Rising Star Anna Harr On The Five Things You Need To Shine In The Entertainment Industry
An Interview With Elana Cohen
Honestly it’s pretty stressful however the key is time management. Staying organized, knowing exactly when your assignments are due, having a planner to keep track of all your engagements, is how I balance everything. The fortunate thing about being an actress is while you’re on set, there’s a lot of downtime, so it gives me time to work on my schooling. But, at the end of the day, school will always come first, my education is very important to me.
As a part of my series about pop culture’s rising stars, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Anna Harr.
Anna Harr is a 22-year-old actress from Phoenix, Arizona, known for her films ‘Stasis’ & ‘Bethany’ and more recently ‘Hot Seat’ starring Mel Gibson and ‘Patsy Lee & the Keepers of the 5 Kingdoms’ starring James Hong.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Our readers would love to get to know you a bit better. Can you tell us the story of how you grew up?
I grew up in Mesa Arizona, which is a large suburb of Phoenix, in a really big family. I have 4 sisters and two brothers and all of my sisters were dancers, so it only made sense that I was enrolled in dance at a young age. So, I did competitive dancing during my childhood, and my dad put me in gymnastics when I was 11, so I was a really active child and had a busy schedule, but I enjoyed it. It wasn’t until my early teens where I started to act professionally and I have been doing it ever since.
Can you share a story with us about what brought you to this specific career path?
I actually got into acting by mistake, like I said I was a dancer and when I was around 12 I wanted to venture off and head to Los Angeles and try to make a career out of it. I had booked a job for a Fox TV Show called ‘Mobbed’ . It was like a flash mob, feel-good reality show with lots of dancers and performers and it was hosted by Howie Mandel. After filming, I really wanted to meet Howie Mandel so I went up to him and had a conversation with him, which was a huge deal to me! He seemed to really like me and had asked if I did acting, and I responded with no and he proceeded to tell me that his wife is starting a commercial agency and that I should sign with her. One week later, I was back in L.A. and I had a meeting with his wife, Terry, and signed with her. After that I didn’t want to focus on dance anymore as dance auditions can be tough on kids and very stressful, so I directed my career path to acting.
Can you tell us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your entertainment career?
Hmm…well one interesting story that has happened within my career was on the set of ‘Patsy Lee & The Keepers of the 5 Kingdoms.’ It’s more of a fun memory rather than an interesting story, but anyway, on this set I got to work with the legendary James Hong. After shooting one night in Globe, Arizona, the cast and crew went to this sushi restaurant after we wrapped for the day and it was completely reserved for just the movie production. We had dinner, and after dessert, James Hong stood in the center of the restaurant and had a full on dance party with music and everything. Mind you James just recently turned 94, so it was pretty funny to see this old man just break out dancing. ANd he was pretty good! Like he definitely has the moves lol! Anyways he started grabbing people out of their chairs to get them to dance, and he grabbed me and my younger sister, Abby, and started dancing with us! It was just such a fun night, a memory me or my little sister will never forget, and I am glad we got to experience that together! One of my favorite nights on that set.
It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
Well, I have made plenty of mistakes in this industry. I can tell you that, lol! Anyways, but one incident that always comes to mind, and now looking back at it, it was pretty funny. But, I was around 15, I think, and I was on the set of ‘Restoration’ directed by Zack Ward. And I had just arrived on set and as I was walking in they were filming another scene. So, I quickly dropped my suitcase and backpack in a space where I thought would be off camera. Well, it turns out that I had accidentally left my things right in the middle of the shot. And I guess, they had been filming that scene for a really long time because I think the lighting or camera ques kept getting messed up, and this time all the ques hit their mark and literally everything was perfect. Except the fact that my big zebra-print suitcase was in the background of the scene. Zack realized this and was extremely angry and started to go off, and I ran and hid in the bathroom and started to cry because I was so upset. But then Zack, was later told that it was my suitcase and felt really bad afterwards and came up to apologize to me. But it’s still really funny.
What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now? How do you think that might help people?
Yes! Next month I will be working on a western, and I haven’t a western since ‘Eminence Hill’ but I’m pretty excited because Robert Conway will be directing and I have worked with him countless times before. Plus, Robert likes to recast the same people, so I have developed friendships with some of these actors, so it will be fun to see them again. Westerns are pretty entertaining, so it will definitely provide some intense, on-the-edge-your-seat thrills for viewers!
Most young people your age don’t have to balance work and school. Can you tell us how you manage to balance your schoolwork, auditions, and time on set?
Honestly it’s pretty stressful however the key is time management. Staying organized, knowing exactly when your assignments are due, having a planner to keep track of all your engagements, is how I balance everything. The fortunate thing about being an actress is while you’re on set, there’s a lot of downtime, so it gives me time to work on my schooling. But, at the end of the day, school will always come first, my education is very important to me.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
Yeah, I mean I would say my dad, he’s being the only person that has supported my career since day one. He’s my biggest fan, yet he’s my harshest critic, he’s not easy to impress. But, he has done everything in his power to make sure that I am always taken care of, and I am so grateful to have that type of support, especially in this career.
Ok, thank you for all that. Now let’s jump to the main part of our interview. What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why? (Please share a story or example for each.)
Oh my gosh, that’s a fun question. Let’s see, hmm. Well 1, there’s a lot of downtime on set, like you will sit around for hours while the crew sets up the shot and all the actors go through hair and makeup. 2, is rejection, as an actor you’ve got to get used to rejection because it will happen. So, you just gotta make sure that you don’t get discouraged and not take it personally, it’s all just part of the job. 3, a large part of acting is connections, it’s all about who you know, so making yourself available and networking with industry people will be a huge advantage. Social media nowadays plays a huge part in networking, so marketing yourself is a good way to get started. For number 4 I would say, getting used to last minute changes, flexibility is key. They are constantly changing shoot dates, the script, or even sometimes your lines ten minutes before shooting, so being nimble and quick on your feet will help you a lot in show business. And lastly, for number 5, I wished someone told me that people, outside the acting industry, will only be nice to you or your friend only because you’re connected to Hollywood. It’s mostly because they think being friends with you will get them to movie premieres, or give them the chance to become actors themselves, which is absolutely not the case lol.
You are a person of enormous influence. How do you think you can use social media as a platform to be a positive influence to your fans, and for society at large?
I honestly don’t think I have any influence at all, but anyway, I think I could use my platform to promote confidence to younger girls. Growing up, I wasn’t too confident in myself and was super shy, and pretty quiet, and I never had a female role model that had good intentions to look up to. And if I could be that to some girls, I think I would be very pleased with myself because I know how it feels to struggle with that and it’s still an ongoing issue today with millions of girls.
If you had the ability to choose to work on any TV show or film, or work alongside any co-star, or with any director, what or who would that be, and why? You never know who might see this article, especially if we tag them. :-)
I would love the opportunity to work with Harrison Ford, because he’s just so iconic! Plus, I am an archaeology student so I am a big fan of the Indiana Jones Movies, so getting to meet Indy himself would be so cool to me and my schoolmates. Also, my favorite movie is ‘Blade Runner’ so I would totally freak out being in the same room as Deckard. It seems super talented!
How can our readers follow you on social media?
Yes! I am on instagram @annaharrofficial, that’s the platform I am most active on. :)
This was very meaningful, thank you so much!
Thank you!!
