You probably recognize Mekenna from her role on the spy comedy “Chuck” as Alex McHugh, Agent John Casey’s daughter. Long before she landed “Chuck” though, Mekenna was born in Saratoga, CA and graduated from Independence High School in San Jose, CA. Mekenna’s mother was a was a drama teacher and director, which Mekenna credits for spawning her interest in acting. She has said she grew up with extremely supportive parents who were constantly supportive of all of her crazy dreams. After she graduated from high school, Mekenna attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in NYC. A classically trained actress, she also spent time studying Shakespeare at the British American Drama Academy in Oxford, England.
After school, she headed to LA where she appeared in such shows as FOX’s “Lie to Me”, CBS’s “Three Rivers” and ABC’s “Detroit 1-8-7”. The day she landed her breakout role on “Chuck” though, turns out she had no idea what she was in for! Originally, when she got the script for the audition, the role of Alex was actually called “20 Year Old Girl” and she had one line. It was only after she got the part her agent called and said her character had a name and she was John’s long lost daughter! When the show decided to bring Alex back for a much longer stint after her initial one episode, they even made Mekenna audition again. (I think it’s safe to say the second audition also went well!) Her role on the spy/action comedy is really a perfect fit as Mekenna’s been a first degree black belt since the age of 16. Another fact you probably don’t know about Mekenna is she is an avid collector of clowns as she’s drawn to the fantasy aspect of their colorful masks.
Mekenna has selected “The Next Night” and “Perspectives” as her performance pieces from “My Letter to Fear”. “The Next Night” depicts a woman grasping to understand that control doesn’t translate to love. “Perspectives” is a three person piece, which depicts women at three different stages in their life and how their perspectives and expectations of life and love have changed over the years.
We are so excited to have Mekenna with us on Sunday, June 24th and we hope to see you there too!
Check back in a few days for the next actress in our Get to Know blog series.
