Artistic Beginnings

Episode 20: Skills to be a better actor with Juliana Hansen

About Juliana Hansen

Juliana Hansen has been acting and singing professionally since childhood and has gathered knowledge from her experience in the first national tour of Broadway’s Thoroughly Modern Millie (Millie), singing with symphony orchestras all over the world, recording with Walt Disney Records, and living the day-to-day life of a working professional playing lead roles on stage at Disneyland, Off-Broadway, and in regional productions around the country. She collaborates closely with Richard M. Sherman, the legendary composer of Mary Poppins & The Jungle Book, and can be seen as his special guest on the PBS special “Richard Sherman- the Songs of a Lifetime.” She has also released a live album, created voices for animated characters- including Toy Story 4's beloved teacher, Miss Wendy- and been the go-to vocalist for Walt Disney Records demo recordings of songs for films like Enchanted. As a voice actor, Juliana has appeared in Toy Story 4, Unikitty, The Kand Before Time 4, and Star vs the Forces of Evil. In musical theatre, professional credits have included Eponine in Les Miserables, Johanna in Sweeney Todd, Louisa in The Fantasticks, and originating the role of Lana in Saved at Playwrights Horizons. Juliana holds a Master's Degree from the Guildford School of Acting in England. She has spent her career crafting a singing technique that is, according to Broadway World, "so beautiful that she is a recording artist's dream."

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In the Episode

  • Doing performances at home and being creative with family had as much of a lasting influence on Juliana’s life as the professional work she did as a child. Creativity and the arts can come from all places in your life and it doesn’t have to be professional work to be impactful.
  • Juliana did learn a lot about the performing arts and skills she would use in her career from the schools that she went to that had performance focus, however the true education often came from the professionals that the teachers would bring in rather than the course work. Getting to see how professionals work and get to meet them can be invaluable.
  • The performing arts can be unpredictable and subjective. It’s important to, as an actor, keep the joy and remind yourself that you are not less than.
  • You can further your skills in the arts and leverage them in your “Survival jobs.” That is a great way to keep up with what you are passionate about, you just need to be careful not to burn out and not give yourself the required rest time from your passion.
  • You can learn and be a better actor by learning and gaining knowledge from other areas of life and other areas of art. It will enrich your life and give you more context and perspective on how the world works.
  • Training and doing the work or putting your skills out into the world is the best place to start when pursuing the arts.