What should people know about you?
They should know these margaritas are really good.
They are! I love the margaritas here. [We are at Street Taco on East 26th and 3rd Ave]
But I am somebody who believes in living life to the fullest. For me that means traveling as much as I can, spending as much time with friends and family as I can, spending time on what I’m most passionate about, which is music. I believe in equality, and I think everyone should be a feminist and if you’re not a feminist you’re actually just sexist. I think those are the things everyone should know about me.
Any weird jobs you wanna talk about?
Background work is a pretty weird job.
It IS a weird job, that’s how we met!
Yes that’s how we met. I wanna say we met on Gossip Girl?
Yeah probably. I feel like a lot of us met on Gossip Girl. [Correction: we realized later that we actually met on Boardwalk Empire playing high class ladies of the night. See @daniellesep on Instagram for the picture].
That’s a pretty weird job, I was actually thinking about that today. That job was mostly about being quiet and staying out of the way and now I feel like I’m doing the opposite of that, like I’m trying to take up space in my own life. When you do background you’re there to just do what you’re told. But also not to be noticed. A lot of casting people used to ask me if I’d consider dying my hair so that I would be less noticeable.
I’m so glad you didn’t.
Yeah I said that I appreciated having that job and having my SAG card but at the same time I thought, well I don’t think my ultimate goal is to dye my hair so no one notices me.
Yes, you should be noticed.
Tell me about a time you said no or turned something down that you always think about.
To be honest the thing that comes to the forefront of my mind and it isn’t a one time no, but it’s something that I’m consistently saying no to in the moment right now is having children. I’m not saying that I don’t want to ever have kids but for the past few years it’s something that’s been on my mind and currently I just want to focus on x, y, z instead. So it kind of feels like an everyday no?
Because you’re married does it seem like people often feel entitled to ask you about your intentions?
Sometimes. I think the curiosity can be natural. But my answer is pretty unsatisfying when they ask because it’s usually just “maybe!” I do want this overall to be a more candid conversation in general with women. I think it’s difficult to be a mom and we should all be able to be honest about that and what it entails. Also the decision is personal so sometimes I’m like thanks so much for reminding me that I have ovaries and somehow that makes me a ticking time bomb! You don’t know what other people are going through, you don’t know anyone’s story, you don’t know if someone is trying to get pregnant and can’t. It’s really no one’s business. Men don’t get asked this as much I don’t think. Women are expected to want to be mothers and maybe not all women do. I wish we could be more accepting of what anyone decides to do whenever they decide to do it.
What’s the best or worst advice you’ve been given?
Some of the best advice goes back to the heart of this interview. Saying no to things. I think you don’t always have to say yes. I have been given advice to say yes to everything and I’ve been given advice to say no to things. Sometimes saying yes to things outside my comfort zone can be good for me but if I said yes to everything? I’d be a shell of a human. It’s important to have time to take care of yourself.
Follow Mackenzie on Twitter and Instagram @nykenzie.
Pre-order her new album The Unkindness here at PledgeMusic.
Listen to the first single “Believe” off The Unkindness on Soundcloud