Born in Kansas City, MO, McNamara is an actress, singer-songwriter, and dancer who started out on Broadway and now stars as Clary Fray in the hit series "Shadowhunters: The Mortal Instruments." She's also known for her roles in the film "New Year's Eve,' and TV shows "Glee," "Law & Order: SVU," "30 Rock," and more.
Colleen Bement: What can you share about season two of "Shadowhunters?"
Katherine McNamara: I'm very excited about this next season, because the characters have grown, and the show has grown with the characters. There's a maturity about the show, and it's much more grounded in reality.
We still have many supernatural elements, and there's a lot of darkness that happens during the season. Now that we've established these characters and this world, we can dive deeper into what makes the characters tick. We can see why these characters are the way they are.
We can push the boundaries a bit as far as situations the characters end up in. For Clary in particular, she has grown up. She's been in the Shadow world, and she's learned a lot. Moving forward, she has a lot more maturity to her, and she's starting to come into her own as a Shadowhunter. There's something that she faces at the beginning of the season is the fact that she didn't really have a choice in becoming a Shadowhunter last season.
She was thrust into this world, and thrust into this situation and has had to tread water. Now she's starting to look at her old life and asking herself; do I really want to be a Shadowhunter? Dealing with the relationship with her mother now that her mother is back, and trying to transition into a relationship with Jace, now that they're siblings, and also to try and give Shadowhunting a chance and to find her place in this world.
Kittens in the trailers?
CB: What is the story behind how Dom and Alberto found kittens?
KM: Basically, Dom and Alberto have an amazing friendship. They decided amongst themselves to adopt kittens, and they found, kittens, and next day they became part of their family.
CB: Do they live with them in the trailers?
KM: They go back and forth.
They live with them at their apartment, and they come with them to set every day; because it's always lovely to have something soft to cuddle with.
She's fallen in love with fitness
CB: How do you keep yourself in shape for your role as Clary?
KM: It's a very physical role, especially this season now that Clary is now becoming more of a Shadowhunter. She has a lot more fights and a lot more action in the series. This year she's able to take charge and fight her own battles. As such, I had a lot more training this season. We have an amazing team; an amazing fitness trainer, and an amazing stunt coordinator, and martial artists to help us. It's something that we all do together as a cast; which is great.
I've actually fallen in love with fitness. It's something I didn't know much about before starting the show, and I've sort of been thrown headfirst into training, and how to stay in shape, nutrition, and all of these things. I've really come to love it, and it's something that's become a passion of mine.
Katherine wanted to make a difference
CB: What has been your favorite thing about working with the Girl Up campaign?
KM: I love Girl Up, because not only are they under the UN Foundation, they are a by girls; for girls organization. I look at the big issues happening all around the world, and I always wanted to make a difference. I always wanted to initiate some sort of change, but I never knew how.
And that's exactly what Girl Up does. They provide platforms and programs and ways in which girls all over the world can help other girls in these developing countries that don't have the support and the opportunities that they need.
CB: Do you have any hidden talents?
KM: I love to bake. That's something that I do a lot of in my spare time. That's something that I really love. It's something my grandma taught me when I was a little girl. It always relaxes me, but it's also fun to bake.
