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Episode 61: Megan Claire Murphy
56 Plays1 year ago
On this week's episode, we sit down with actor and emerging YouTube personality Megan Claire Murphy. Tune in as she shares how her love of Disney inspired her to get into acting and how that has led to her creation of a kids based YouTube channel starring her alter ego - Aunt Nae Nae!
To check out Megan's Youtube channel click HERE
DISCLAIMER: We are not an affiliate of the Walt Disney Company nor do we speak for the brand or the company. Any and all Disney-owned audio, characters, and likenesses are their property and theirs alone.
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Transcript
Introduction to 'Sharing the Magic'
00:00:01
Speaker
Welcome to Sharing the Magic, the podcast that takes you on a journey through the enchanting worlds of Disney. Each week, we're joined by a special guest, whether they're a magician creating moments of astonishment or a Disney expert sharing the secrets behind the magic of the happiest place on Earth. Together we'll uncover the stories, inspirations, and behind the scenes tales that bring these worlds to life. So, get ready to be spellbound and transported to a place where dreams come true.
Meet the Guest: Megan Murphy
00:00:54
Speaker
Hey, everyone. Welcome to this week's episode of the Sharing the Magic podcast. I'm Matt, and I'll be one of your hosts this week as we welcome another guest to share their Disney experiences and memories with us. But before we introduce our guests, let's say hi to my friends who will be helping me co-host the show this week. First up, we've got Lisa. Hey, Lisa. Hey, Matt. Good to talk to you tonight. So excited to talk to our wonderful guest tonight and hear about her love for Disney and all about her.
00:01:23
Speaker
Definitely. I feel like we're going to have a lot in common with the love of Disney, but we've also got Dawn with us tonight. How have you been Dawn? Hi, I'm great. I'm here from Houston and looking forward to hearing more about you. And I love your recent post about very mindful and very demure.
00:01:41
Speaker
but Tonight, we've also got James joining us. Hey, James. Hey, how you doing, guys? I'm excited for this. This is going to be great. I'm excited to hear her love of Disney, her acting career in general. It takes, you know, a lot of people that want to love to do acting, and she's one of those many people. So I want to hear about her journey through acting. So I'm excited for this. Definitely. And I know rounding out our crew tonight, he's also very excited to talk to our guests about this career in acting. We have, of course, the goofy dupe himself.
00:02:12
Speaker
Jeff, how you been, Jeff? I'm doing good. I love acting. I love goofy. So boom the worst it's nice to have you here. We're going to have a swell time. I love voice acting. and My go goofy is my favorite. Anyways, it's nice to have you. I can see that our guest is enjoying your your goofy there, ah Jeff. But we are very excited to have you on tonight.
00:02:41
Speaker
to have another amazing guest joining us. She's an actor, a YouTube creator who definitely shares our love of Disney. So we're very pleased to welcome our new friend, Megan Murphy. Hi, Megan. Hi, I'm Megan. Thanks for having me. I love Goofy. The Goofy movie is my favorite Disney movie.
00:03:00
Speaker
Mine too. this guy yeah the same Same was with James last week. Like we got to know each other. And I just said, born and son. And it's just yeah like, yeah, a lot of dirty.
00:03:19
Speaker
I love it. It's great when we can connect with the guest right away, right, Jeff? Well, I mean, I try. yeah So Megan, yeah before we hit record, you know, Jeff ah brought it up our, our usual ghost host, our fearless leader, Barry is unfortunately unable to join us this week, ah but whatever Barry is off, we like to kind of honor.
00:03:39
Speaker
The fact that he is our leader and he is the guy that started this all. And we always start every conversation with a new friend the same way. And it's really just asking you to tell us a little bit about how it all started. Where did your love of entertainment come from? And where does your love of Disney come from?
Megan's Acting Journey
00:03:57
Speaker
Well, I'll start with my acting career. I had always been performing and I started singing as soon as I could learn how to talk, basically. And I'd always been singing and playing pretend and performing little shows in front of my parents when I was a little kid. So I always knew that acting was something that I enjoyed doing, but I didn't get serious about it as a career until I got to college.
