I'm an actor and writer who grew up in Florida and lived to tell about it. I survived mean parents in the Golden Globe – winning HBO mini series Empire Falls, a reckless husband on CBS’s The Mentalist, and a big ego as a would-be auteur in the film school satire Filmic Achievement.  I've also played flummoxed maids and nurses on The Bold and The Beautiful, As The World Turns, and Guiding Light; an aspiring actor in the feature Slings &Arrows; and numerous teachers and criminals in two years spent as a filmmaker-in-residence in the LA schools.

My personal essays have been featured on Elle.com, Medium.com’s Human Parts collection, and The Liberty Project. I co-founded Brains of Minerva, an influential acting blog in which Sarah Sido and  I helped over one hundred actors share their stories and about which Backstage wrote “the spirit of helping others find grace in a pressure-filled business is everywhere on the site.”

I began my career playing rebellious southern girls in regional theater and ultimately graduated from the MFA Program at American Conservatory Theater. Favorite stage appearances include New Doors at The Guthrie Lab, Much Ado About Nothing and Midsummer Night’s Dream (dir. Patrick Page) at Shakespeare Sedona, Enrico IV at American Conservatory Theater (dir. Carey Perloff), and The Germans in Paris at The Arclight Off-Broadway.

After several years in New York City, I now live in Los Angeles where I volunteer for literacy causes and the members' committees at SAG-AFTRA. I'm currently at work on a satire about my adventures in teaching and an essay collection about, yes, growing up in Florida.

photo by Dana Patrick