This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:01] Rory O'Malley: You're listening to episode number 81 of Living the Dream with Rory O'Malley.

[0:06] Rory O'Malley: Audition, side job, swim in upstream. Believe it or not, you're living the dream.

[0:12] Rory O'Malley: Hello, dreamers. Rory O'Malley here. Thank you so much for downloading and listening to Living the Dream. I am so glad you're here.

[0:21] Rory O'Malley: I have some great news, some exciting news. I have been asked to host another podcast. So bad news is I'm gonna put this one on hiatus for a little bit. Now, you may be like, oh, Rory, I'm a listener. I want to keep listening to these conversations. Well, I'm gonna be having conversations very similar to this on a podcast called Unscripted for the Geffen Playhouse that's on a podcast network called Podcast One.

[0:53] Rory O'Malley: And I have been kind of trying to figure out what I'm going to do with this podcast because now that I'm a dad, obviously doing a podcast on my own and not having any other help producing or editing or booking guests, recording all of the above, has been a bit of a struggle, as you've probably noticed over the last six weeks since we've had a child. I have definitely been struggling to get episodes out.

[1:22] Rory O'Malley: So it kind of just came together, and I was asked by the Geffen Playhouse to take over hosting duties of their podcast that's already in progress. And they talk to a lot of great theater artists across the country and folks who are passing through the Geffen and putting on productions there. It really makes a lot of sense. I'm very excited. I hosted an interview with Julia Sweeney last month, and we have a lot of guests lined up for this year.

[1:51] Rory O'Malley: So I'll have some more information about that coming soon. But this is actually really great news because it means I can continue having great conversations with theater artists and have a support team. Have producers working with me. So I'm so excited. The only reason I am able to do this is because of you, because you all have been so supportive and have been listening over the years for the last two years now. I mean, this is episode number 81. So it's incredible. I'm so grateful for you.

[2:26] Rory O'Malley: And I promise that we're just gonna put this one on a hiatus, and we will come back to her. That's what we'll do. We'll come back to her. But I'm gonna explore a little bit with the Geffen Playhouse on the Unscripted podcast. Please go to Unscripted and become a subscriber there. That's where you can hear me doing these great interviews.

[2:49] Rory O'Malley: So my interview today, though, on Living the Dream with Rory O'Malley is with Jacqui Polk. Jacqui and I go way back. This is another SPELLING BEE friend. I have a lot of SPELLING BEE friends lately. Sometimes my mind in booking guests is like, oh, yeah, yeah, this person who I worked with, this person. But this is a very convenient time to talk with Jacqui. She's about to become a mom. She was on Broadway and had a successful career in theater, and she transitioned into business and now works in marketing at Hulu here in Los Angeles.

[3:21] Rory O'Malley: She has such an incredible story. I love having conversations with people who went from acting and have used their skills as a theater artist to grow their dream. And that's really what we talk about with Jacqui is how your dream can expand and become something else. I've done that with some other guests in the past, and it's really the reason that I started this podcast is to have these kinds of conversations, not just with people who are currently on Broadway, but who have been and have found more fulfillment in expanding their horizons.

[3:57] Rory O'Malley: So this is my interview with the lovely, wonderful Jacqui Polk. Hi, Jacqui.

[4:01] Jacqui Polk: Hi, Rory.

[4:02] Rory O'Malley: Thanks for being on the podcast.

[4:06] Jacqui Polk: Thank you so much for having me. I'm a fan, obviously.

[4:10] Rory O'Malley: I'm a fan of you, so this is perfect.

[4:16] Jacqui Polk: Mutual fanship.

[4:17] Rory O'Malley: Yes, yes. We've known each other for many years now. I actually can't believe how many years. Since we were both standbys in SPELLING BEE on Broadway.

[4:28] Jacqui Polk: Yeah, that was a long time ago now. That was back in, was that 2007?

[4:33] Jacqui Polk: I think. That's like 12 years, right?

[4:37] Rory O'Malley: It was a long time ago. It was like 2006, 2007, around that time.

[4:41] Jacqui Polk: Yes, okay. Oh my gosh.

[4:43] Rory O'Malley: I know. And we were just kids.

[4:45] Jacqui Polk: We were really young.

[4:48] Rory O'Malley: But we didn't, I didn't feel like a kid at the time.

[4:51] Jacqui Polk: No.

[4:52] Rory O'Malley: But now looking back, I'm like, oh my wow.

[4:55] Jacqui Polk: Yeah, we were just babies.

[4:57] Rory O'Malley: We didn't, we I think because of the kind of rigorous training programs and expectations that we had on ourselves in that situation, we felt like we had been working for a lifetime to get to where we were.

[5:13] Jacqui Polk: And 100%. And we kind of had.

[5:18] Rory O'Malley: Yeah. I mean, I know that you started when you were quite young, and so did I. So it was a long time.

[5:25] Jacqui Polk: It's so interesting how that kind of happens, but I just remember, you know, when we first met and just how we just had so much fun. That experience was just a blast.

[5:37] Jacqui Polk: And you were obviously a huge part of the reason that it was. I have so many really silly pictures of us.

[5:46] Rory O'Malley: Yeah. I mean, it's a very unique experience being a standby in your group of standbys because you are at the theater every night waiting backstage to go on if need be, and you're rehearsing with your other standbys. You play multiple different roles. So you are kind of in your own little world in your own little group.

[6:10] Jacqui Polk: I felt like we became really close very quickly.

[6:15] Rory O'Malley: Yeah, we definitely had to. It's like your own little support system, too. I mean, as much as you know, obviously everyone on stage is so supportive of you, having just the backs of your other standbys was just so incredible.

[6:30] Jacqui Polk: I mean, obviously, we spent every Thursday doing the show together, and we had to play a variety of different roles in those performances for just a small group of people. But I think that those experiences, especially just being with that tight-knit group and having that support is critical when you are then taking the leap and going out and playing a role that say you haven't done in a couple weeks on stage.

[7:01] Rory O'Malley: Oh, it's so crazy. It's like leaping over the Grand Canyon. You're so scared of falling, and it seems impossible before you go out on that stage, but you just, it happens.

[7:17] Jacqui Polk: Yeah. So I want to talk about your journey to where you are today. But can you just tell us where you are? Because right now you're in your office.

[7:27] Jacqui Polk: I'm at work.

