ACTRESS | Nan McNamara

The Strongest Woman I’ve Ever Known

“What’s up, Chicken Butt?”

I don’t know the origin of this greeting – probably from some childhood game. But for me, it was how I began every phone conversation with my Mom. We spoke nearly every day. Sometimes I’d call on my morning hike and sometimes when I was making dinner. The conversations weren’t necessarily long or deep, but I loved the ritual — knowing what she ate, what she was watching on tv, how many card games of 500 she had won, what the weather was like.

There are also specific phone conversations I recall — whenever I

July 23, 2025

ACTOR'S LIFE, ACTRESS, INSPIRATION, MINNESOTA, PERSONAL GROWTH, SELF-HELP

Baby, Oh Baby: Life as a Dog Lady

Nan McNamara

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Growing up in a family of five kids, Catholic no less, having children of my own was something that was sort of assumed. Heck, my Mom and her seven sisters had 45 children between them. (Doing the math, yep, that means 45 first cousins on my Mom’s side – and 45 of the kindest and friendliest people you will ever meet.)

So while I assumed I would have kids, I never spent days imagining kids. For that matter, I never really imagined getting married, no dreams of walking down the aisle in an over-priced wedding gown. Those thoughts didn’t surface

July 26, 2024

ACTOR'S LIFE, ACTRESS, CONFIDENCE, INSPIRATION, OVERCOMING FEAR, PERSONAL GROWTH, Uncategorized

“And the Oscar goes to …”

Nan McNamara

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8th grade. Pink hot pants. A paisley tie-front top with bell sleeves. And a wad of gum. The character was “Weather Girl” in a Catholic Grade School sketch. Talk about dichotomy.

As a big-haired, gum chewing meteorologist, I shared the temperature highs and lows while I painted my nails. And when I ultimately pointed to the cold front coming from the northwest, my nails stuck to the map. Comic genius. And probably a total rip-off from Carol Burnett whose show was appointment television on Saturday nights.

“Weather Girl” stands out in my memory because I received an audible reaction

February 29, 2024

ACTOR'S LIFE, ACTRESS, AWARDS, CONFIDENCE, CREATIVITY, INSPIRATION, PERSONAL GROWTH

Stay Standing

Nan McNamara

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The setting is the Greek Theatre on a warm summer night in Hollywood. Every seat in the amphitheater is full and the last bit of sun slips behind the surrounding hills. There is a palpable excitement in the air. Women in cotton dresses and men in cargo shorts hold glasses of Chardonnay and plastic cups of beer waiting in anticipation for the concert to begin.

Ok, so it’s Garrison Keillor. Not Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga singing Shallow. But still. The Greek in the summer is a special place. On this particular evening, everyone in the audience is

January 31, 2024

ACTOR'S LIFE, ACTRESS, AWARDS, CONFIDENCE, INSPIRATION, OVERCOMING FEAR, PERSONAL GROWTH

Listening To My Elders

Nan McNamara

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One of my best friends is Julia Louis-Dreyfus.

Well, I guess I should clarify. I’m pretty sure that we SHOULD be best friends. Or at least that we WOULD be best friends, if we ever met.

Who didn’t love her on Seinfeld or The New Adventures of Old Christine? She’s brilliant on Veep. I can’t wait to see her latest feature film, You Hurt My Feelings. And if you haven’t seen her Mark Twain Prize acceptance speech, you have to check it out here.

But her wonderful gifts as an actor aren’t what convinced

August 21, 2023

ACTOR'S LIFE, ACTRESS, INSPIRATION, MINNESOTA, PERSONAL GROWTH, SELF-HELP

I Feel Like School Starts Tomorrow

Nan McNamara

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I’m thinking about my carefree 12-year old self this Labor Day weekend and feeling a bit of adult melancholy. What happened to those empty summer days we had ahead of us just three months ago? So many plans – dreams of pool-side drinks and long hikes and naps dancing in my head.

But now, it’s all over. My head is full of phrases like, “You better get busy” and a slight sense of dread.

Emotional Calendar

Labor Day might be bringing up these feelings for you, too. There’s an emotional calendar to our lives and maybe, like me, you

September 2, 2019

ACTOR'S LIFE, ACTRESS, CONFIDENCE, CREATIVITY, FASHION, INSPIRATION, MINNESOTA, PERSONAL GROWTH, SELF-HELP

Did You Know There’s a Documentary About YOU?

Nan McNamara

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Did You Know There’s a Documentary About YOU?

Did you grow up in a household with home movies? I didn’t. I’ve always been a little envious of friends whose Dad or Mom was the family videographer, capturing birthdays and Christmas and family vacations. Photo albums and slides are wonderful, but to have video? That would be something.

I think of home movies as being the layman’s version of a documentary. And with this being called the golden age of documentaries, there are some amazingly well-told life stories out there. From Ruth Bader Ginsberg to Jane Fonda to Mister Rogers, the inspiration these

October 1, 2018

ACTOR'S LIFE, ACTRESS, CONFIDENCE, CREATIVITY, INSPIRATION, OVERCOMING FEAR, PERSONAL GROWTH, SELF-HELP

My Invitation to the Royal Wedding

Nan McNamara

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It’s been almost three months since the royal wedding. And I can’t quite delete the DVR recording of it, even though I’ve watched the whole thing, seen the BBC highlights and read the People magazine story from cover to cover.

A lot has been said about the reasons people have been and continue to be so fascinated by the event and this magical couple. The idea of a young woman from the United States becoming a real-life princess is a fairy tale come true.

But I think most analysts boil it down to our desire to watch something positive

August 10, 2018

ACTOR'S LIFE, ACTRESS, CONFIDENCE, CREATIVITY, INSPIRATION, OVERCOMING FEAR, PERSONAL GROWTH, SELF-HELP

Baby, It’s Cold Outside

Nan McNamara

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My team lost. And I am still thinking about it two years later.

I actually cried stone-cold sober tears over the loss, the third time in the past two decades (The tally now stands at sports tears shed in 2009, 2016 and 2018 to be exact).

For those of you who love a team, you know the pain.

If you’re a college basketball fan, March Madness provides its own special pain. 63 out of 64 teams will will ultimately end their season in defeat. Even though we’re in basketball season, I’m still stuck on footballs, touchdown passes and field

March 29, 2018

ACTOR'S LIFE, ACTRESS, CONFIDENCE, INSPIRATION, MINNESOTA, PERSONAL GROWTH

Here’s to an Uncomfortable 2018!

Nan McNamara

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The year will be remembered (among other things) as the year I was on the Kiwanis speaking circuit. If you didn’t grow up in the midwest or you aren’t of a ‘certain age,’ you might be saying, “What’s a Kiwanis?”

Well, in very simple terms, Kiwanis is a club where professional folks come together for a meal, listen to a speaker, and encourage social and charitable contributions to the community.

But if you have ever attended a Kiwanis meeting, you know it is so much more than that dry description. These people are fierce – fierce in their

January 1, 2018

ACTOR'S LIFE, ACTRESS, CONFIDENCE, CREATIVITY, INSPIRATION, MINNESOTA, OVERCOMING FEAR, PERSONAL GROWTH, SELF-HELP