00:04:25
Speaker
I did theater in high school. My first play that I was in was in the 10th grade. I was in the chorus of Hello Dolly. And then when I got to college, I decided to major in theater and I got a bachelor's degree in acting.
00:04:41
Speaker
And so I graduated college in 2008. And then in 2012, I moved to New York City to pursue acting professionally. And, you know, I thought that I would be on Broadway within a year. I had high hopes, but that didn't happen, of course.
00:05:01
Speaker
But I did come a lot further at the end of my time in New York City. I came a lot further than where I started from. I became a member of both actors unions, SAG-AFTRA and Actors Equity. I performed sketch comedy at an off-Broadway theater. I did a few children's off-off Broadway shows. I did Cinderella and then another version of Cinderella and then the Wizard of Oz for children's theater.
00:05:30
Speaker
And so that was kind of like Disney. It is. Yeah, very much so. so um Anyway, I love Disney movies. I grew up watching Disney movies. One of the ones that I can remember watching when I was really little was The Sword in the Stone, Robin Hood, Pinocchio, yeah The Little Mermaid, The Rescuers, The Rescuers Down Under. oh I like kind of the more lesser known Disney movies.
00:06:00
Speaker
So you're a black cauldron fan then. Oh, I've never seen that one. I mean, you know, it's funny. and but You would think that I haven't watched that in like years. I don't remember a dang thing about it other than it was awesome. So I'm with you. I guess that's what I'm saying. I'm like going to have to do a. There's no shame you haven't seen the black culture in your care. Well, there's no shame because it is one of those dark movies. It is a great movie. I've heard it's great, too.
00:06:26
Speaker
Is wonderful, but you mentioned like rescuers and rescuers den under so you say that that offbeat ones like even Oliver and company I think Oliver and company that way as well, which is another great movie Yeah, i've seen that one not as much as the others, but what's your favorite Favorite like you movie me yeah, like well other than goofy who other than goofy. Um, what's your p second favorite?
00:06:50
Speaker
Let's see, probably The Little Mermaid. And then there's The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast and Pocahontas was all right. The Disney Renaissance. She's all right.
00:07:05
Speaker
yeah but But that time you say you're like, OK, you like some of the the kind of movies that are not really like that. What were they called? You'll help me. the the The Bronze Age. No, the butt not dark. The Bronze Age. Aldrin Aldrin is no. What was Robin Hood? So 70s. So bro and Bronze Age, Dark Age Renaissance. Oh, OK. OK. All right. No. So you're you're you're all correct. I guess the sword in the stone would be the Dark Ages. Yeah. Right. hold Oh, I see. the powers yeah Well, yeah, technical technically, yeah, it would be.
00:07:46
Speaker
I mean, I can't argue with that. be I got to ask Megan, you mentioned that you were in a couple renditions of Cinderella yet you did not mention Cinderella as one of your as one of these movies. I haven't heard the name drop yet. Oh, I forgot about that one. But yeah, I used to watch that one all the time as well.
00:08:03
Speaker
When you were in Cinderella, what was your role? Can you tell us like what did you do and in those performances? In one of the productions, I played the stepmother, except in our version, she was not the mean stepmother. She was the nice and good stepmother who took care. She had two daughters, Cinderella and um Squash was the stepsister's name. But the stepsisters and the stepmother were not mean or ugly they were nice and good. I can't remember what happened but like there were two princes and squash got to have a prince too as well as Cinderella so they both got happily ever after and that's sort of and then in the other production it was the traditional story of Cinderella and I played one of the mice oh nice yeah my character's name was Cheesehead the mouse
00:09:00
Speaker
ah And I got to wear a mouse ears, you know, like, like, I was about to ask, how does one play a mouse? But you just, you just don't. Like the mice in the Disney animated Cinderella.