[7:29] Rory O'Malley: You are at work. And I'm just so obsessed with what you do now and your journey to get there from when we were backstage waiting at SPELLING BEE. Like I've been following your journey and I'm so proud of you. And I think you're such an amazing person. I'm so glad we get to hear your story.

[7:48] Jacqui Polk: But let's start at the end where you are today. If you can, you can share. And then we'll go back and kind of tell people how you got there.

[7:55] Jacqui Polk: So today I work currently at Hulu on the marketing team, specifically on the content marketing team. And for I think most people probably know what Hulu is, but for those who don't, it's a streaming service similar to Netflix. However, we have a lot of next day content as well as licensed content and films that we, you know, show to about I guess now I can say over 25 million subscribers.

[8:23] Jacqui Polk: So wow, I work on marketing each show that is licensed that comes to Hulu and doing full marketing campaigns around those, and it's very challenging yet super creative and collaborative, very much like I guess putting a very tiny show together. As there are a lot of key players, as there are in the arts, you know, as we all know. So it's always a lot of stakeholders that we're dealing with, but it's really interesting and fun, and every day is very different, which I'm sure it's something that I'll hit on later as we go and I talk about the challenges that I had with acting. But yeah, so that's where I am right now as we speak.

[9:11] Rory O'Malley: It's so incredible, and I can only imagine how much you bring to the table of your job now because of your background as an actress and on stage and just you have such a great personality. You're able to communicate in a way that I'm sure it has really brought you so far in your new industry.

[9:35] Jacqui Polk: It's so interesting because like I thought it, I remember during my transition. I remember thinking, what have I done? Why did I take ballet in undergrad? I've really set myself up to not be able to do other things. And it's so interesting because while the hard skills are so important on a day-to-day basis of what I do, the soft skills of being able to have empathy in an office and be able to work cross-functionally all the time with people and listen and react and respond, is all the things that I learned as an actor. So it's something that I use every almost like every minute here in an office. And I think that there's no, it's only added to the value that I can bring on top of the other skills, I guess that I've learned. So it's actually been what I kind of now am very pleased about. I'm so happy. It feels like an asset. When at some point it, you know, earlier I felt like it was hurting me, but it's actually the opposite.

[11:06] Rory O'Malley: I love a good combo platter. That's my dream.

[11:14] Jacqui Polk: Okay, so let's go to the beginning now. So you, where did you grow up?

[11:19] Jacqui Polk: I grew up in Virginia, Northern Virginia, right outside of DC, which was such a fun place to grow up. It's so culturally diverse. There were so many fun museums that my parents used to take me to. And great theater, too. Incredible theater. I mean, the Signature Theatre is there. The Kennedy Center is where I started performing as a young girl because I started as a dancer. So it was just really a fantastic place to grow up in terms of the experiences in that way.

[11:51] Jacqui Polk: For me personally in schooling, it wasn't my first pick, mainly because I think I had gone to public school and I just wasn't necessarily feeling like I was getting what I needed during the day, but all of my extracurriculars were just the best.

[12:10] Rory O'Malley: Yeah. So how did you end? So you obviously were turned on to dance and theater from an early age, but when did you decide that that's what you wanted to do in college?

[12:23] Jacqui Polk: Oh, it was immediate. I mean, I decided I wanted to do it before college. I decided in middle school when I actually went to Interlochen. I went to camp and I had like the best summer of my life doing West Side Story in 1999, with so many friends, folks that are still friends now, which is incredible and so wild to think about. And so many folks who were in that show together are still acting, and it's so fun to see them all.

[12:56] Jacqui Polk: So I went back to my school after that, and I was just like, wow, I didn't realize that experience really opened my eyes entirely. It was so interesting being around people who it wasn't just theater, you know, it was so interesting being exposed to people who were so interested in classical music, in visual arts. It was just a full, the full breadth and depth of the arts there. And that whole summer changed my life. I went back home and I think my parents were like, oh no, she's sad. She doesn't get to do that anymore.

[13:34] Rory O'Malley: Right.

[13:34] Jacqui Polk: And at the time I was really, I was very brave. I remember I kept asking my parents, you know, about going away to boarding school because I really wanted to do theater in high school. So my parents were so kind. I'm an only child and they were so kind, and they let me go across the country all the way to school in California, where I went to Idyllwild Arts Academy.

[14:05] Jacqui Polk: Oh yeah, I forgot about this.

[14:07] Jacqui Polk: Yeah. So I went there, and it was that was another life-changing experience for me just because it was so wild just being alone, like by yourself in high school, just in feeling that maturity, even though you're not, but you I felt it. I felt so responsible for my own life in so many different ways, being at a boarding school in that way. And all of the choices that I made, you know, were mine, which was really fantastic.

[14:41] Jacqui Polk: So we would do like, you know, we would actually we would have regular classes during the day, like English and history, and the professors were incredible. Um, and just they were just I I I adored them all. Um, and the classes there, I just I got so much more out of it. Um, and then you know, we'd go to like do your theater stuff later in the day, and then you'd go to a little creative writing show that like your roommate wrote something really cool, and it was so fun. Every night was like that. Completely surrounded by what you loved. 100% and learning so much in so many different arenas from so many different people who had such deep passion for what they do. And it was absolutely it was such a rich experience.

[15:27] Rory O'Malley: And how how old were you when you got there? Was it for junior senior year or what?

[15:32] Jacqui Polk: Yes, I went just to the last two years of high school. So like uh 16, 17, and 1718.

[15:39] Rory O'Malley: Yeah, exactly. Wow. Um I mean, I just think that's it's amazing because I totally get the, you know, I went to a conservatory for college, but it had to be so scary at 16 years old to go across the country to about as far away from from DC as you can get in in the United States and and do this.

[16:03] Jacqui Polk: So you really I think I wanted it so bad. Clearly. And I was really unafraid. Like I said, I was really brave at that time. I just would have no problem putting myself in those types of situations and just going for it.

[16:18] Rory O'Malley: Um so when it came time to go to college, you were like, uh yes, I want more of this.

[16:23] Jacqui Polk: Exactly. Exactly. And I found it really hard actually to find the right school for me because a lot of schools, I felt like I was, and this is no dig to any schools out there. I just felt that a lot of the classes I was watching, I was like, that I would sit in, I'd say, oh, well, you know, this actually is like this was like my junior level class that I was taking it, you know, at Idlewild.

