Rising Star Anna Harr: Why We Need A Movement To Raise the Confidence of Young Girls

I don’t think I have enormous influence at all, but one thing I would love to be behind is raising the confidence of young girls. Growing up, I was really shy and didn’t have too much confidence, I really needed a role model to tell me that I could do anything I wanted if I just tried my hardest and didn’t let anyone put me down. I would love to be a role model like that to a young girl, almost like a big sister, and to just tell them that you can be a strong girl and you are fully capable of accomplishing anything you set your mind to!

I had the pleasure of interviewing dancer and actress Anna Harr. Anna Harr was born April 5th 2000, in Phoenix, Arizona. She began dancing at the age of two and was a competitive dancer for 12 years. She started acting at age 12. Anna is known for Stasis (2017), Bethany (2017) and Restoration (2016).

Thank you so much for doing this with us Anna! Can you tell us the story of how you grew up?

I grew up in a big family, I have four sisters and two brothers, I’m the second youngest. So growing up was always chaotic but so much fun because there was always someone to talk to. My mom enrolled me in dance when I was really young because all of my sisters did it. So dance was always a big thing in our family, it pretty much consumed our lives outside of school. My dad got me into gymnastics tumbling when I was 11, he helped me a lot with that. That same year I started acting, my dad and I would constantly drive from Phoenix to Los Angeles back and forth on the same day for any auditions or jobs I had booked. At the time, all the travelling was hard for me, it was exhausting trying to manage school, but I am really glad I did it because it benefitted me a lot and helped boost my career, and now I don’t have to do it as often. It was worth it in the end.

Can you share a story with us about what brought you to this specific career path?

So, I originally went out to Los Angeles to become a professional dancer. I had signed with a dance agency and booked my first job which was for a TV show called, “Mobbed” that was hosted by Howie Mandel. It was a dance flash mob show, and the main choreographers for it were Napoleon and Tabitha D’umo. They’re big in the dance world and worked on the last few Superbowl halftime shows. After filming I went up to Howie, and introduced myself and talked to him for a while. He seemed to like me and asked if I would be interested in acting and signing with his wife’s new acting agency, which I obviously accepted and has led me to here!

Can you tell us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?

Maybe it’s not the most interesting story from set , but it is funny. It was when I was working with Tom Green on the set of “Bethany.” I was around 15, and I was actually wrapped for the night, so I was gathering all my belongings when I realized I left my phone on the couch that Tom Green was taking a nap on. I was too scared to wake him up myself so I got one of the makeup artists to wake him up. He wakes up and pulls my phone literally out of his butt crack, like it was stuck in between his butt cheeks. I was just standing there, completely shocked, and didn’t know how to react cause I didn’t know if he was just pranking me or not. Now I can say that my phone has been in Tom Green’s butt crack, which is cool, I guess, or not.

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?

One mistake that I made earlier on in my career that I will never forget was when I was working on “Restoration.” I was 14, and I brought a big suitcase to set because I was asked to bring some wardrobe options. I arrived on set while they were filming another scene so I just left my suitcase down near the set because I needed to be quiet while the camera was rolling. Apparently, they spent hours trying to get this one scene and when they finally got it they realized that they could see my suitcase in the frame. Zack Ward, who was the director, who I’m really close with, started to yell “Whose suitcase is that?” I immediately ran to the bathroom and started crying because I felt like I had ruined the whole movie and that Zack was going to hate me for the rest of my life. It ended up being okay, because Zack didn’t know it was my suitcase and later came up to apologize to me, but I will always remember not to leave your stuff in a random spot on set haha!!

What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now?

Yes, I do have some fun projects coming up very shortly, however, I can’t speak much about them yet. I do have a feature coming out soon called “Patsy Lee & The Keepers of the Five Kingdoms” directed by Zack Ward. It’s like a family action/fantasy movie that I am looking forward to seeing. I got the opportunity to work with the amazing James Hong, he is one of my favorites, he’s so experienced and humble, just a real sweet man. I am glad I got to meet and work with him, he’s loads of fun on set.

We are very interested in diversity in the entertainment industry. Can you share three reasons with our readers about why you think it’s important to have diversity represented in film and television? How can that potentially affect our culture?

I think that it’s vital to have diversity represented in the film/entertainment industry. The best way to show diversity and spread it throughout the world is through the entertainment industry, because so many people watch movies and television shows. Also, I like to think that younger audiences need to have someone that maybe looks a little like themselves as a role model, and to show them that anybody could be successful, and to have someone to look up to. I think it’s a great thing to show other cultures and be exposed to something different through the industry, and to open ourselves to something a little different than what we’re “used” to . I would like to see more diversity in the film industry because it is something that we lack and can improve on.

What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why. Please share a story or example for each.

Five things I wish someone told me when I first started acting would have to be 1. Your voice sounds really different on camera, it’s kind of annoying haha. 2. Some people only want to be your friends because you are an actress. I learnt this the hard way, especially in junior high. 3. Finding genuine, good people in the industry is a little tricky but once you find a circle of friends that you trust, you’re set. 4.That being on set is not as serious as you may think, even in a more dramatic, darker set, there’s still lots of fun behind the scenes. 5. Don’t listen to what magazines and articles say about a celebrity’s personality. I was really nervous to work with Shannen Doherty just because of what I had heard about her in the tabloids, but she is the sweetest human ever. She’s very friendly and just a great person to be around, plus her laugh is so contagious, you can hear it from rooms away!

Which tips would you recommend to your colleagues in your industry to help them to thrive and not “burn out”?

I can be a struggle not “burning out” because sometimes you sit back and ask yourself, what am I doing with my life? But, one thing I do that helps me is watch more movies and watch how other actors perform. That really inspires me to keep going, because there are times where I feel discouraged and maybe I should follow another career path, but I try my best not to overthink and get in my head too much. By watching movies that I love makes me want to continue and to be on set, and improve my acting skills.

You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

I don’t think I have enormous influence at all, but one thing I would love to be behind is raising the confidence of young girls. Growing up, I was really shy and didn’t have too much confidence, I really needed a role model to tell me that I could do anything I wanted if I just tried my hardest and didn’t let anyone put me down. I would love to be a role model like that to a young girl, almost like a big sister, and to just tell them that you can be a strong girl and you are fully capable of accomplishing anything you set your mind to!

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?

One person that I am extremely grateful for is Zack Ward, I have known him since I was 14 and he’s helped me so much throughout my career. I could sit and listen to his lectures for hours. Zack has been my mentor and sometimes I like to shadow his directing while on set because I learn so much just from watching him. He’s a great person, actor, director and has taught me so much not only about acting but in life lessons too. I’m close with him and his wife, Jen, and I’m just really grateful to know him and have him in my life.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

I don’t think I could pick one, specific quote, there’s too many!

Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. :-)

That’s a hard question, but one person I would love to have lunch with is Anthony Hopkins, he is one of my favorite actors. I can admit that I would be soooo scared to meet him because he’s just so talented and to be in the same room as him would be overwhelming for me. I would love to sit and talk to him about how great he is and how he plays such dark characters really well. Like, what is his secret?

How can our readers follow you online?

I’m mainly active on my public instagram which is @annaharrofficial and my IMDb to keep up with my future projects.

This was very meaningful, thank you so much! We wish you continued success!

Thank you so very much!!!