Today we’d like to introduce you to Mariah Baillie.
Hi Mariah, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Growing up, I was always the kid that loved to put on tiny productions for my family, dragging and bribing my sister and cousins to reluctantly join in. My gateway into the arts was through dance, specifically ballet, and my first dance role was in my middle schools’ (Welch Middle School) production of ‘The Nutcracker’ where I played the maid and one of the soldiers. It wasn’t until high school that I fell in love with acting. I attended University of Houston Downtown in 2009 to study Communications and switched to Fine Arts after my first introduction to theater class with David Rainey. I performed in a couple of “One Act” plays whilst attending UHD in the O’Kane Theater, ‘Butterflies are Free’ and ‘Daddy’s Little Girl’. After meeting the love of my life (now husband) two years later and, even though I had not yet technically started my career, I decided I deserved a career break to travel around Europe. When I moved back to Houston, perhaps due to fear of not being good enough or being rusty, I decided to put acting on pause and pursue something more “practical” and graduated with a B.S. in Geophysics from The University of Houston in 2017 and got into the Oil & Gas industry. After a few years of working in an industry that that I just wasn’t passionate about, I reignited my love for acting and took night classes to study film acting & improv at Next Level Acting in addition to theater courses at The Alley with David Rainey and Elizabeth Bunch. Not long after this, I signed with Texas’s most prominent talent agency Pastorini Bosby and booked a few commercials and a co-starring role in CW’s ‘Walker’ starring Jared Padalecki. In 2022 my husband and I decided to pack our bags and move to London, UK with our two cats. I got to train more at Identity School of Acting, where I met my brilliant acting coach Andrew Darren Elkins and starred in a number of commercials, stage plays and short films across England and Scotland. After recently moving back to Houston, I used the tools that I learned in London, started trusting myself in my abilities and just this year I’ve booked 2 commercials, 2 feature films (in London) and feel truly humbled to have made my debut at Stages Houston playing the role of Frances in ‘Mud Row’.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
No, it has not been a smooth road and it has taken some wild turns! I think my number one struggle was, and still is, confidence and fulling trusting myself. I think in this industry where you’re often rejected for roles without any kind of feedback can make you question if you’re good enough. What I didn’t fully grasp was the ongoing costs of updating headshots, keeping up on training and paying for required subscriptions to casting sites – all whilst never knowing where my next job is coming from. In London, I found that networking and establishing myself was a lot harder than it is in the States. Being American, your roles are limited so you have to work twice as hard to find them. I did try to learn an English accent, but couldn’t quite master it and casting preferred English accents to be their native tongue. Funny enough through being married to a Scotman, I learned the Scottish accent through him and that landed me my first theater role at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, people were really surprised after the show to find out that I was American.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I’m an actor and content creator. In between acting in film, stage and commercials I am quite active on social media, mainly Instagram and TikTok. I’m most recently known for performing the role of Frances in stages ‘Mud Row’. Given the feast and famine nature of acting, it’s hard to specialize in one area or another and most of my acting story so far has been equally spread between stage, film, TV and commercials. Being able to work in a variety of roles and setting is good for both your mental agility and your bank balance!
Although it is not the biggest production I have worked in, I am most proud of the leading role I played in at the world famous Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Having to act for a whole one hour two hander play in a Scottish accent….in Scotland…. with another Scottish actor… was both stressful and rewarding. And the feedback was so great, I was asked to be in the London tour version of it as well.
On the social media side, I started that during covid, mainly fueled by boredom, and it really took off with my “Mum Life” skits and other original comedy content that I posted. My “Mum Life” comedy skits, based on a Scottish mom and daughter which were initially based on my very brutally honest but hilarious niece in Scotland but then snowballed into a terrifying but funny imagining of interactions I may have with my future child. I gained 1.5M followers on TikTok, which I can’t quite believe to this day, and almost 30K followers on Instagram. Although I’m not as active as I used to be, due to prioritizing my acting career, I do believe it helped shape my comedy and creative skills and gave me an outlet to just PLAY! I was recognized from an Immunization commercial and ‘Walker’ back in the day but sadly, these days, I only really get recognized from TikTok!
I think what sets me apart from others is that even though I’m only 34, I’ve already lived a pretty eclectic life, which I can draw from and use in any given character.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
No, you covered all the bases!
Contact Info:
Image Credits
Credit to headshots: Dujonna Gift & Erika Waldorf; Mud Row photos – Melissa Taylor (Kiya Green, played Elsie, included in one of the photos), set photos were taken on my phone; Tomorrow Not promised (sitting down) – Tian Glasgow