[16:47] Rory O'Malley: For sure.

[16:47] Jacqui Polk: Um, so I really wanted something that was gonna take me to obviously the next level and really push me. And I wanted to be and have that kind of scared feeling again of being like, oh boy, I don't know if I can do this, but I'm gonna do it anyway. And so I found uh, or I ended up going to University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music, so a conservatory as well.

[17:11] Jacqui Polk: Um uh CCM, as some people refer to it. Go Bobcats, is it Bobcats? Bear cats, so I'm sure there's a bear named Bob so um, but uh it was talk about scary. That was I was terrified. I was absolutely petrified uh to go there. Uh so I knew it was right.

[17:34] Rory O'Malley: Um let's talk about that for a second, though. Isn't that funny? Because that's something just in general in life, that if you're scared of something in that way, you know you have to do it.

[17:44] Jacqui Polk: Isn't that the worst? Because you're like great.

[17:47] Rory O'Malley: Absolutely the worst.

[17:48] Jacqui Polk: Well, because you're gonna kick yourself if you don't.

[17:50] Rory O'Malley: Yeah.

[17:51] Jacqui Polk: It's like thinking about it's thinking about it's putting your future self first. Right. And saying, All right, all right, buck up, you got this.

[18:00] Rory O'Malley: Right, right. I mean, and but it's it takes a certain a certain personality to know that you can't just play it safe in this situation. You have to throw yourself into the fire.

[18:12] Jacqui Polk: And you know, that's kind of what it takes to to be in our business or to have, you know, an exciting life for sure. 100%.

[18:21] Jacqui Polk: And I think that especially like when you are a younger person and you're interested in theater and performing, you do have like you have those experiences already of you know hardships and not getting certain roles. So you it's kind of ingrained in you already that to be able to get to the place and next level that you want to, you you have to kind of have to throw your ego to the wind and you kind of have to go for it.

[18:49] Rory O'Malley: Right. So you you are i at school at CCM and it's an intense program. Did you find the same excitement or was the level of pressure a lot more? What did it feel like?

[19:04] Jacqui Polk: It was a lot more. Um so they actually at the time that I was there, I don't know if they still do this, but at the time that I was there, they used to um and I don't know a better way to say this, but they used to cut people after uh certain periods in time um of their tenure there.

[19:21] Jacqui Polk: And so we would have to do these essentially like performance reviews um in front of professors and the rest of our class.

[19:29] Rory O'Malley: Right.

[19:30] Jacqui Polk: Uh you're kidding. You had to do it in front of the rest of the class.

[19:33] Rory O'Malley: Yes.

[19:34] Jacqui Polk: Yes. Whoa. Yes.

[19:36] Rory O'Malley: Yikes.

[19:37] Jacqui Polk: I know. That was the part that I hated the most. And at the end, people were asked to leave. Um well, it wasn't, they weren't asked, you weren't asked like in front of anyone. You would just perform.

[19:46] Jacqui Polk: And then you would get like a letter or something saying that if you, you know, how your performance was, I think, uh valued by the group of teachers afterward.

[19:58] Rory O'Malley: Right.

[19:58] Jacqui Polk: Um, but my first one I didn't, I didn't pass. And so I was then kind of on a probational period.

[20:05] Jacqui Polk: Um if I had, you know, not passed the second, then I would have been let go from the school. And so that freshman year, I mean, it was extreme pressure.

[20:17] Jacqui Polk: Um I had actually deferred a couple of schools at the time because I was like afraid of that happening.

[20:25] Rory O'Malley: Right.

[20:25] Jacqui Polk: Um, so uh I had like another school in my back pocket, but at the same time, I was really focused to make sure that you know, I wasn't gonna let be let go because I didn't want that to happen, obviously.

[20:40] Rory O'Malley: Right.

[20:41] Jacqui Polk: But you know, when you're faced you're 18 years old and you're like, it's just it's a lot. It's a lot.

[20:46] Rory O'Malley: Um on top of like going to actual like getting actual grades and keeping all of that up, you know, and then also, you know, it's kind of a blow, you know, and your whole like the whole class knows who's, you know, on probation and who's not. So that also doesn't feel great.

[21:05] Jacqui Polk: Um, again, I don't know if they still do this. Um, but at the time, I think that it actually was looking back, it actually was really good. It caused me to really dig even deeper and focus more on myself.

[21:18] Rory O'Malley: I just but I can't really imagine a more focused and genuinely uh hardworking person than you. I mean, we worked together and I knew how how dedicated you were, and maybe that's a result of your time at CCM.

[21:34] Jacqui Polk: But you know, for me, I I think that a lot of these cut cutting situations and programs are being phased out because it doesn't really foster a lot of creativity, maybe a lot of drive, but I don't know how you really can be in a safe creative spot, which is what college should be, if you ask me, if to kind of find yourself and figure out who you are as an artist when you're afraid you're just gonna get asked to leave, you know.

[22:03] Jacqui Polk: Like I think that's I think that's tough. And I and I totally get the benefit of it, and I'm sure that a lot of people who aren't as driven as as you are, but you know, I think it has a lot of bad consequences too.

[22:14] Jacqui Polk: But I think that when I like was digging deep, Rory, and I was really looking more into myself, yeah. It was those moments where I was this was the first time in my whole life where I said, wow, well, maybe I should try something else.

[22:32] Rory O'Malley: Huh.

[22:33] Jacqui Polk: Like it started bubbling there. That's where it started.

[22:36] Rory O'Malley: Right.

[22:37] Jacqui Polk: Um because I was like, well, maybe, you know, and it wasn't coming out of like an insecurity of I can't do this. It was, huh? Well, hmm, okay, let me think a little bit more and about what I really want to do.

[22:52] Rory O'Malley: Right.

[22:52] Jacqui Polk: And I'm sure you've heard many people say, uh, you know, if there is ever a time or if there is anything that ever interests you other than acting, you should do that.

[23:04] Rory O'Malley: Yeah.

[23:05] Jacqui Polk: Uh people say that quite frequently. Um, and I think it was like truly just starting to happen there for me because I was like, wow, so this doesn't just feel like just like a safe space. This is this could be what it feels like in reality.

[23:21] Jacqui Polk: And I need to know like, am how am I okay with that? Or is this gonna be it for me? And so there was a lot of back and forth.

