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Chimo originated the roles of Jenny and Gigi in The Break of Noon (MCC Theatre), Reagan in Bachelorette (Second Stage) and Lauren in Annie Baker's Circle Mirror Transformation (Playwrights Horizons).
She is the recipient of the 2011 Clarence Derwent Award for "Most Promising Actress in New York" and earned a 2010 Drama Desk Award, an OBIE Award and two Lucille Lortel nominations in the last two seasons.
Screen work includes Judd Apatow's "The Five-Year Engagement," "He's Way More Famous Than You" and the MTV series "I Just Want My Pants Back."
| Full given name: | Tracee Ann Chimo |
| Where you were born/where you were raised: | Saugus, Massachusetts |
| Zodiac Sign: | Gemini |
| What your parents did/do for a living: | Mom was a dancer and worked at John Hancock for a while. Dad is the Vice President of a small bank in Boston. |
| Siblings: | One. My kid brother, Kevin. |
| Special skills: | Dance (mostly Fosse and tap... I'm crap at ballet), physical comedy. And for some really weird reason I can do impressions of people eating. Everyone eats in really different and interesting ways. It's always fascinated me. I have no idea why. |
| Something you're REALLY bad at: | Baking |
| First Broadway show you ever saw: | Cats |
| If you could go back in time and catch any show, what would it be? | Hmmmm... I'd have to say, the Broadway production of Streetcar Named Desire with Marlon Brando. |
| Did you have any particular mentors or inspirations as a young actor? | No mentors, no. But my inspirations when first starting were people I'd seen in films. The person who gave me the most hope was Johnny Depp simply because I admire his choices as an actor. |
| Current show you have been recommending to friends: | One Man, Two Guvnors |
| Favorite showtunes of all time: | "I Loves You, Porgy" |
| Some favorite musicals: | Fosse, Porgy and Bess, Guys and Dolls |
| Some favorite modern plays: | Geoffrey Rush's variation of Diary of a Madman at BAM. |
| Some favorite modern playwrights: | Annie Baker, Leslye Headland |
| Stage or screen stars of the past you would most have loved to perform with: | Charlie Chaplin, Betty Davis, Jack Palance, Marlon Brando, John Gielgud |
| The one performance — attended — that you will never forget: | Diary of a Madman |
| Music that makes you cry, any genre: | Israel Kamakawiwo'ole's "White Sandy Beach of Hawai'i" |
| You personal acting idols: | Johnny Depp, Marion Cotillard |
| MAC or PC? | MAC |
| Most played song on your iPod: | Modest Mouse's "Float On" |
| Most-visited websites: | Anything involving Ryan Gosling |
| Last book you read: | "Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" |
| Must-see TV show(s): | I just started watching "Game of Thrones." I can't stop. I'm obsessed. |
| Last good movie you saw: | "I Am Love" with Tilda Swinton |
| Some films you consider classics: | "The Kid" "There Will Be Blood" "Dumb and Dumber" "Pee Wee's Big Adventure" |
| Performer you would drop everything to go see: | Mark Rylance |
| Pop culture guilty pleasure: | OMG! The "Twilight" movies! |
| Favorite cities: | New York, way up in the Wasatch Mountains of Utah, and Paris |
| First CD/Tape/LP you owned: | Oof.... New Kids On The Block |
| First stage kiss: | Truly, honestly, madly, deeply — I don't remember. |
| Moment you knew you wanted to perform for a living: | When I did my impression of the Cowardly Lion for my dad at dinner one night when I was 5. |
| Favorite pre-/post- show meal: | Kashkaval on 56th and 9th |
| Favorite liquid refreshment: | Seltzer water A glass of red wine post-show |
| Pre-show rituals or warm-ups: | Bad dancing in the dressing room to stupid '80s music. |
| Worst flubbed line/missed cue/onstage mishap: | In the middle of a dance performance in 2002 I was backstage waiting to go on, and me and another dancer got our giant Vegas-style headdresses tangled together. We had to shimmy on stage completely attached until one of the crew members snuck on stage with enormous sheers and cut us apart. It was absolutely hysterical. |
| Worst costume ever: | Sherlock Holmes at a summer theatre where I was interning. |
| Worst job you ever had: | I cleaned dog sh*t at a kennel in order to pay my rent. |
| Most challenging role you have played onstage: | Lauren in Circle Mirror Transformation. |
| Some favorite screen or commercial roles: | Well, I loved working on "Louie." And I had a ball working on "The Five-Year Engagement." |
| Leading lady role you've been dying to play: | Lady Macbeth |
| Leading man role you wish you could play: | Hamlet, but I don't see why I can't play Hamlet simply because he's a dude. I would chop off my hair, bind my breasts and wear pants. |
| Something about you that surprises people: | For an actress, I'm a TERRIBLE public speaker. |
| Career you would want if not a performer: | I guess I could be happy owning a ranch somewhere with lots of horses. I love them, and I love to ride them. |
| Three things you can't live without: | My Frye boots, my friends and public bathrooms. |
| "I'll never understand why…" | ... people don't make enough of an effort to be kind. |
| Words of advice for aspiring performers: | Listen to yourself. Don't ever let anyone tell you you can't do this. You can. |