00:09:18
Speaker
Right. They they were ah humanized, I guess you could say. They were. Yeah. yes Well, being a theater kid myself, I love it because I grew up in the theater. I started acting myself
Life Transitions and Theatre
00:09:30
Speaker
at like 10 years old. So I can kind of relate with her and some of the stuff that she has done.
00:09:34
Speaker
And especially, I want to know, like going back to your college stuff, what was it like to transition from high school theater to college theater to, say, some off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway? Because you mentioned some sketch comedy. You mentioned, you know, high school theater, college theater. And i've been ah my acting ended in high school.
00:09:54
Speaker
I had aspirations at one point before I joined the services to go into college theater. I just want to see what the inner workings of that might be like for someone who's fresh out of high school transitioning and then moving to, say, New York and trying to make aspirations in Broadway.
00:10:11
Speaker
Well, my high school was a small small town high school. And so they did like one musical a year. And that was the only play that they did all year. And so they did Hello Dolly in the 10th grade. And I was in the chorus. And then they did Crazy For You in the 11th grade. And then in the 12th grade, I finally got my first lead role. I played a character named Aunt Sue in No No Nanette.
00:10:39
Speaker
So I'm always playing the ant. Don't be here. Typecast, darn it. That makes sense. Yeah. Typecast me right out of high school. Then for the first two years of college, I didn't know what I wanted my major to be. I was undecided for the first two years.
00:11:00
Speaker
And then in my junior year, I finally decided, hey, this theater thing is no longer just an extracurricular activity. Like this is actually what I want to do for the rest of my life. And so I decided to audition for a theater scholarship and I got the scholarship. So I now I have a bachelor's degree in theater.
00:11:22
Speaker
And in college, I went to a smaller college, which means each individual student got more individual attention rather than like a big theater department. We were smaller.
00:11:38
Speaker
And it meant that there were more lead roles available for me. And um so i some of the roles I played in college was Sister Amnesia in Nonsense, Little Sally in You're in Town. Yeah.
00:11:56
Speaker
Okay, I hear, here's a big question. What role did you feel the most emotionally? Though that emotional connection, when you just feel free, you're you don't even remember who you are anymore. You're just like, you're in the moment, you're saying things you, you're you're not like subconsciously in your head, like, oh, did I say that the right way? Oh, I should've said that a little better. But you just feel like you're the character, this is you,
00:12:24
Speaker
Have you ever had that experience? And if you have, who was it? And why did that make you feel that way? It was when I played Sister Amnesia in Nonsense the Musical. I played a nun who can't remember who she is because a crucifix fell on her head and she got amnesia. That's why they just call her Sister Amnesia because she can't remember her real name and no one can remember her real name. She just walked up to the convent one day like, who am I?
00:12:58
Speaker
But it's a musical and it was a very comedic character. And I think comedic acting is where is my strongest genre. yeah But there was a moment when i got she sings a country song at the end when she finally remembers who she is.
00:13:20
Speaker
And it's, I'm not going to sing it, but that holy and well being alone on stage and having the audience literally in the, well, not literally, but in the palm of your hand and you've got the complete attention and all eyes are on you. And it's at the same time, you're not even aware of the audience because you're just in the moment, but it was a really cathartic moment. yeah That was my favorite part of the show every night.
00:13:49
Speaker
I think that's that's a sign of good acting when you embody a character in your but and you there's this like wake up moment, right? Like what you talked about, like you're in front of a crowd and you're like, oh, it's like you just woke up from a dream. You're like, oh, people are clapping. Oh, okay, i I guess I did okay. I think it's wonderful. Megan, what is your target demographic? I know the Aunt Nae Nae Show, it looks appeal to, I would say,
00:14:17
Speaker
younger audience. Do you have a traffic demographic that you desire that you find as a receptable or receivable, what's the word I'm trying to use, an audience that would appreciate your talent? Not that we all don't, but that you cater to more.