[23:30] Jacqui Polk: Um ultimately I was I I did graduate from the school uh and I obviously still you know loved performing uh and grew to love it even more throughout my uh four years there.

[23:45] Jacqui Polk: Um, but it it it it was not easy. It was not easy.

[23:49] Rory O'Malley: Um there were t many times where I was constantly questioning a lot, a lot.

[23:57] Jacqui Polk: So um I think that that it started brewing there for me.

[24:02] Jacqui Polk: And um, yeah, and then it kind of only expanded when I got into when I got to New York.

[24:08] Rory O'Malley: Really?

[24:09] Jacqui Polk: So yeah.

[24:10] Rory O'Malley: But you had such you really had early success when you got to New York. I mean, in terms you were a part of really cool projects and you were able to be on Broadway at a young age.

[24:21] Jacqui Polk: I mean, I I it I was so I couldn't have been more fortunate. Before I even graduated, I had a show that was supposed to be it was a pre-Broadway show called Princesses.

[24:32] Jacqui Polk: Um, and we did it at the Fifth Avenue Theater in Seattle. And um I remember I got the show, I think on my spring break before I graduated. I think we hadn't even done our showcase yet.

[24:46] Jacqui Polk: Um, and I was so surprised and shocked that I even got it. I think the the I'm sure the casting director director was like afraid for my safety when she told me because I was so excited.

[24:57] Jacqui Polk: Um I was just so surprised. Like I was genuinely surprised. Um, because it was like an open call that I went to. Um I didn't have an agent at that time.

[25:06] Jacqui Polk: Um, so and then I was like, oh my God, pre-Broadway was like, what does that even mean?

[25:12] Jacqui Polk: Um the show obviously never made it to New York, but I mean I got to perform Lindsay Mendez, Patty Murren, that's where I met all those girls.

[25:20] Jacqui Polk: We were all in this show together. Yeah, it was just it was so fun. We've had um Patty Murin on on the podcast before and talked about it a little bit.

[25:28] Rory O'Malley: It's it it definitely seemed, and I remember I didn't get to see it, but I remember hearing so much about it, and it kind of felt like a really special um moment that was you know launching so many of you into a next part of your career, which is really a big deal in your early 20s, you know.

[25:44] Jacqui Polk: I mean it really felt that way. I wasn't getting launched into anything at my temp job at the financial firm, you know, like this is but you were you were a learning thing, you just didn't feel like exactly exactly.

[25:58] Jacqui Polk: But you but you were able to be a part of something new and learn how to create a Broadway show, which again, you know, going to what you're currently doing, I think that musical theater is the most collaborative art forum there is because there's so many different departments, and you have to know how to be a team player, and you know that's a great skill to have at 22.

[26:21] Rory O'Malley: Anything, yeah, yeah. Couldn't agree more. Absolutely.

[26:24] Jacqui Polk: So when you so did you get SPELLING BEE pretty soon after that?

[26:29] Jacqui Polk: Well, what happened was I ended up so we did Princesses. It ended up not, you know, making its way across the states um to New York, and I got uh the hairspray tour.

[26:41] Jacqui Polk: So I went on the hairspray tour pretty soon thereafter. The tour closed.

[26:46] Jacqui Polk: I remember I was standing in line. I had auditioned a bunch of times for SPELLING BEE and not gotten it.

[26:53] Jacqui Polk: Um and they were casting the tour, and I didn't get the tour, and I was pretty sad. I was pretty devastated because I really wanted to do it.

[26:59] Jacqui Polk: And I remember standing in line with my boyfriend at the time. I had just won, and I've never won anything in my life. I had just won the rent lottery.

[27:09] Rory O'Malley: Yeah.

[27:09] Jacqui Polk: Um and I had never seen it. I had never seen rent. Um, and my agent called me and said, Jackie, uh are you free in two weeks?

[27:20] Jacqui Polk: And I was like, uh yeah, I'm very free. You know this. Um, and she was like, Do you want to be the vacation swing at SPELLING BEE?

[27:27] Jacqui Polk: And I was like, Are you kidding me? I was like, Are you could this day get any better? I just won the lottery for rent, and I'm getting my Broadway show.

[27:35] Rory O'Malley: Well, are you serious?

[27:37] Jacqui Polk: Yeah. Um, so uh that was like summer of 2000 and I think seven, two thousand six. No, two thousand six.

[27:45] Jacqui Polk: Yeah. Um, and uh so summer of two thousand and six, and so I just stepped in for a couple of weeks to do the show, and I actually ended up going on.

[27:55] Rory O'Malley: Wow.

[27:55] Jacqui Polk: Um, I was only there for two weeks, and I uh I had to perform, but it was scheduled, so that was nice.

[28:03] Jacqui Polk: So my parents got to fly in and see the show. Um, and then Kate Weatherhead ended up leaving a couple of months later to go to, I believe Legally Blonde, and I stepped in for her.

[28:16] Rory O'Malley: Wow.

[28:16] Jacqui Polk: So that was it.

[28:18] Rory O'Malley: Wow. That's amazing.

[28:20] Jacqui Polk: I mean, that's that's it's just so funny because that that's how things how quickly things happen, especially when you're young. I feel like, you know, when you're young in the business and a couple of things line up, it's like all of a sudden you're thrown into the fire and you just have to use all that training, you know, all that fear that you had at CCM.

[28:39] Rory O'Malley: You know, you're right. It's like you had to show up and the stakes were really high.

[28:45] Jacqui Polk: You had to perform in front of your fellow students, your fellow classmates.

[28:49] Rory O'Malley: Right.

[28:49] Jacqui Polk: And you had to nail it. So, you know, in a way, I suppose those kind of intense things in school really do prepare you.

[28:58] Jacqui Polk: I I feel like for me it was a very different situation because I was I it was uh a few more I I definitely had a lot more time to prepare, I feel like, because I was taking over for Todd Guanapane when he was on uh an extended leave.

[29:13] Jacqui Polk: So I just can't imagine only being there for two weeks and having to kind of prove myself.

[29:18] Rory O'Malley: But you didn't it was wild.

[29:19] Jacqui Polk: I remember, do you remember the stairs we used to have to walk up to come out? Yeah, it's like it's one of those things where it's such an out-of-body experience that like that first time you do something like that, especially after not really letting it sink in of what's happened to you.

