GEORGIA BASED ACTOR
Margot Keeps an Eye on Her Prize By Ca ro l Bada r acco Padge t t
M argot Bingham isn’t trying to get what ev- eryone else has in the industry. “Whatever I want to have as my successes in life… I have mine and everybody else has their own. What’s meant for all of us is ours,” she philosophizes. “It’s easy to compare yourself to others in the industry, and to measure your success compared to theirs,” she adds. “It’s not the best way to live.” This outlook is a down-to-earth, self-assured formula that has served the actor, singer, songwriter, dancer, and producer well. And it has helped Bingham “keep her blinders on,” as she describes, and focus her impressive drive on her individual career goals. Some of those goals to date include roles on AMC’s The Walking Dead , NBC’s New Amsterdam , ABC’s The Family , and the MGM comedy-drama film Barbershop 3 , as well as rock musical Rent , her first theatre booking. Another title that has brought Bingham considerable acclaim is HBO’s period drama series Boardwalk Empire , in which she played jazz singer Daughter Maitland for two seasons alongside actor Michael K. Williams in the role of Chalky White. “He had my back,” she says of the experience. “I still look back and say, ‘Was that real?’ I have great fondness and gratitude for the show.” Her work on Boardwalk Empire stands out to her for another reason. It’s where, as a green actress just starting out, she auditioned repeatedly to eventually snag the coveted part. ”I went into that audition maybe nine times,” she says. “I didn’t live in close proximity, and I had to walk far from the train… into the middle of nowhere.” Much like the lessons Bingham learned from the audition experience for Boardwalk Empire , she realizes that many other formative lessons came before. As a teenager and an aspiring singer and dancer, Bingham attended her hometown arts school, Pittsburgh’s High School for the Creative and Performing Arts. “I started going to singing and dancing classes as a kid,” Bingham states. So the High School for the Creative and Performing Arts was a major step toward her performance dreams. “It was a very big deal to get down to the final auditions,” she remembers. And since acting was not really her thing at the time, she set her sights on musical theater, the only offering at the school that combined singing and dancing. In a short time, Bingham found herself under the wing of the school’s new acting coach, Billy Hartung, and she came to realize acting as the love of her life. (Hartung still serves as her acting coach to this day.) By college, though, Bingham’s young focus fractured somewhat, and she found herself at Point Park University,
Her work on Boardwalk Empire stands out to her[…] It’s where, as a green actress just starting out, she auditioned repeatedly to eventually snag the coveted part.
Margot Bingham
touring and performing professionally. In stepped another pivotal teacher who took Bingham aside. “She said, ‘You’re doing it. Why are you still in school?’” So Bingham took this thought to her parents. “They gave me a year to figure it out in New York,” she says. “And if I hadn’t figured it out yet after that year, then I’d go back to school.” Not long after, she landed her role in Rent , and then began booking TV shows and films. Through it all, Bingham credits her parents for helping her remain grounded. Up next for Bingham is an untitled Spike Lee project that’s in the works, as well as a new season of The Walking Dead . “When I came on TWD last season, people just heard my voice,” she teases. “This year, they get to meet my character.” Around the edges of performing, Bingham devotes her time to humanitarian causes, among them Orphaned Starfish Foundation for orphans and at-risk youth. She also volunteers time as a board member at New York’s
Peace Institute. “They have a cool approach to mediation and confrontation,” she notes, working to keep tenants and neighbors out of the court system when difficulties arise between the parties. Of her work to give back, Bing- ham says, “Every single one of these projects connects— kids, education.” Another healthy example of giving back that Bingham shares has to do with lessons learned during the pandemic. “A lot of creatives really had a hard time,” she says, including herself. “I had a feeling of not being very creative then,” she states. “So I dove more into meditation and walking to feel more grounded.” It was an approach that worked for her. “I share it because I’m sure there’s somebody else out there who needs to hear it.” Through it all, Bingham keeps a watchful—and grounded—eye on her prize.
@margotbingham
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