 |
At least that's how it seems now to the 25-year-old Ottawa native, who stars on the W Network's new series The Smart Woman Survival Guide (debuting Monday at 8 p.m.).
McLean, a graduate of York University's acting conservatory, had been getting sporadic auditions and waitressing in Toronto to pay the bills when she scored a risque Showcase spot advertising the channel's Friday's Without Borders.
The red head said she hadn't felt comfortable in auditions requiring full-tilt makeup and heels, competing against the "50,000 beautiful, beautiful girls in Toronto that can really play the pretty girl."
The Showcase audition made her realize no one had her beat when it came to playing tough, quirky or weird.
"I can certainly play tougher better than all the model/actors in Toronto," she explains over the phone. "I was like, I know this ... that's when it started clicking."
The audition came at a good time because, as McLean says, it was "a real kick in the pants" trying to get work in the years after graduating.
"I would call myself an actor but I hadn't had an audition in three months, slinging beer and waitressing. It's just so horrible for your presence of mind,"she says. "I remember a prof in university said 'If you can do anything else, do it, because this is really hard.' And I was like 'Well, can I be happy doing anything else? No.' "
McLean loved acting early on but had to grow into the confidence it requires. She enrolled in the Canterbury High School arts program in Grade 9 but transferred to Brookfield three weeks later after realizing she felt insecure and out of her element. Then, in her final high school years, she got involved with the National Improv Games, acting on a team that made it to the finals in her Grade 12 year.
"All of a sudden I enjoyed high school again," she says.
In Smart Woman, which revolves around a fictional lifestyles show but incorporates elements of reality, McLean's character Nat has just finished grad school and is working as the show's researcher. Armed with a poor body image and hot new boyfriend, she also serves as a plot driver.
"She's a total spaz," says McLean. "She's obviously a little emotionally immature."
Smart Woman has already been renewed for a second season, expected to start shooting sometime in the fall. McLean, who lives in Toronto with her boyfriend and is part of a fledgling theatre troupe called The Chaos Factory, is anxious to get back to work. She's also hoping more auditions roll in once it finally airs. Until then, like the rest of the show's cast of unknowns, she's probably back to waiting tables.
"I just started running out of money and I can't hold off until November," she says.
The Smart Woman Survival Guide repeats on the W Network Wednesdays at 10 p.m. and Saturdays at 11 p.m.