Page 47 - MyCottleville Magazine Jan/Feb 2017

Harmon said she loves the variety afforded in acting. “I like to play different roles. I like pretending to be a doctor in one show, a cop in another or a vampire in another.”
Though Harmon has technically been in the business for almost 20 years, she said she has only considered herself a “working actor” since earning her speaking and character roles. “The last two years I have traveled hard and worked hard,” Harmon said.
Most surprising to Harmon since working on movie sets is that so many of the actors are simply nice people. “I was surprised about how engaging some actors are. It’s nice to see 30 people behind the scenes and in front of the scenes working toward one goal.”
It takes a positive attitude when a ve-minute scene can take 14 hours to shoot. “A lot of effort goes into it.” Harmon said dealing with cameras, actors, instructions to new extras and back up lm are just a few of the things that take up the hours that go into shooting a single movie scene.
Harmon said she follows about 20 pages for aspiring actors on Facebook and 10 groups on the Internet, looking for work.
Harmon has degrees in meteorology and broadcast journalism from Mississippi State University and Lindenwood University, respectively. In addition to her work in front of the cameras, she has also done behind-the-scenes work such as video and audio editing, compiling lm clips and putting together news content. Today she works as a painting instructor at Canvas and Cocktails - the casual art class and wine party business she owns with her mother.
Besides wanting to further her career in front of the cameras the 35-year-old St. Louis resident is motivated by some- thing else. She wants to save animals. Harmon operates a no-kill, foster-based rescue organization for feral dogs called The Feral Companion. The non-pro t group caters to feral, shy and special
needs dogs that shelters are often unable to accommodate because of their lengthy
rehabilitation time in addition to shelter workers’ lack experience with the dogs’ special needs. Harmon said it is easier to help dogs when you have connections – especially some of the connections she has made in the movie business.
When asked where she hoped to be in 10 years, Harmon’s answer was to put the animals above herself. “In the overall picture, I hope to have an area of land es- tablished for my rescues, with celebrities associated with it to help them,” Harmon said. “For myself, I want to be a role model for other people. I want to be acting or working as a meteorologist at a TV station. I love storms and weather. As a child I wanted to warn people. I like being a solid person people can look to.”
As for the movie roles, she would also like to play a part in “Guardians of the
Galaxy,” a series of feature lms about a ctional space-faring superhero team
based on the Marvel Comics. In fact, she’d be interested in anything Marvel Com-
ics produces. And she said she wouldn’t turn down a “Jurassic Park” role either. “I hear they are coming out with “Jurassic World III” at some point. I would love to have a role in that.”
For more information on Harmon’s rescue organization, visit TheFeralCompanion.org.
MyCottleville Magazine | 47