[29:36] Jacqui Polk: I remember walking up the stairs, and I had a, I was, I had was so nice. It was so nice. There were so many people that came to see the show, so many friends and family there, and everyone's face, they looked at me like I, I just, I'll never forget the way that they, I don't even know if I can describe the word. It was almost like I hadn't realized what I had accomplished, but like looking back at them, it kind of made it real in that moment. And I was like, oh, okay, all right. Um, so it was a really beautiful moment. And I mean, that show just continued to have those for me.

[30:12] Jacqui Polk: Yeah. Um, there were so many. There were so, so many. I, I, it gave a lot of people their equity cards, their mom, their Broadway debuts, and it was really a great training ground for a whole generation of Broadway folks.

[30:26] Rory O'Malley: It was, it totally was, and it was super fun at the same time. Um, I mean, I just remember, I just remember, uh, so many incredible moments that we had, and, uh, we were so fortunate. Uh, we were so fortunate to be with such a, just, it was, it was like such a great group of people as well. It wasn't, you know, I felt like just being in that green room there. I just remember just like listening to some of the conversations like while sitting on the couch, and I was like, this is just, this is, I, I feel like I'm not even just like learning so much from being on stage and doing these roles, but also just like from these people who've had such diverse experiences in the world.

[31:07] Jacqui Polk: Yeah. Now you had other successes on Broadway. You were in Hairspray on Broadway.

[31:10] Rory O'Malley: I saw you as Penny. I will never forget the day. I think I've told you this a million times, but when I, the day that I saw you as Penny on Broadway in Hairspray was April 22nd, 2008. And the reason I remember that is because afterwards I went on a blind date with a gentleman and his name was Gerald, and I'm married to him now, and we have a child.

[31:34] Jacqui Polk: Yeah.

[31:35] Rory O'Malley: So I will always remember that, that I was like, oh, I'm seeing my friend in a show. You know, it was like I was trying to be cool because I had a friend at a property.

[31:43] Jacqui Polk: We have things to do.

[31:43] Rory O'Malley: Yeah, you were busy.

[31:44] Jacqui Polk: Exactly.

[31:46] Rory O'Malley: Yeah.

[31:47] Jacqui Polk: So I, I always remember that. But so you had, you had other successes. And tell me when your thought process, that lingering in the back of your mind, like there are other things out there, when that started to change into a reality of you wanting to pursue them.

[32:04] Jacqui Polk: Sure. I, I think that it, I mean, it was still kind of always, it was still always under the surface. Even at SPELLING BEE, it was there. And then I remember when I went back, so it was, it felt like I was kind of going back to Hairspray, um, for me because I had done the show already, not in New York, but on tour. And I remember going to it and just feeling like this is so, I'm so grateful for this experience. I'm so incredibly grateful. But at the same time, I've done this, I've been here, and you know, I, I want to keep going forward and I didn't feel like I had that forward motion.

[32:45] Rory O'Malley: Right.

[32:45] Jacqui Polk: Um, so it was, it was throughout Hairspray that it really felt to me, you know, and I, and I think that a lot of it, it's so interesting as a kid learning and loving theater and growing up in that world, it was just everything was so magical to me. And not that it wasn't magical at all on Broadway because it certainly is. Um, and, um, but for me specifically, the challenge of doing the same thing every day.

[33:17] Rory O'Malley: Mm-hmm.

[33:17] Jacqui Polk: Um, and having the same, you know, listening to the same music and finding and breathing life into that and what that means. Didn't we have a rule while we were in SPELLING BEE that backstage nobody could sing along with the music that was playing over the intercom?

[33:32] Rory O'Malley: Yeah.

[33:33] Jacqui Polk: Because you find yourself just automatically doing it or harmonizing with what's happening on stage. And it was like, no, we cannot do that. It's gonna drive ourselves insane.

[33:42] Jacqui Polk: So I just ate a bunch of chocolate, I think is what I didn't say. Um, yeah, it's monotonous. And I think that you, you know, I, there are some, some people who are some incredibly talented people who I saw leave the business, um, in their twenties, and I'm not trying to take away from those of us or people who have stayed in the business, uh, in the, in as actors. However, there's a similarity that you all have. You're all incredibly smart and you're incredibly hard working.

[33:49] Rory O'Malley: And I think that you could see the writing on the wall of what the business is, even at its best, that it's very similar and it's doing the same thing over and over again.

[34:33] Jacqui Polk: And clearly, as we've just seen from what you said your younger high school years were, you wanted to challenge yourself constantly. And sometimes even in the most, the biggest sense of being on Broadway, it's not the kind of challenge that someone like you needs.

[34:53] Rory O'Malley: And so it's not as satisfying.

[34:55] Jacqui Polk: I, I don't know if that's exactly what it's for you, but I know some other people who left and became teachers in public schools because they were like, I need to show up to work every day. Even when you have the job.

[35:07] Rory O'Malley: Yep.

[35:14] Jacqui Polk: Yeah. No, I think that you, uh, worded that so eloquently, and that's absolutely how I felt 100%. I almost felt like, wow, uh, why didn't anyone tell me it was gonna be or feel like this?

[35:26] Rory O'Malley: Right.

[35:26] Jacqui Polk: Um, I didn't, you know, because my goal as a, or my dream as a young girl was to be a dancer on Broadway. And, um, I never thought about how, oh, you know, well, when you're in a long-running show, you know, you do the same show eight times a week, and that's, it's fantastic and beautiful, and it does morph and change.

[35:49] Jacqui Polk: Um, but it might feel like it's, it's a subtle shift.

[35:52] Rory O'Malley: Right.

[35:53] Jacqui Polk: Um, so, um, I think that when we're kids, we think I'll be in Book of Mormon for the one month, then I'll be in Hairspray for two months, and then I'll, you know, like you think I'll just hop around.

[36:05] Rory O'Malley: Yeah, which sounds great and fun.

[36:07] Jacqui Polk: Yeah, which sounds great and fun. And if that was the case, sign me up.

[36:09] Rory O'Malley: Yeah.

[36:10] Jacqui Polk: Um, that sounds great. Um, but no, absolutely you're 100% right about like finding that next challenge. And so I think while I was in Hairspray, uh, there was, and it was, uh, it was an interesting time in the world as well.

