Name: Zoe McLellan
Job Title and Description: Actress who will appear on NCIS: New Orleans as Special Agent Meredith “Merri” Brody in Fall 2014. Past roles have included Jennifer Coates on JAG and Lisa George on Dirty Sexy Money.
Can you tell us about NCIS: New Orleans and the current season? Who is your character, and what does it entail?
Zoe McLellan: So NCIS: New Orleans is indeed a spinoff of NCIS. Our first episode was a two-parter backdoor pilot. The role I get to play is Agent Brody, and she’s from Chicago, so New Orleans is new territory for her; it’s almost like being on another planet in terms of the way people operate! So I really enjoyed playing that.
The difference between her and the other characters is that there’s a lot about Brody that we don’t know yet. She’s trying to find herself and she absolutely loves her job. And she’s excited about the possibility of a move to New Orleans and working with these characters. She’s very smart; interrogation is her specialty. That’s her passion. She’s incredibly strong but also very, very vulnerable.
What does your current job entail? What’s a typical day like?
ZM: I actually just got back into acting after taking a break from the business. I had a baby and I’m a mom, so I just really focused on my real life for a while. And during that time I found myself really missing [acting].
It was actually my dad who inspired me to start acting again. Unfortunately, he’s no longer with us, but he will always be with me in spirit. And when I was staying with him, I asked him if I should be back into the business. He told me, “You know, you should go back to acting… you’re really good at it,” and I took his advice! I found it really interesting that this is the show that I landed for the first time in three years. I’m just so inspired by him.
To answer your question about what my life is like as an actor, it’s obviously more of a balancing act. I am a mom, so that’s obviously my number one role. But what I’ve found is that it kind takes pressure off of my job a little bit because my job is not my everything anymore. Yes, my career is really important, but I have this sweet little boy I get to come home to. So I feel like there’s more balance in my life, and I’m actually more comfortable when acting. There’s this new confidence that I’ve definitely picked up from the time I had my son to now working on this new project. I feel more comfortable in my own skin and on camera.
Daily life is very random. I found out about [the NCIS: New Orleans] audition about 45 minutes before I had to be there; it was very last-minute, so I was winging it. It’s one of those times where things can change in an hour.
A life on the set is different every day, and you see the same crew, but the guest characters change, as do the locations. It’s a lot of fun; you get to play make-believe and tell stories every day. It’s not as people maybe make it out to be though. There can be 16-hour days, and you can be doing the same scene for three or four hours at a time. It’s very hard sometimes because the hours can be so long. But I have such an awesome cast that I’m working with that it’s fun. You don’t really realize that you’re there all day.
What is the best part of your job?
ZM: I would say my main intention with my career is to inspire people. So my favorite part is that I get to inspire people. I think that’s happened in many different ways. I think it can happen in a conversation with someone in the cast or crew, or it can happen with a fan of the show. I’m sure it happens in ways that I’m not even aware of.
I love when I watch television or film and I witness a character’s journey and say, “Wow, I can relate to that.” I would love to help people in that same way so that they know they’re not alone. I love knowing that other people feel seen and heard and important because of what I do.
What was your first job in the industry, and how did you land it?
ZM: Ha, I like this question; I have a great story! So, fresh out of high school, I was living in Portland, Oregon, and I went to this talent agency with a headshot and just some high school theater. And the agent said, “Well, you don’t really have experience,” and I said, “Well, I do have some high school plays.” I told her to give me a shot, and I said that all she had to do is send me on one audition; if I booked it, she’d have to represent me, and if I didn’t, she’d never have to see me again. A few days later, I got a call to go on an audition for America’s Most Wanted, so I auditioned for this cattle call and I booked it!
The other cool thing I love about this story, going along with the idea of how I love to inspire people, is that they caught the killer they were looking for based on the America’s Most Wanted episode I was in (I played the victim). They’d been looking for this killer for a long time, and they found him after the show aired. It was very exciting.
What’s one mistake you made in the acting world when you first got started, and how did you learn from it?
ZM: I’m going to say this mistake wasn’t something I made right away, but the biggest blunder I definitely made was not being wise with the money I made. A lot of people in this industry and in other industries where you can come into a lot of money quickly don’t really know how to handle it. It’s so unfamiliar and then it’s tied up with, “Do I deserve this? Is this okay?” It gets attached to shame and there are all kinds of layers that I did not understand.
So I ended up hiring a business manager because I thought that’d be smart. But in doing so, I gave someone else the power and played with my money as though it was money in the game of Monopoly. I was no longer hands-on, and because I gave that power to someone else, I kind of checked out and did not make the wisest decisions. So I would say that’s the biggest mistake I made, and I’m glad I went through it, because now I know what to do. But it was the biggest ouch, and it took me years to get back to where I was.
The overall lesson is to be as autonomous and independent as you can. I think you should delegate, but it’s really important to know what’s going on. Be wise with your money!
What has been the most surreal moment of your career thus far?
ZM: Having Mark Harmon tell me that he was excited to have me on the show. That was absolutely surreal. It’s amazing to have someone so appreciative and supportive [of] your work and to feel the same way about them and what they do!
What future projects are you hoping to do?
ZM: I’m really hoping to not only do more acting but work on other talents I have, like public speaking and writing. I would really love to be an inspirational speaker who can talk to kids and young people about what they can do to achieve their dreams, no matter what those are.
But honestly, I’ve found that right now I feel so fulfilled in every part of my life, so I don’t like to plan specifically what I want to do. If something is going to be fulfilling and fun, I’ll go there, regardless of the show, the location, anything.