00:14:34
Speaker
So for my YouTube show, the Antene show, it's for kids ages like eight years old and younger. Some kids up to like 10 years old might appreciate some of the episodes, but it's really for younger kids like five to eight is who it's really made with who in mind, but younger than five years old can also appreciate it. Like I had my friend's one year old baby who couldn't take his eyes off it. He was, he seemed to like it. So younger kids will like it too. Sure. Megan, could you tell us a little bit about how
00:15:11
Speaker
Aunt Nae Nae got started. like Where is this the the name Aunt Nae Nae from? Why did you decide to get into like this YouTube world where you're you're you know you are targeting this young child demographic? And like what's like the the driving force, the the main influence behind that character?
Creating a YouTube Show
00:15:27
Speaker
Well, it was inspired by my seven-year-old nephew who calls me Aunt Nae Nae because when he was a baby, he couldn't say Megan. And so he was like, Nae Nae, he said Nae Nae instead of May May for some reason. na na But sometimes he calls me Megan, and it's a little disappointing, but he still calls me Aunt Nae Nae most of the time. And we he lives in a different state than I do. And we would talk on FaceTime a lot. And we were just playing a game on FaceTime. he And I called it The Aunt Nae Nae Show. And I started like saying funny things and doing silly stuff, just entertaining my nephew.
00:16:10
Speaker
And then a few weeks later, I had the epiphany, hey, I could actually make this into a real show and call it the Aunt Nae Nae Show. And I know all these silly songs that I used to sing at Girl Scout Camp. And so I decided to sing one of those camp songs and make a video of it and put it on YouTube and see what happens.
00:16:33
Speaker
And no, it got a modest amount of views at first. And then I i thought, well, this is fun. I'll keep doing it. You know, I was just doing it for fun. And then um so it it was inspired by my nephew and.
00:16:48
Speaker
One of my videos got 54,000 views all of a sudden. I don't know how it happened, but it did. And then I thought, well, I guess I have to really get serious about this now. Maybe this could really be something. And so I hired two two guys who are both producers. So I have two producers now, and they're going to help me make season two and three even bigger and better.
00:17:17
Speaker
Like we're already planning a Halloween spooktacular episode. We got this guy who's going to be the guest star and he's going to help me sing some Halloween songs and tell spooky stories and maybe I'll even and try on some Halloween costumes. That's spoiler alert. Sorry. No, it's not. It's awesome. It's going to be great. That's amazing.
00:17:42
Speaker
I'm listening and I'm getting, I don't know if it's just me, but, and I know we're on a, um, audio only podcast, but I'm getting Lucille Ball vibes from you. Um, I don't know if anyone else is getting that. No, that's a compliment. I don't know. Um, if you've, I love Lucille. Yeah, it's more of the innocence of the back in the day and the comedic relief and but doing it in such an innocent way. And I looked at some of your um YouTubes and it comes off to me with like the aprons and the rollers and I just get that Lucille Ball vibe. Do you ever try to channel her or watch any? Oh, yes. Yes, she is like my idol. I want to be just like her when I grow up.
00:18:29
Speaker
I'm 39, but you know what I mean. I still feel like I haven't quite reached that level of grown up yet. You know what I mean? yeah No, we all feel like that. I think that's why we love Disney. I never grow up.
00:18:43
Speaker
Well, I saw you did, speaking of Never Grow Up, you sang a beautiful Peter Pan song. Do you want to talk about that? Oh, yeah, it was. um Was that the one? I won't grow up. I won't grow. No, I know was the by the distant melody. Yes. Beautiful. It's a song in the stage version of Peter Pan, the Broadway version.
00:19:07
Speaker
where Peter Pan is remembering that a long time ago he had a mother and he's remembering a song that she used to sing to him and sometimes it's actually a duet between Wendy and Peter Pan but Peter Pan sings most of it and it starts off like this Once upon a time and long ago I heard someone singing distant melody. Somewhere in the past I used to know
00:19:58
Speaker
once upon a time and long ago. Wow. My singing voice does not sound that great. I don't know. um I got tears. if i have to That was beautiful. it was i sure I got tears. so i mean I went to visit my 95 year old grandmother in the nursing home and I sang that to her and you could tell she didn't cry but you could tell like she was remembering her mother too. You know what I mean?