[36:27] Jacqui Polk: The end of like the Bush years. Um, so, uh, there was a lot going on politically, right?

[36:35] Rory O'Malley: Right.

[36:35] Jacqui Polk: And, um, I was very interested in sustainability and the environment, and that had always been something that I was always interested in.

[36:44] Jacqui Polk: Um, just kind of on the side. And I remember there was an initiative at the time called Broadway Goes Green. It's now called the Broadway Green Alliance.

[36:52] Rory O'Malley: Right.

[36:52] Jacqui Polk: Um, but it was in its very early, early stages, and, uh, so I had the chance to do some work through that. And it was so different than acting, obviously.

[37:05] Jacqui Polk: Um, and just being a part of those types of conversations was thrilling. It was just so different than anything I'd ever done. And I really appreciated it so much. And I thought it really got me just, it really just got all the wheels in my head spinning about all the things that I could do and where it could go from there and what that would mean for me.

[37:26] Jacqui Polk: And so I decided that when, when the show closed, um, and, uh, I decided to really take that as a, as a leap and, uh, go do something else for myself.

[37:39] Jacqui Polk: So it was not like the biggest leap because I still had another show, um, that was going to be a little bit of a smaller show that was happening, um, at a later date, uh, it was supposed to happen.

[37:52] Jacqui Polk: But so I was decided what I decided to do was take a trip out to LA and, uh, kind of explore some things out here and, uh, get a little bit more cued into, um, what the world of sustainability looked like in really in Los Angeles, which was at the time the leader of that whole space.

[38:12] Jacqui Polk: So, um, I landed, um, I remember landing in LA in January of I think 2009 and, um, I had a voicemail from my agent who was saying that the show that was supposed to happen three months later was canceled.

[38:28] Jacqui Polk: And so, um, I was like, oh, interesting. Okay.

[38:31] Jacqui Polk: Um, so hmm. So I decided to kind of take my trip and my time a little bit. I, I think I could, you could say I took it even more seriously than I probably would have.

[38:44] Rory O'Malley: Right.

[38:45] Jacqui Polk: So I ended up getting, um, some really interesting jobs out here working, um, in that kind of sustainability field. I realized that I wanted a little bit more formal training.

[39:00] Jacqui Polk: And I love school, like I, I love school so much. If I could be in school forever, I know that that sounds, you know, uh, I'm not sure.

[39:09] Rory O'Malley: Well, you like learning and you like having a challenge and you like having a new challenge.

[39:09] Jacqui Polk: Exactly. That's, that's it.

[39:17] Jacqui Polk: So I decided to go to business school. Um, I knew that for me, um, going to business school would, uh, just provide me with a little bit more of a broader depth of like a broader, um, sense of the world and also just like have a nice foundation of knowledge that I didn't have before.

[39:36] Jacqui Polk: Um, because I had considered other things like law school and things like that, but I felt like they were a little too specialized for someone who didn't really know what they wanted to do quite yet.

[39:44] Jacqui Polk: Right.

[39:45] Jacqui Polk: So, and I decided to go to part-time school because I wanted to have as many different experiences during the day that I could.

[39:52] Jacqui Polk: So, um, that's why I did that, uh, kind of part-time education. Takes a little bit longer.

[39:59] Jacqui Polk: Um, but, uh, I think it was actually one million percent worth it.

[40:03] Jacqui Polk: So I, I started, I was working, um, I started actually working in politics a little bit, and, um, when I, uh, was doing that, I kind of decided to expand even further and, uh, from sustainability and the environmental work that I was doing because I was then interested in women's issues and, um, being in LA, we were working a lot with, uh, entertainment, uh, we were, we were working on tech, um, with Silicon Valley, and so there was a lot going on.

[40:34] Jacqui Polk: Um, and this was during the Obama years when I worked in the Senate.

[40:39] Jacqui Polk: Uh, so it was really fascinating and interesting to be a part of that world.

[40:45] Jacqui Polk: Um, it was a little negative, uh, to put it lightly, really.

[40:49] Jacqui Polk: Um, at that time, um, during the Obama years.

[40:54] Jacqui Polk: So I can't even really imagine what it's like now.

[40:56] Rory O'Malley: Right.

[40:57] Jacqui Polk: Um, but we were just faced with so many obstacles.

[41:01] Jacqui Polk: Um, it was very, very tough. But I did work for probably, you know, just such an incredible, uh, woman, Senator Feinstein, uh, who taught me so many things.

[41:13] Jacqui Polk: Uh, she is probably one of the smartest people that I had ever met.

[41:18] Jacqui Polk: Um, just the way that she asks questions, um, so thoughtfully, and, uh, she really taught me to anticipate, anticipate those questions, which only kind of led to me, um, hopefully, uh, growing even further.

[41:33] Jacqui Polk: But I missed entertainment, Rory. I really did. I miss like the fun.

[41:36] Rory O'Malley: I miss the fun.

[41:38] Jacqui Polk: Politics is definitely a theater of its own, and sometimes they're more dramatic than entertainment.

[41:45] Rory O'Malley: So it's nice, it's like it's not too far from it.

[41:48] Jacqui Polk: But, but you felt that draw of wanting to be back in the entertainment world.

[41:52] Jacqui Polk: I think that at a certain level, it definitely has that like dramatic flair to it.

[41:57] Jacqui Polk: But when you're the person who's executing certain things or you're an aide, it's a little bit different.

[42:03] Jacqui Polk: Um, so, uh, yeah, no, I definitely missed it.

[42:06] Jacqui Polk: And but what I'll, what I'll say that I missed the most that you talked about earlier from musical theater is the collaboration.

[42:14] Jacqui Polk: Yeah, uh, that, that piece was what I kind of, I, I like needed that. I needed to feed off of that and I'm sure that so many people who, you know, transition from theater, um, to other, uh, roles and other industries probably feel that as well because it's just, it's, there's nothing like it. There's really nothing like it.

[42:14] Jacqui Polk: Yeah, um, so it was something that I pushed myself really hard to do, um, and get a job in entertainment. I, I was fortunate to still be in school at the time so there were a lot of resources for me that I was able to, uh, utilize and I ended up at Sony. I worked at Sony for a couple of years, uh, working in their, uh, marketing department and, uh, I worked there through the big hack that they had.

[42:14] Rory O'Malley: I don't know if you remember hearing about that, but that was...

