What You Need To Know About Kelly McCormack Before She Stars In A League Of Their Own
Like the classic 1992 film, Amazon's "A League of Their Own" reboot series will deal with issues of inclusion in the historic All-American Professional Girls Baseball League and its trailblazing precedent for women in the sport.
The fictionalized series is spearheaded by Abi Jacobson, who co-created the women-led comedy series "Broad City." And Kelly McCormack — a Canadian actress, writer, and producer ready to create change in the entertainment industry — will be playing the character Jess in the reboot. A press release for the new series describes Jess as "a tough, no nonsense Rockford Peach who plays short stop and struggles with the performative aspects of the League. She came here to play ball, and is determined to keep the team on track" (via Deadline).
The spirit of the original film and its new reboot are a perfect fit for McCormack's goals, and she shares her collaborators' opinion that representation is an important step toward equity. The reboot's cast includes Black, Latinx, and queer actors and will surely introduce storylines surrounding racial discrimination and segregation, which the 1992 film shied away from. McCormack told Novella, "I am an outspoken feminist. I care about the representation issue in the industry. I care about telling stories that represent women and casting and hiring people of colour."
Kelly McCormack started her own production company
Besides her experience in front of the camera in recurring roles on TV series like "Letterkenny" and "Ginny and Georgia" (via IMDb), Kelly McCormack is a gifted writer and motivated producer. These talents have gone hand-in-hand since she got her start in theater. "I've always wanted to be an actor," she shared in an interview with Novella. "I started my academic life of writing in university. Producing I just love. I love putting pieces together and making stuff happen."
This passion led her to write and produce an independent film that received huge buzz in the festival circuit and screened internationally. She even had to start her own production company to tag onto the film, which she named after her old dog Floyd, called Floyder Films (via Seventh Row).
McCormack also has extensive experience working with delicate themes, including gender and politics. Her film, "Sugar Daddy," centers on power imbalances in gendered relationships and was in production during the height of the #MeToo movement. "I think #MeToo just pushed us further," she told Seventh Row in a 2021 interview. "It made us go, "Okay, now people are finally talking about these themes. So how do we make them talk at the front lines of it?" As a writer and producer, she shared one vital takeaway from her previous on-set experiences: "Working with other women is a dream," she said. "You get other perspectives, and they help you see it from a different direction."
Now, as a main character in an exciting women-driven film reboot of an all-time girls' night classic, McCormack seems to be in the right place at the right time yet again.