What Acting Can Teach Us About Personal Branding

Katie Kreisler has appeared on Broadway, Off Broadway, film and television, including most recently the critically-acclaimed HBO series Mare of Easttown. She has also played roles on Blue Bloods, Prodigal Son, Elementary, The Blacklist and Younger, to name a few. Recently, we sat down to discuss what her career in acting, and training at The Juilliard School, has taught her about building her own personal brand. 

You’ve played such a wide range of roles — from a disillusioned single mother in HBO’s Mare of Easttown to a distraught homeless addict on Blue Bloods. How do you balance building your own personal brand with the power to “shape shift” into such different characters?

“I would say my personal
brand is about constantly working on myself and staying grounded in what really matters in the world.”

I think it comes down to working on knowing yourself as best you can. When I started in my career, like many actors, I thought the more tortured I was, the more interesting I would be. But I’ve actually found that the more tortured I am, the less I can be open and available to my gift. So I would say my personal brand is about constantly working on myself and staying grounded in what really matters in the world. Doing that not only serves me well as a person, but also allows me to truly serve the different characters I play.

That makes a lot of sense. Especially from the perspective that you don’t need to become someone else to connect with someone else’s experience. So how do you prepare for a part that is so vastly different from your own life experiences?

Ideally, and this is how I’m trained, I like to work from the “inside out” as opposed to the “outside in.” For me, "inside out” means asking myself how is this person similar to me and how is she different. From there, I try to understand what’s going on in her life and how she’s reacting to what’s happening. The “outside in” approach is about memorizing the lines and focusing on the look as opposed to the internal life of the character. At the same time, I also fully acknowledge that I am playing someone whose experiences are extremely different from my own. In the case of playing Trish Riley in Mare of Easttown, I’m not a hardworking hairdresser from rural Pennsylvania. I didn’t go to high school with the chief of police. I don’t have a teenage daughter whose best friend was just murdered. While I need to step into her world, I can only work from my own experience. Meaning that I try to channel her experiences, but also make them my own. Most importantly, to do so without judgement.

So would you say there’s a part of you in every role that you play?

Oh, there has to be. I had a teacher at Juilliard who would say you always have to keep part of your “actor brain” on or you will fall off the stage. I’m not in this business to become the characters. I believe the craft is about relating to the characters and bringing them to life in a way that others can relate to as well.

It almost feels like the difference between appreciating vs. appropriating someone else’s personal experiences. As brand marketers, we have to be especially mindful of this distinction. I’ve found it helps to start from a place of genuine curiosity and empathy. How much would you say empathy factors into your work?

Empathy is super important in acting because, if I go into a role not liking the character, not liking what she did, then I'm being judgmental. And there's no way to work from that space. In Blue Bloods, I played the role of a homeless drug addict. I have to love that woman and have empathy for what she went through. I mean, she was a vet and she lost her way as many vets do when they come back to the United States. She couldn’t make ends meet and felt like drugs were her only escape. I didn't judge her for that. I couldn't judge her for that. I have to put myself in her shoes. Even if I played someone who committed an unimaginable crime, it would be tough, but I’d look back at her childhood and find empathy for what happened to make her who she is. If I hated the person, you would see it in the performance.

It’s a really great point and a reminder that we’re ultimately all human beings. I’ve heard many successful leaders say they suffer from “imposter syndrome,” or feelings of inadequacy despite their evident success. What advice might you give to them?

“Once you’re chosen for the job, you should shift your attention to how you can do that job well.”

I think it's totally normal. In fact, I find it comforting when somebody actually admits to it. There are times when I’m doing a job and, despite my training and experience, I wonder “why would they chose me?” If you lost that, you would lose your edge. At the same time, if you're consumed with “why me?” you could risk losing the opportunity itself. Once you’re chosen for the job, you should shift your attention to how you can do that job well. In my case, I’m there to serve the director, to serve the writer and the story. We all have those thoughts, but if they’re consuming you more than the work itself then, to bring it full circle, you may have more work to do on yourself.