Willa Fitzgerald's Work Day Involves Morning Reading and Dancing Around 'Like a Lunatic'
In our new series Office Crush, we're asking people with the coolest jobs to take us to work. First up, actress Willa Fitzgerald (Little Women, The Goldfinch, and Scream, the TV series) lets us shadow her for a day of meditation, script-reading, and CBD.
“I remember performing for an audience for the first time in middle school, and telling my mom I felt like I was flying,” Willa Fitzgerald says. “I’m chasing that feeling day after day.”
Fitzgerald sees her acting career as an exploration of the human condition, always seeking to go deeper on universal topics. But, Fitzgerald admits, her day-to-day can feel more like a game of Russian roulette. Sometimes she’s under the gun for hours on set; sometimes it’s a waiting game/Spotify dance party in her trailer. “You never know what’s going to happen next, who you’ll work with, where you’ll be, and although that can sometimes be maddening, it’s also incredibly exciting and energizing,” she says. “It’s a career like no other.”
While there’s not really such a thing as a typical day for an actress, Fitzgerald says her one constant is figuring out how to eat mindfully, on and off set. “It’s been a long path to finding a healthy and largely unencumbered relationship to my body,” she admits. Her strategies: Opt mostly for whole foods, reduce added sugar, tune in to actual hunger versus “boredom hunger,” slow down, and learn what foods make you feel good. Occasionally Fitzgerald will deviate, using food as a way to connect with her character. “For instance, when I was in Ireland shooting Little Women, bread and butter made a lot of sense, so I went with it, ” she says, laughing.
To avoid eating too much craft-service pizza, Fitzgerald’s trailer is always stacked with RX bars, almond butter, dark chocolate, rice cakes, and meal-prepped lunches. You’ll also find multiple books, watercolors, speakers, a foam roller and yoga mat, and resistance bands. “I do not travel light; I’m honestly like a soccer mom,” she jokes. But even more challenging than eating well on set, Fitzgerald says, is sleeping. “Between the weird hours and stress, I rely completely on meditation, three milligrams of melatonin, and a hefty dose of CBD.” (She loves the CBD oil from Plant People, which is co-owned by her beau, Gabe Kennedy.)
Photo by Emma Fishman1/4Caffeine, Meditation, and a Good Book
When I’m at home in New York, I usually start the day around 8 a.m. with any combination of coffee, meditation, and reading (right now it’s Rebecca Solnit, Maggie Nelson, or Hannah Arendt). Then it’s a run or yoga before breakfast.
Photo by Emma Fishman2/4A Next-Gen Hippie Breakfast
Breakfast is usually a smoothie made with a ton of adaptogenic herbs. I find ashwagandha, chaga mushrooms, and vitex all really helpful in treating my Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. My parents were also definitely hippies—they made their own yogurt, had raised beds in their front yard, and bought organic meats before it was commonplace. I still cook from The Moosewood Cookbook, a gift from my mom during college, that completely informed my food philosophies
Photo by Emma Fishman3/4Into the Saddle
After breakfast, I get straight into work: reading scripts or learning lines for several hours. This nearly always involves intervals of me running around the house, stretching, singing, and being a lunatic in my apartment—because I work from home. Then usually head into the city for some sort of meeting, either about things I’m writing or an audition. Biking is my preferred means of transport, so my outfit nearly always involves a huge backpack with books, notepads, laptop, and at least three lip balms.
Photo by Emma Fishman4/4Eating Out and Dining In
Apart from a few of my favorite cafes—Dimes, Golda, Hart’s, or Metta—I would really rather be cooking my own food. It sounds ridiculous, but I do often feel that I can make what I’m craving better than I can find something in the world that I want to eat. There’s just something about the process of preparation—maybe this is an analogy for acting—that makes the product taste so much better. I also find it way more sustainable and less wasteful to eat at home. At the moment, I’m making a lot of fish tacos, sourdough bread (just ask me about my starter—it’s a whole thing), French macaroons, light summer soups, and seafood.
For me, “balance” involves eating mostly plants, never avoiding carbs or entire food groups, and always leaving room for Van Leeuwen ice cream. Food is such a pleasure, so taking that time and connecting with what I eat is the real priority.