00:20:27
Speaker
Alright, I gotta excuse myself for a second, I got tears, I gotta to go i gotta to go wipe my my snot from my nose, I'll be right back. He's a little verklempt right now. No, i I'm a sucker for this stuff, so I hear, I gotta to go blow my nose, I'll be right back. Don't say anything about your singing voice. That was so beautiful. Yeah, your singing voice wasn't right. No, that that was amazing. That was beautiful. Thank you. But I just I can do a lot better than that, though. That's all I would say. Favorite. I know you've talked about your favorite Disney movies. What are your favorite Disney Broadway shows?
Favorite Disney Inspirations
00:21:03
Speaker
i'm Probably Peter Pan, for sure. um Beauty and the Beast.
00:21:10
Speaker
I have not seen The Lion King on Broadway yet, but I want to. I've always wanted to. Even the whole time I lived in New York for six years, I didn't go see it because it was always, you know, the tickets were in such high demand that it was hard to get tickets to and they were expensive. But I plan to go see it. Maybe next time I go to New York, I'll plan it out and go get tickets ahead of time and go see it.
00:21:36
Speaker
It's very good. You almost have to do it that way, right? I mean, you're playing ahead and figure out which shows are your priority that that trip, so. So Megan, I'd love to ask you, with your background in theater and and you know living in New York and leg and all this, and your love of Disney, what is like your dream Disney film to be turned into a Broadway production that hasn't been done already? Probably.
00:22:02
Speaker
I don't know, because Frozen's been done. theyre in Moana is in development, I've heard. But it's not a Disney movie, but the only one I can think of is The Greatest Showman. I wish they would make that into a Broadway show. I think they are. did i think they announced that think I heard that too. Yeah. I think they are. That'll be very exciting.
00:22:28
Speaker
Such a great. I would like to see maybe something like maybe Cinderella, the musical version. Oh, they did. Not the rotten. Not the Hammerstein. They did. rogergerson viewer time and So I guess that's out. like I don't know. I've heard the one that comes to mind. Yeah, that's that's going to be great. I think no. A goofy movie. There we go. Excellent. Of course, Jeff's not here. I'm sure he has the whole show planned out in his mind.
00:22:57
Speaker
moving that That would be a great, great movie.
Challenges in Acting
00:23:01
Speaker
Now, ah speaking in New York and ah transitioning there, what was that like being an actor in New York? So there's so many go out there to try to be actors and some, you know, go to Juilliard to further their stuff. Some go to, you know, end up in Chicago in Second City. You mentioned your sketch comedy. Were you part of a troupe in New York? What was it like living in New York as an actor? Did you struggle, did New York struggle like people do as an actor?
00:23:27
Speaker
There's definitely the struggle. You know, you go to a lot of auditions and there's a lot of rejection that you experience most of the time. You get a lot more no's than you get told, yes. But um yeah, I was a part of an off-Broadway sketch comedy troupe. We did sketch comedy shows every few months i did that for several years and um it's just hard because in new york there's a lot more people all trying to do the same thing that you're trying to do all trying to be actors and oftentimes there's hundreds and thousands of people who look just like you and sound just like you and so there's a lot more tougher competition and so if you want to be on broadway you have to be like
00:24:18
Speaker
you have to find some way to stand out and you have to be the best. Like I thought I was the best in my college, but you get to New York and everybody's the person who was the best in their college. So you have to really step up your game. And I took some acting classes while I was in New York to try to hold my, you know, to keep up my skills.
00:24:43
Speaker
But um yeah, i did I actually worked in, I worked as a background extra in a lot of movies that filmed in New York. I've worked on shows like Law & Order SVU, Boardwalk Empire, Blue Bloods, The Good Wife. Anyway, there's a lot. I did that for a couple years.
