By reporter Steven Smalley
Actress and Magnolia native, Clare O’Connor stars in ABC television’s 2-hour season premiere of 20/20: IN AN INSTANT this Saturday night. Clare – the daughter of John and Patricia O’Connor – moved to Chicago to pursue her acting career in productions such as Chicago Med, Easy, and Thrill Ride.
A product of The Waldorf School and ten years professional dance training at Pacific Northwest Ballet, O’Connor decided to attend the Second City Conservatory training program in Chicago where she sharpened her comedic skills.
“I always loved performing. I really loved, loved being on stage,” O’Connor tells Magnolia Voice in an exclusive interview. “I decided to move to Chicago where I launched my career as an improv comedy performer.”
Within her versatile dramatic role in the ABC docu/drama episode called “Whiteout” (KOMO channel 4, Saturday 9 p.m.), O’Connor portrays Jennifer Stolpa in a true story of survival. Along with her husband and new baby, they take a wrong turn and are trapped in the wilderness on the way to a funeral. Life and death decisions are made as heavy snow has them stranded.
Growing up in Magnolia, O’Connor has vivid memories of her childhood here, particularly the day Pop Monger Pool opened. She remembers spending every day swimming during the summer.
“I spent lots of time in the Village and Discovery Park with my two dogs,” O’Connor recalls.
She did not actually go to school for acting. She attended art school in Chicago taking classes in painting, drawing, and writing fiction.
“I really loved being on stage,” O’Conner says. At PNB she danced in The Nutcracker, Cinderella, Romeo and Juliet, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
“In the future I will continue to work and hone my craft,” O’Conner explains. “I’ll audition for as many projects as I can.”
“Each episode of 20/20: IN AN INSTANT follows one single life-changing event in the life of a person as they come back to relive the moment and reconcile with what has happened. The dramatic events that are chronicled are of a tragic nature and are retold using reenactments and interviews with those whose experience is at the center of the story,” explains a promo from ABC.
Finally, Clare sends a shout out to her old friends at Sunshine From Polynesia hula group in Magnolia where she elegantly graced their Hawaiian dance productions for several years.
O’Conner asks everyone to watch Saturday night at 9 p.m. on KOMO 4.
Link to season three trailer of IN AN INSTANT
https://www.facebook.com/committeefilms/videos/1537210086297962/ <https://www.facebook.com/committeefilms/videos/1537210086297962/>