes, you have, you’ve worked with me, your mom. An actual working actor and acting coach!” (She’s worked on a short film with me before.)
She was… not impressed.
“That doesn’t count, Mama!”
So, short answer? No. There is no extra sparkle around my job at home. But that’s ok. Mama is a good job too.