00:25:06
Speaker
Boardwalk Empire. That's one of my favorite shows. All right. Now I have to go back and rewatch because I just rewatched it this last year. What episodes were you in? Because now I have to go look for you. I think I was on the season five episode one. Okay.
00:25:20
Speaker
during the flashback scenes where they go back to the 1800s. Yep. Okay. That makes sense. I'm wearing like a cream colored long dress with long sleeves. And I walk out of the door of the built the house and walk down the stairs of the front porch.
00:25:38
Speaker
yeah Yeah. okay No, it's it's ringing the bell for me because that that is one of my guilty pleasures. I have pictures if you want me to send you pictures of that. I mean, that's that's up to you. I mean, that's up to the podcast and what we would like to do with that would be awesome. I love stuff like that because having an actor like like Jeff said at the top of the show, it's not it's not every day that we get an actor actor on the show. Here's what here's what I think.
00:26:07
Speaker
I'm redefining, what does it what does it mean to be successful in my life? Well, I had a whole like different perspective probably 10 years ago, but when I see people's lives, you know like you're doing these little things that you're like, well, God, wanna be the next goofy voice. and I'm still going for it, but I'm still after it. But what if i what if I don't? What if it doesn't happen?
00:26:33
Speaker
Well, I still, nobody gets to steal my voice from me, you know, and I still get to bring a lot of people pleasure and, and, and laughter and, and to bring joy to people. And so where I go, okay, all right. So maybe I don't have to be, what if, what if failure is the big, biggest success in the way that maybe I don't get to have fame and fortune and all that stuff. Okay, cool. But maybe I just get to make a lot of normal people really happy.
00:27:03
Speaker
And maybe that's acting. you know You find a way, you have a gift where you're like, man, I i went to Broadway. you know i've i I've been among the, I've been in the big pond and it's sort of the hero's journeys maybe where you come back and you're like, okay, well, I have something to give just everybody. I've never been on Broadway. I said off Broadway.
00:27:30
Speaker
Oh, off Broadway. Well, I see what you're saying. Yes. But you've been in that world. That's what I meant. You've been in that world. You've seen it. You've experienced it. You felt it. And I don't know. What do you what do you think about that? You think I'm wrong. No, no you're not, you're definitely not wrong. You're definitely right. I want to say that I'm not doing the Aunt Nae Nae show because I want to be rich or famous or because I'm like, look at me, look at me. I'm doing it because first of all, I want to make kids happy.
Purpose and Fulfillment
00:28:02
Speaker
ah yeah And I want to inspire kids.
00:28:05
Speaker
to find their gifts and to find their talents by doing the educational content that we have on the show. Like I did an episode that was Aunt Nae Nae plays the piano and somebody might a kid might see that and think hey mom I want to take piano lessons and then what if they grow up to be a concert pianist So making kids happy and doing all of that is what makes me happy and makes me fulfilled and gives me like a purpose a new purpose for my life. I just started this show in March of last year and ever since it started I've just had this feeling like okay this is it. This is what I'm supposed to do. Like what if this is my life's work?
00:28:53
Speaker
Yeah, I'm just getting started. And I've already reached a lot of kids. So who knows where it can go from here. And I'm excited. I'm excited for you. And I could tell with your with what you're doing. That's exactly what you're doing. So thank you for sharing that. You should probably trademark Aunt Nae Nae. Yeah, it would be cute to to have just thinking on that same concept since it's kids like to have some kind of an animated drawing of you with your like hair pulled up. I know you're gonna show I know again we're an audio show. Okay well we're we're seeing it we're audio only but here's a picture of exactly what it should look like. I'm literally reading your mind now I did not
00:29:41
Speaker
I'm wearing a lotto ticket today. I'll tell you that. Oh, that's great. That's wonderful. I love that. I love that. But I've got, I have free Aunt Nae Nae coloring pages. I can send you guys the link to that. And it's just a Google Doc and you click on the document and open it and then you can print it out and color it for free.
