The Creative Process of an Actress
Poetry, Stillness, Growth, and the Inner Life
 Perseverance This past year — wow, holy cow. We’re finding our way again! There’s something that moves my heart noticing more kindness, seeing one another in person, and appreciating our human experience in renewed ways as the pandemic continues to fade into the rear-view mirror 🦋 Perseverance feels like the word of the year. For me, it’s been a rapidly shifting kaleidoscope of growth in self-worth, self-advocacy, and self-acceptance. Facing internal patterns that once held me back has been a brave and necessary journey - one I’m learning to acknowledge and celebrate. The quiet payoff is a deeper, steadier sense of self-love 💞 Creative Work & Acting Life This year, I worked on the production team for a Montana-produced version of Hamlet. We built a castle in open fields, filmed in the St. Helena Cathedral, and captured footage in the woods that gave this classic story a fresh, grounded feel. I was cast as Queen Gertrude, and it was a honor to bring her to life. Pick-up shots are scheduled later this year. I continued auditioning - and refining my audition practice. I purchased a camera, borrowed lights, and built a functional self-tape setup in my garage and home during the colder months. Learning to operate my Canon Rebel camera has been daunting task and a part of creating a more professional, reliable audition workflow. Training remained central this past year. I studied with Josh Pais (Motherless Brooklyn, Joker), who generously shared his process for character creation. Our work focused on scene study, monologues, and exploring deeper energetic layers of spontaneity and creativity. I also completed an eight-week program with BGB Studios and privately coached with Alexandra Wright. Currently, I’m studying improv storytelling with Kevin Casey, a tremendous actor whose background includes clown training in Italy and Turkey.  Film Work & Festivals My short film 🎥 Homestead was officially selected by the Montana International Film Festival, South Dakota Film Festival (where our lead actress received Best Actress), Bozeman Film Festival (First Place Short Film), and most recently the Minnesota Film Festival - my home state! 🎥 Swing is currently on the festival circuit and has been accepted at nine festivals. The film has received three Best Actress nominations for my performance, along with nominations for Best Director, Best International Featurette, Best Cinematography, Best Original Music Score, Best Featurette, Best Screenplay Short Film, and the Juan Anchia Award for Best Cinematography. We’re grateful to be sharing this work. If you’re in Cheyenne, Wyoming the first weekend of July 2023, I hope you’ll come see it. Filming also wrapped last year on 🎥 They Don’t Leave, which received a Big Sky Film Grant from the Montana Film Office. Whilst I was in London last month, I attended a pre-screening of the film, which weaves together UK and Montana storylines while exploring generational sexual trauma. The film begins its festival run soon.  Recalibration & Harmony In October, I hit a wall. After years of overbooking myself - paired with shifts in my day job - I chose a necessary reset. Over several weeks, I reevaluated priorities and made deliberate choices about sustainability. One of those decisions was placing audiobook narration study and pursuit on hold. While I value the medium, the learning curve, technical demands, and time investment required more bandwidth than I had available alongside continuing with acting, filming, and making time for relationships. Simplifying allowed me to amplify what matters most. Acting remains my creative priority, supported by a stable day job that provides grounding. I’m grateful to friends who offered steady support during that time of recalibration. Harmony became another defining word this year for me. I began looking at my life as a whole - with more intention. I made room for joy: a Hairball concert (the bestest 80’s music reprise ever!), cut and dug new trails for mountain hiking and biking, seeing Father Stu at its local premiere, snowboarding in deep fluffy powder at home and in Utah, and my first trip to Europe - Scotland for a film festival, followed by time in London. I've been obsessed going to London since I was a girl. It's held my heart; its film, music, fashion, and history plus my lineage as ancestral roots there ✨   Closing Thoughts If there’s a way of being I continue to choose, it’s adding more love - choosing compassionate self-talk, leading myself in curiosity rather than anxiety, and allowing myself to be fully present in my art, work, and in life rather than scattershot spread too thin. I'm also choosing to celebrate work I've done. It feels like it goes by way to fast to fully inhabit the joy of completion. There are three films on Amazon Prime that are testament to the fortitude and perseverance for myself and entire cast and crews that have put these films together. Thank you for the continued support - for those who see what I’m building and offer encouragement along the way. Making art is not always easy, and I’m grateful for kindness and shared belief in the process.  Keep building your castles. Believe in magic. Notice the love that surrounds us in so many ways. With gratitude, Mary 🌼 P.S. I'm grateful for people following my creative path | Instagram and Facebook  Comments are closed.
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Creative writing by Mary Riitano...I'm an actress sharing my creative process through personal stories and poetry - exploring acting, growth, my voice, and my inner life as an artist. 
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