Hannah Pilkes
stars in
Netflix series
Leanne
Photography Allegra Messina
Creative Director & Fashion Editor Deborah Ferguson
Interview Stella Hofferman
An actor, comedian, social media personality, and director, Hannah Pilkes is an all-around performer, encapsulating what it truly means to be a multi-hyphenate. Acting since she was a child, Pilkes made a natural transition into comedy—creating sketch comedy videos online, doing improv, and performing on Dropout TV and Comedy Bang! Bang!. Pilkes is now starring in Netflix’s hit series Leanne, alongside the show’s namesake and creator, Leanne Morgan. Leanne was recently renewed for a second season.
Today, ContentMode discusses Hannah Pilkes’ success on Leanne, as well as the many triumphs and pathways of her vast career in entertainment.
Dress: Veronique LeRoy
In an especially lively point in your career, how do you maintain and recharge your creative energy?
I’ve really been leaning into creative community and collaboration. I love going to shows and plays and reading and writing at Descanso Gardens. I’ve loved immersing myself in classes. I just did a Shakespeare production. Just maintaining the love and the joy of it all!
You create and perform your own work, which is incredibly impressive. What’s it like writing for yourself, and what’s your creative process like?
I love taking wigs out and just traipsing around my apartment. I love airports. Looking around, seeing how different people are experiencing the world. I like doing dumb bits to my husband and my friends and trying to replicate that, though that’s no easy task and often doesn’t translate. Or, in my sleep, a random idea will hit me and I’ll dash to my phone and write something incoherent in my Notes app, and pray to god I remember what it means the next day. Things like “ceiling fan slime goose”.
What has it been like experiencing the tidal wave overwhelmingly-positive critic responses to Leanne?
Leanne is a wonder, and I’m just so grateful to be along for the ride and get to live in this universe. Her ascension is a sight to behold—so inspiring. And per the show…this entire cast! Such pros. By the end of the season, it really felt like we were all a family, so I’m just so happy that translated!
Following the recent announcement of Leanne’s renewal, how would you like to see your character be explored/developed in the second installment of the series?
I’d love to see what “finding yourself” looks like on Josie. As we know, self-actualization is…messy, and not linear. I’d love to see her finding new joys, new relationships, stepping into that next chapter of adulthood. Maybe a karaoke episode…I love karaoke.
Coming from a live performance background, what was the transition into onscreen acting like?
The nice thing about sitcoms is that it’s also theater. The live audience element was such a comfort. You learn so much from an audience. It’s a symbiosis; one needs the other. But it’s also been a real crash course in on-camera. Multi-cam moves so quickly. I’ve certainly been learning how to keep up, make choices, memorize, and embody on a tight timetable. It helps learning from folks like Kristen Johnston and Celia Weston, who have been thriving in this world for decades!
You perform through several distinct artistic mediums, including theater, stand-up, sketch comedy, and television acting. At this stage in your career, which do you feel most compelled by?
It’s impossible to choose. Each feeds the other. I’ve really been passionate about theater as of late. It’s so vulnerable, so exposing, most beautifully. I’ve just loved being deep in the rehearsal process–and embracing process. Process rules, and I think I feared it for a long time. So, it’s cool to view the mistakes we make as gifts.
Who inspired you to be creative growing up, and who inspires you now?
Molly Shannon, Mr Bean, anything Jim Henson, Whoopi Goldberg, David Wain and Michael Showalter, 30 Rock, Jim Carrey, Ron Howard, The Grinch, ET—to name a few!! Was this the question?
Next month, you’re set to be in a production of Midsummer Night’s Dream! Have you done Shakespeare before? What has the preparation for that been like?
I just finished. This was my first time doing Shakespeare! It’s been grueling and amazing, and I’m loving the classics right now. I have a sketch comedy background, mostly, so learning soliloquies and choreographed fights was so terrifying and also felt like having a superpower. It was a queer production too, which was also—of course—magical and supportive. Red Ink Ensemble is amazing.
What else is in store for you in the near future?
I have been filming a couple of cool projects that I can’t talk about just yet, but stay tuned! And lots more live shows—dates to be announced!
Dress: Veronique LeRoy
Photography
Creative Director & Fashion Editor
Interview
Makeup
Jeannia Robinette @ Tracey Mattingly Agency
Hair
Web Layout
Thank you