00:30:02
Speaker
I think it'd be a great show on social media for our fans because honestly. I'll send it to you. Yeah, this is the first time a guest I would think has offered up something like this to the show to put out for everybody. And that's amazing because you're connecting with other people in different ways and connecting with what you're doing. It's so big. You're nice. Look at this one. It's a little boy listening to a podcast.
00:30:29
Speaker
I love it. and I think that's what I meant. I was like, man, you know what what I love about what you do is you have you're you're not a a ah a big fish in a small pond. You're ah you're a big fish and you have you've been in a big pond. That's what I was trying to say. You have experience that goodness gracious. We don't get a lot of actors like really actor actor people on here.
00:30:54
Speaker
You have so much experience and and what I think is the most beautiful thing about your story and and and what you're doing is, wow, you're taking all of that, all of that experience and you are making life better. You're you're making lives better. You're you're putting in kids and and to you know and and you're making a difference. And that that's, I think earlier, that's when I was baiting, and i'm like that's That's what I was trying to get at. I just think the world of you for that. I think you're you're doing great. but you Thank you for those kind words.
00:31:32
Speaker
It's also relatable content that you're you know doing your YouTube on. So yeah parent, my kids are all grown now, but I have three boys. And even and like you're saying, the coloring pages, things like that, we're always trying to find new ways to ah keep kids busy in a positive way and learn something and have a takeaway from it. So I think it's great.
00:31:54
Speaker
Thank you. And um my friend made those coloring pages for me. I didn't make them myself. Someone else ah made those for me for free. They just gave it to me. That's phenomenal. It's nice of them. We've gotten airing we got the kids show on YouTube. I know you said season two and season three are coming. We got some coloring pages. I think now what's next, right? The children's book of Anna.
00:32:21
Speaker
Yeah. um Several people have told me that, that I should write a book and I really do plan to. I actually have already written a couple of them. I did one on, we did an episode about one of the books I wrote a few weeks ago called The Cat and the Turtle. um It's a book I wrote when I was in the second grade, but I just read a video of myself reading it. it So I've just watched that episode before we came on tonight, about an hour before, because I've been boning up on your stuff and trying to watch more stuff. And that was the last episode I watched and I loved it. It was so phenomenal to see second grade art. It was so awesome to hear it from your eyes in second grade and see it old on old typewriter paper, which is even better.
00:33:09
Speaker
Yeah, I went to the Young Authors Conference in the second grade and they, not to toot my own horn, I'm just telling it like it is, they put my book on the bulletin board in the school, you know, four year where every student, the whole school could see it.
00:33:29
Speaker
in elementary school. Stephen story tell us the second grade what more could you ask for? Yeah and um but I really do plan on writing some aunt nae nae books this year and maybe get them published by this time next year would be a good timeline for that let's say.
00:33:50
Speaker
Aunt Nae Nae goes to Disney World. You took you took the words right out of my mouth. Right out of my mouth. Those were going to be the next words I'm out that you should do. Aunt Nae Nae goes to Disney. We're actually planning a family trip to Disney World and possibly take my nephew there within the next two or three years. So I'll be able to do that whenever we go, if we go. Hopefully we will. That's amazing.
00:34:18
Speaker
and I'm not one of those people who like goes to Disney World every year. I have some friends who are, who do. But the last time I went to Disney World, I was 13 years old. And that was the only time I'd ever been there. That was in like 1998. But ah so I'm looking forward to going back hopefully in the next couple of years with my family. What about Disneyland? No, I've never been to Disneyland just Disney World in Florida.
00:34:47
Speaker
Okay. Cause that's closer to where I live. I live in Alabama.