[42:14] Jacqui Polk: Well, I live down the street. I ran into you once on your lunch break, right? Yeah, so I live in Culver City, right down the street from Sony, and I ran into you on a lunch break, and you were just leaving.

[43:16] Rory O'Malley: But yeah, so I know a lot about Sony, and they had a hack from North Korea, right? Wasn't that it?

[43:16] Jacqui Polk: Yeah, I mean it was, that was such a crazy, crazy time. I still can't even wrap my head around like that, that was actually real.

[43:28] Jacqui Polk: Yeah, um, and, uh, it was actually truly devastating because I loved working there so much. It was so fulfilling and, um, talk about creative. I mean, we were given so much autonomy, um, to do so many fun things, uh, across the board like we made music videos like for a, you know, a piece of television, you know, it was just, it was so fun.

[43:50] Jacqui Polk: And this is all in marketing.

[43:52] Jacqui Polk: Thanks.

[43:53] Jacqui Polk: Yes.

[43:54] Jacqui Polk: Yes. So at the time I was working on shows like Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee while it was still through Sony at the time.

[44:00] Jacqui Polk: It wasn't all it wasn't on Netflix at that moment. Um, but you know, getting to work with people like Jerry Seinfeld was fantastic, obviously. Um, and getting to learn about what it's like to work with people at that level. Um, and you know how incredible they are, and just it was fantastic. So I had no, I really was quite devastated to have to leave the company, but it just it was something that again, the writing was on the wall for that one. It was just there the challenges again that we're faced with were not challenges that our work challenges like oh, you know, I or I didn't it wasn't anything about me not liking the job, it was oh no, like we don't have laptops and you know, it was things like that.

Yeah, pretty amazing. But so let me let me ask you, as somebody who's been in between jobs or figuring out what job it comes next as an actor, what's the difference between that and now? Like you've had you've had a few jobs in this in this realm and you can piece together work and it's obviously a lot more stable, but what are the differences of looking for work and and basically just for you know going to work every day?

[45:17] Rory O'Malley: Um, well, looking for work, I think it's always easier to look for work when you have a job.

[45:22] Jacqui Polk: Yes. Um and I don't like saying that, but it's actually true. It's just a it's a mindset. Um I think that the big piece that's different is confidence. Um I think that a lot of times when you're an actor, you're you're how you're putting yourself out there obviously a lot more as an actor. So you're getting rejected more. So you uh some people feel like you know, kind of rolls off their back a little bit easier. And some people, you know, it goes the other way and they feel that rejection a little bit deeper. Right because they're experiencing it more. With something like what I do now, it's rare. It it's it's not as it doesn't happen as often. I have to look for a job as often, thank goodness, just based on the sheer fact of um the industry that I work in.

But again, that it's I've looked for jobs, you know, I've had four entertainment jobs. So and it it's not easy at any time to ever have to look for a job. Um but it's just something that I think that you kind of get used to. Um and you kind of know how to package yourself a little bit more as you get older and more comfortable with yourself and who you are. And you do kind of realize they always say this, they don't I don't remember them saying this as an actor at all, but when you go for a job, companies like that I, you know, you know, like like like a Hulu or something like that, like when you come into interview, they say things like, you know, just remember you're interviewing us too.

[46:57] Rory O'Malley: Right.

[46:58] Jacqui Polk: You know, remember it's both ways. Like if you don't want to, you know, if you're not gonna fit culturally here, you know, really think about that. And like that's not the case for acting.

[47:07] Rory O'Malley: No, it's like, no, there's a thousand people behind you. You read it. Get out.

[47:14] Jacqui Polk: I don't think I was like, I've literally had three auditions today that I will not get. And I'm not saying that to be negative. I'm like, oh no, I know I won't, I won't get those. And that's okay. That's just to me, it's just like building up rep uh relationships with different people around town. But I would, I just kind of fantasize about having just one job interview or a couple going to a place and being able to work for years. It's why I probably was able to stay with Book of Mormon for a couple of years, Hamilton for a couple of years. You know, if you could stay at a company or like or stay at a show the way you can stay at a company, you know, I probably would be staying for a decade, but you'd you'd go insane.

[48:00] Rory O'Malley: Um people do it.

[48:00] Jacqui Polk: That's true. But I think that it's it's the most fascinating thing to me about your story is the courage that it takes and the confidence that it takes. And you are such a lovely, um, you have such a great personality, but there is definitely a confidence that you have because you are willing to do the work and you know that about yourself. That's what I think it is, because I remember you being so good as a standby. You were always prepared and ready to go at a moment's notice. And doing doing uh uh getting your business degree part-time while doing all these jobs while working for a senator, that is incredibly hard. That is incredibly hard work. And I just think that it's so impressive.

[48:56] Jacqui Polk: One.

[48:57] Rory O'Malley: Well, thank you. But but uh, but also like how you were able to give yourself the ability to have permission to do these things is kind of amazing. Because I think there are a lot of people who are in our industry who don't let themselves stray from their laser beam focus of the same thing that they've been trying to do forever.

[49:24] Jacqui Polk: You know what I'm saying?

[49:25] Rory O'Malley: Absolutely. And I I I guess what do you say to those people who are a little afraid to do that, to try something else?

[49:35] Jacqui Polk: Oh man, well, I first I go for it. Uh you because you have to try. You just have to. Uh otherwise you'll never know. Um, but to get to that point, what I'd say is if they're so interested in acting and and what that means, the main a main part of being an actor is being adaptable, right? To so many different things. So many different things. Um as you're taking on different roles, as you're going from, you know, like you said, three auditions today, that's insane. And you're also super resilient. So to be able to do that is it's most people in the world can't do that. They don't have they don't have the um, they don't have the guts to do that. So I think that if you have what it takes to do that, you have to know that you truly can do anything.

And I know that it feels like probably that sounds kind of cheesy. Um, but if you're self-motivated enough to be able to get yourself through that and push yourself um to be an actor, uh, I think that honestly, anything is easier. Anything.

[50:49] Rory O'Malley: Yeah.

[50:50] Jacqui Polk: It really is. It really is. The hardest part, I think, is finding what it is.

[50:55] Rory O'Malley: Right.

