INTO KATHERINE O’DAY’S UNIVERSE

When it comes to show business, Katherine O’Day is a true inspiration. As an actor and musician, the incredibly talented performer sat down to speak with New Celebrity about her passion for all things music and theater and how it shaped her into the influencer she is today.  

Growing up in the small city of Chico, California, Katherine had been loyal to musical theater for 12 years before pursuing film and moving to Los Angeles. As she began to explore new paths, she found an opportunity to train at the Taylor Acting Studio, an institution specifically teaching the authentic Meisner technique of being truthful in your roles and trusting your instincts. From this, Katherine learned that even when you are portraying other characters, you act as yourself in a “bent” perspective. This helped her with self-reflection and recognizing the areas of her life she had to work on. She even referred to this technique of learning as “therapeutic”! 

Although she traded her musical theater dream for a career in film, she spoke to us about her favorite musical roles! Katherine admitted that her most challenging and rewarding roles were Heather McNamara from Heathers the Musical, entering a new side of acting as the “mean girl” and Cinderella from Into The Woods because of the power the character had and how Cinderella helped her find her voice. Growing up, Katherine states that there was such a societal pressure to want to be a princess and stereotypically enjoy “girly things”. “I was denied a lot of male-dominated fandoms growing up because my parents thought it may be too intense because I had really bad anxiety as a kid. There was this idea of ‘she wouldn’t like it, it’s superheroes. [Growing up, I was under the impression that] there are superheroes and there are princesses and they don’t combine, they don’t mix. You’re either strong or you’re sweet’ and at the time, I was sweet. I didn’t understand strength was even an option.” As Katherine began to find herself, she realized her true passions were on the other side of the spectrum: SUPERHEROES. 

Katherine’s main campaign focus is portraying the role of Gwen Stacy. After watching “Into The Spiderverse” in 2018, Katherine felt an instant connection to Gwen Stacy. Having been through an abusive relationship at age 17, Katherine shared her feelings of being lost and alone. She recognizes that her personality was “leaps and bounds different” back then. After leaving the relationship, she tried to find a character that she could relate to. “I tried to fit into the mold of characters that I loved for so long before and related to but nothing fit anymore.” That all changed for her as she recalls the first time she picked up a Gwen Stacy comic book and started to bawl. “On the first page, I started to sob because she was saying things that were verbatim to what I would say casually.” She found many similarities in the grief and loss that Gwen Stacy deals with in herself. She goes on to say that this was the first time that she saw herself “in a medium so honestly.” “I was able to relate at face value with how vulnerable she was and understanding the strength in that.”  Not only has Gwen Stacy had a rocky past, but she uses music to decompress, similar to Katherine. 

A woman of many talents, Katherine should not surprise you with her amazing voice. She has always had a passion for singing and creating music, frequently posting incredible videos on her Instagram page. Katherine O’Day is a trained vocalist and musician who plays 4 instruments. She has explored different parts of her voice to where she feels “genreless”. “I have switched from pop to more indie to punk to musical theatre. I am trained in so many styles, that it’s kind of like, ‘okay what kind of music do I want to pin down and focus on’.” Music has always helped her as a therapy and she believes she can “breathe through her songs”. Without spilling too many secrets, Katherine O’Day let New Celebrity know not to lose hope because new music is on the horizon! At the end of the day, Katherine does not care how the music she releases does, rather she wants to do this for herself. 

When asked what some of the most rewarding parts of her Gwen Stacy campaign have been, her first answer was the fans! When she started reaching out to fans, she was quickly embraced into the community. As Katherine gained their support, fans created art, edits, and fan pages dedicating their time to Katherine as Gwen Stacy. She has also gotten an overwhelmingly positive response on TikTok, where she talked about her Gwen Stacy campaign, getting recognition from industry professionals expressing their interest. In the video, she discusses how she went “above and beyond to get someone’s attention”, detailing the endless time and energy it takes to push her campaign forward.

In the future, Katherine hopes to build on her career and take on her dream roles. She aims to work with Disney on Marvel opportunities, but keeps her options open as a huge Star Wars fan! Katherine O’Day’s future is bright and we can see her career blossom. She has a heart of gold and hopes to use her influence to advocate for many issues that are close to her. She aims to give back to the community by being an advocate for domestic violence, homeless youth, and mental health. The list goes on, but we are positive that wherever this star lands, her impact will be powerful!

We wish our favorite Spider the best of luck in her campaign. We can’t wait to see her on the big screen!

To find out more about Katherine’s campaign, check out her article on February 3rd at 12pm PST

BY: EMILY KILMAN
February 1, 2021