openpolitics.com

Stephanie Courtney spent more than a decade working in theater and small TV roles before she became one of the world’s most recognizable spokespeople.

When I moved to L.A., I instantly realized there’s so much more opportunity. Those beginning years when my parents were like, “What are you doing?” I said, “My job is auditioning.” You have to get better and better at it, so when you get that audition that is make-or-break or is the one you’re meant to get, you are relaxed and you’re better at it. And that only comes from doing 100 of them. Some of them were great, some were bad, some I had a cold, some I wanted so much it was creepy. Some of them I didn’t even think about and I got the part. The average of it was that you’re getting better. The best advice I can give to anyone is to get out there and dare to be imperfect. Prepare as best as you can and just show up.

.. So I had a lot of day jobs. I answered phones during the day at a nightclub. I worked behind the counter of a restaurant. I babysat a ton. I was a personal assistant for hire. I catered a ton.

.. My first national commercial was a Bud Light commercial in 1999.

.. I did a McDonald’s commercial, Quaker Oats, Wienerschnitzel, and a small Internet commercial. At that point, I don’t think anyone noticed me in those commercials. It was never, “Who is that girl?” I would be the girl in the back of the line looking annoyed. Commercials are great and I loved booking them for the money, but I was actually working more in TV.

.. In 2006, I booked more TV than I ever had. It was Mad Men and The Comeback and some nice stuff. But it was cable, which doesn’t pay like network TV, so I couldn’t pay my bills on acting alone. That was the only time I felt really discouraged. I was doing everything right. I was booking the big shows, but it wasn’t paying the bills. I didn’t know how to do this and make a living.

Then more commercial work came. Right before I booked Progressive, I booked three other commercials — Skittles, Toyota, and one more I can’t remember. I felt good. Maybe that relaxed me enough before going into Progressive. I knew it was meant to be a big campaign, but I had no idea what it looked like. When you’re auditioning, you basically know something like, “It’s a girl behind a counter,” so you get your polo shirt on and you show up. With commercial auditions, less is usually more, but this was a big character. She was funny, she loved her job, and she loved her customers. So I thought, She’ll love them to a fault where she’s walking the line of crazy. It’s like the love just spills over and becomes a tiny bit inappropriate. That’s what I came up with in the audition room.

.. I started to realize that as the campaign went on, auditioning for commercials felt futile. I’d go in to the room and they would say hi and then slowly they would realize, Oh, that’s the girl from the Progressive commercials.

.. Sometimes I feel like I have a double life. I am made up so hardcore for Flo. My hair is teased to the heavens, and I have tons of makeup on. But when I’m driving around in a ponytail, rarely does anyone know who I am.