[50:56] Jacqui Polk: What that next step is for you. Um, because I think that there are so many things. When I talk to a lot of people, I'm like a um what's the word? Uh an advisor to some of the students at uh the business school now where I went at UCLA. And you know, they struggle with wanting to shift careers. And it's a little different for them because it's like they're like, do I do finance or do I go into entertainment? And it's like, well, um, first off, there's so many different options. Like there's so many different things that anyone can do out there that it's like we're almost paralyzed by this this uh this choice that we have. So I think once you can narrow it down, really focus yourself, super duper focus yourself, hyper focus yourself, um, get as prepared as you can and go for it. Um take that leap of faith in yourself, and if you don't like it, it you can go always go back.

[51:56] Rory O'Malley: Right.

[51:57] Jacqui Polk: You can always go back. Like I still think about like I fantasize about like oh it'd be so fun to do like a uh one night only kind of show. Um and it would, it really would. Um you can always go back, it will always be there. Um, everything will always be there. Um, but you'll never know if you don't kind of go for it. So I'd say that those two words that I said, like adaptability and resilience, just remind yourself that that is like the core of who you are. And uh you got this.

[52:28] Rory O'Malley: That's amazing.

[52:29] Jacqui Polk: That's amazing. And I think that it's true, you know, like if you can survive through um open calls and and putting yourself out there as an actor, you certainly can figure out how to put yourself out there in in the the business world or in other ways that you're passionate about. So just be open to it. I think that's so great. And when you asked me, when you asked me that I have to say this, when you asked me to do this, like I because I've listened to the podcast um now um a bunch, I I was like, oh, it's about living the dream, like as an actor, hmm, uh living the dream, living the dream. Hmm. And it's like so funny because I've been thinking about it more and more over the last week of what that means and how living the dream.

Yeah, my dream as a six-year-old girl was to be a dancer on Broadway, and it was the theme for a couple of years, but then like in my late 20s, it started to shift, and I wanted to be, you know, I wanted to be in politics, and then I wanted to do something else, and then I wanted to do it's constantly shifting as as we morph. So it's like the dream is ever evolving.

[53:37] Rory O'Malley: Yes, yes, yes.

[53:38] Jacqui Polk: You okay, you are the reason I do this podcast. That's exactly yes, you are absolutely the perfect guest because I am trying to have a discussion with artists about how our dream evolves, and that if we just cling on to what our dream was when we were 15 and think that it's just this one thing about winning a Tony and and that's it, then we're gonna miss out on so many wonderful things in life. And there are many different ways that our creativity and our tools as theater performers can be uh put in out into the world and 100%.

[54:20] Rory O'Malley: Yeah, no, and it can be your goal as a you know, uh to get that Tony can still if that's still your goal when you're you know 45. Um, that's totally great and cool. Um, I think that it's when people judge themselves about like feeling badly of like, oh, I'm you know, I'm not doing what I said I was gonna do when you know I was a little kid. It's okay. You didn't know every you were always learning.

[54:47] Jacqui Polk: Yes, yes, thank you.

[54:49] Rory O'Malley: That's exactly exactly like not just in talking to you. I think you're such an excellent example of that. But I think even you know, people who have one Tony's are trying to figure that out as well, you know, and trying to figure out what else life has to offer because you know uh the the business is what it is, and it's it it does kind of repeat itself, and you're going to have to need you you have to expand uh who you are and what your dream is as soon as you accomplish a piece of that. So I don't know. I I think that that's why you're such a perfect person to have on this podcast. You are expanding your dream even more so in the near future. I don't know if we can talk about it, but oh we can have a new role as a mama.

[55:35] Jacqui Polk: Yes, I mean I'm actually literally expanding um as we speak.

[55:40] Rory O'Malley: Yeah, yes, you are you are my info. Um I'm gonna have to call you all the time and be like, Rory, help me. What's so great is that we um over the last year, especially um we've gone out to these really nice restaurants with our husbands. You you and your husband Spencer are like foodies, you know where to go. My husband knows where I have I have no class, I don't I just go wherever you guys take me and I eat all the food.

[56:05] Jacqui Polk: No, it's so true. Where's that great place that you took us took me to downtown and Gerald Metas.

[56:11] Rory O'Malley: Oh my god, that was so good.

[56:13] Jacqui Polk: See, I don't remember anyone's names, and I know that you know, and then there was that famous chef, that woman came in. She was like, Nancy Silverton.

[56:22] Rory O'Malley: Oh, we bow we bow down to her.

[56:24] Jacqui Polk: Yes, but she walked by, and I very loudly like went, oh hey, it's that lady or something. And you guys are like, oh my god, what a loser.

[56:35] Rory O'Malley: No, we were not thinking that at all. We loved it.

[56:36] Jacqui Polk: And she loved it.

[56:38] Rory O'Malley: Yeah, I'm sure. But I uh we have so much fun, but now we're gonna get to have fun with with our babies. Our babies are gonna be friends.

[56:44] Jacqui Polk: They're gonna be they're so close to need. It's amazing.

[56:49] Rory O'Malley: They are. Well, we're gonna have to do a lot of takeout uh at our homes, I think, in the in the future. But that's that's my that's my living the dream right now. Take out at home.

[56:58] Jacqui Polk: Exactly, exactly.

[57:01] Rory O'Malley: No, it's been great. You're gonna enjoy the um no, I can't come aspect of things. It's kind of nice to to just be at home and make a family. Um that's what we are. I'm actually shocked that we I haven't heard um my son crying in the background here because he was very fussy today.

[57:18] Jacqui Polk: Oh but he's he's he's in a nap right now, so it was perfect timing.

[57:23] Rory O'Malley: But I'm the cutest.

[57:25] Jacqui Polk: He's a sweetie pie. Um I am so I I just I really look up to you. I always have. I think that what you've done over the last decade is astounding. It's tremendous. And I think the the courage that it took to do what you said to expand your dream into something more than what it was when you were uh a kid is kind of like the key to life, to enjoying life because we all need to constantly keep expanding our dream. And you have done so many cool things in such a short period of time at such a young age. And I know you will continue to, and I can't wait to follow along. I'm a very big fan.

[58:09] Rory O'Malley: Oh, well, thank you, Rory. What an honor to be here and hopefully help some people who are listening along the way. Um, at whatever stage they're at. If you're questioning things, just know it's okay. You got this. You're awesome.

[58:23] Jacqui Polk: All right. Audition, side job, swimming upstream. Believe it or not, you'll live in the dream.