Katie Wallack ’00

DEGREE: B.A. in theater and dance

JOB TITLE: Actress in film, theater, and television; recently appeared as a featured dancer in The Artist, which in 2011 won five Academy Awards and three Golden Globe Awards, including best picture; she will appear in the upcoming film The Frozen Ground, due out in November/December of 2012.

FAVORITE MEMORY OF TRINITY: A snowball fight that broke out between my freshman dorm, Little, and Frobb. It was gnarly. It was epic. We totally won.

REPORTER: How did you get into performing? Was it always your goal to be an actress, or did your interests lie elsewhere?
WALLACK: My first passion was gymnastics. I trained year round, six days a week from age five to 12. After a few minor injuries, I started only to compete during the school season and began exploring other interests. At 14, I was cast in a musical at school in which I was a background chorus member who did gymnastic tricks. I got a couple more lines over the years, and during my senior year I was cast as Rootie in the play Graceland. However, it wasn’t until my freshman year at Trinity that I knew I wanted to pursue acting as a career.

REPORTER: What at Trinity influenced this decision?
WALLACK: The theater and dance freshman core classes changed my life. When I arrived at Trinity (straight from Alaska) I signed up for classes in every field that I was interested in: art, history, sociology, and
psychology. But it was in my first-year classes with Arthur Feinsod and Josh Karter where I found a field that incorporated all these interests and more. I found a way into the world through the theater and character development. I also worked at Austin Arts Center building sets and running lights and was the prop master during my senior year. I absolutely loved working in the shop.

REPORTER: You have worked in film, television, theater, commercials, and even Web series. Is there one particular field that you enjoy most?
WALLACK: I can’t say that any one is more fulfilling than the other. They each have their unique thrills and challenges.

REPORTER: In general, what is the most challenging aspect of your work?
WALLACK: I would have to say finding the work at this point is the most challenging. I do feel confident that as my work gets more exposure, more jobs will find me. And then there will be different challenges that I will be ready to meet head-on.

REPORTER: What project(s) are you most proud to have been part of?
WALLACK: So far, my role in The Frozen Ground is what I am most proud of for a couple reasons. First, it was shot on location in my hometown, Anchorage, Alaska, and I was able to go home to work. Second, I had the opportunity to work opposite Oscar-winner Nicholas Cage. And third, which is the most important to me: the film is based on the events surrounding the Alaskan serial killer Robert Hansen, who was convicted of murdering 21 women over 12 years. I played the role of Bobby Morehead, whose sister was one of Hansen’s victims. It has been over 30 years since Morehead’s conviction, but that is little solace to the people who still live with the loss of their loved ones. Many of his victims were missing for years. For friends and family, the madness of not knowing whether the victims were alive—waiting, hoping, letting go a little bit at a time, but not entirely—was relieved only when their deaths were confirmed. It is beyond bittersweet, it is something else entirely. It was a privilege to play a role that gave voice, perhaps validation, to that experience.