Continuing the Acting Career
00:34:51
Speaker
So how does that work being an actress in Alabama? I lived in New York for six years. ah then Then when the pandemic hit, I moved back to Alabama and nothing happened for a couple of years during the pandemic. And then at the beginning in January of last year, I decided to get my acting career started again. And there's actually an agent who works out of
00:35:21
Speaker
ah The next town over where I live in Alabama and so I started working with her signed a contract with her So I'm working with an agent now and she's sending me to a lot of auditions Most of the time you can do these auditions remotely through self tape Yeah, and a lot of the ones that she's sending me to are for things that are filming in Atlanta and Florida and the southeast. Yeah and There's a lot of that. and i yeah I go to New York a couple of times a year to go to auditions in New York City. I mean, after I moved back to Alabama, I'm living in Alabama, but I go to New York a couple of times a year to visit and go to auditions. Yeah.
00:36:06
Speaker
So it would be more convenient if I lived in New York City going to auditions and stuff. And that's the five year plan is to move back there eventually. But right now I'm doing the best I can here in Alabama and I'm making my own TV show and I don't have to leave home. Exactly. yeah That's why you're here because we love that's why we're that's what got our interest. It wasn't of ah is just because of what you're doing now. That's why you're here. That's why we're we're so fascinated. We're like, how cool that you're doing this thing. And that's what we wanted to talk about. Thank you for sharing with us. But but I have a very, ah very important question. So let's pretend
00:36:53
Speaker
But you have you have a lot of experience in acting and you've been doing what you've you've done for a ah while. you have You're in the process. You're not just sitting, you know, ah you're not just a a spectator. you're You're like in it. You are in the arena and acting. You are doing what you do. You're making the world a better place by doing what you do. It's amazing.
00:37:18
Speaker
Oh, well, I can only hope you are. I think so. So here's it. So I'm going to assume that because I think I believe it. I think we do. I mean, you wouldn't be here if we didn't. But but let's say let. OK, maybe there's somebody else listening right here. Right. You know, to our our our podcast.
00:37:37
Speaker
um What advice would you have for somebody going through the acting process or or maybe just maybe not just the acting process, you are a an artist, right?
Advice for Aspiring Artists
00:37:52
Speaker
So maybe somebody is an artist or or an actor or whatever it is. What's the best advice you can give to somebody who is going through the artistic process?
00:38:03
Speaker
Don't give up. Keep making your art no matter what happens because the ones who give up are the ones who never get anywhere. but Never make it, you know? Everybody wants to make it, but you know what I mean? The one, if you give up, if you don't give up, you've still got a chance of making it one day, but if you give up, you've got no chance.
00:38:32
Speaker
Thank you. so yeah what I need that. I need that. Oh my goodness. Okay. Thank you. Okay. Okay. I'm like, okay. All right. I need that. You know, and a lot of times on this podcast, well, I asked those questions, not just because, you know, cause you know, secretly I need this stuff too. You know, like i mean I need to hear this stuff. So it's wonderful to have you. What a pleasure. What it would, we're so grateful to have you here and, and keep doing what you do. It's awesome.
00:39:02
Speaker
Oh, thank you. That's so sweet. And thank you for your kind words. And I enjoyed this interview and, um, watch the Aunt Nana show. Oh, the name of my YouTube channel is my name, making clear Murphy and the number two that's making clear Murphy two on YouTube. And I'm also on Facebook under the name, making clear Murphy. We come back and hang out with us sometime. Um, sure. Okay.
00:39:30
Speaker
but And we would love that links to your YouTube channel and the Facebook page on our show notes. So anyone that's listening can check out the an na and a show. OK. Yeah. Come on. Come hang out with us again. All right. Have me back on this time next year and we'll both see where each other has grown in the last year. I like it. I like that. I like that. Oh, I really like that. Good challenge. OK, challenge accepted. Got a message on this calendar. Thank you. by Bye. Bye. Bye. Well, folks, that's it for this week's episode of sharing the magic. We want to once again thank our guests, Megan Murphy, for joining us and sharing her story. Be sure to hit that follow button to stay up to date on our episodes as they come out for even more amazing Disney conversations. We also would love to have you follow us on our social pages. You can find us on Facebook, Instagram,
00:40:26
Speaker
and TikTok by searching Sharing the Magic Pod. Thanks for tuning in and until next time, keep sharing the magic.
00:40:41
Speaker
yeah