Susan Gallagher is an actress with 30 episodes of television and 40 films under her belt. As a producer, she has over a dozen short films, documentaries and features under her production company Her Little Red Productions, a female-led company dedicated to uplifting female artists. Susan has worked with an impressive group of actors including Tom Hiddleston in the acclaimed Marvel series ‘Loki’, with Ralph Macchio and William Zabka in the popular Netflix series ‘Cobra Kai’ and most recently opposite Pierce Brosnan in the crime thriller ‘Fast Charlie’ and the Hallmark romance film ‘A Taste of Love’.
Susan says she “grew up bitten by the bug” for show business as her mother was a jazz musician and her father had aspirations to become an actor, so pursuing a career in the arts was a given. She has always had admiration for actresses like Bette Davis, Helena Bonham Carter and Kathy Bates who had roles “you can really sink your teeth into”, and found those much more interesting to play than an ingénue.
“I found as I aging out of different roles that if you want to continue to do interesting and challenging work, you need more than a pretty face. Beauty is fleeting and the aging process happens, if you’re lucky, even if you try to fight it.”
She also spoke on how playing Homeless Lynn in Cobra Kai, who was depicted in filthy, tattered clothing allowed her to free her of worrying about her appearance. “It challenged me to throw that vanity out the window. To look so horrible was so liberating. I didn’t have to worry about every hair being in place or if I gained a pound or two, having a bad hair day, it didn’t matter. What mattered was the work and that’s what I was more interested in: doing good work, continuing to learn and getting better.”
Susan also shared the origins of starting her own production company, Her Little Red Productions, and felt she had had enough of waiting for opportunities to come her way and took matters into her own hands instead. “I had nothing to lose and wanted to learn production. My goal has always been to get better with each film and in collaboration with a buddy of mine, we’re working on a script called My Mother The Madame, which would be the biggest budget I’ve ever attempted. [Producing] keeps be busy and keeps me sane in between the acting jobs.”
Watch our full interview with Susan Gallagher above or tune in on your favorite podcast platform!
