Inside the Life of a Fresh Broadway Starlet

Written by Alexandra Jacobs

"I would definitely call it living the dream," Karen Cartwright announces to me of her new life as we sit in the kitchen of her Brooklyn townhouse.

When you first meet Cartwright, a daunting sensation overcomes you. Photographs taken of her in the street and, more recently, at investors parties don't do her justice. Her brunette curls are like a curtain of chocolate as it falls across her porcelain skin. The Iowa native smiles one of the kindest smiles you'll ever see and suddenly you forget that you were ever scared of her.

It's morning on one of her few days off, yet still everyone rushes around in this household. Karen's adoptive daughter, Olivia, gurgles happily as the young actress feeds her. It is hard to believe that Cartwright has only had the 4 month old for a few weeks because the bond of mother and daughter between the two seems so clear and natural. Taylor Swift's Red album blares through the stereo and Karen sings along making the baby laugh with joy. I feel the need to ask whether it's always like this, whether this house always brims with such happiness and laughter as everyone hurries at an alarming pace and Cartwright merely replies "Pretty much,"

Cartwright, who will soon be seen as Marilyn Monroe in Bombshell, seems to be perfectly normal and down to earth, something refreshing from the traditional Broadway Starlet. "I feel that my need for normality is the only way I'll ever be humble," she admits as we sip on coffees that she has expertly made, a throwback to her waitressing days "I know that, in this line of work, you can be in one day and out the next, so I prefer to keep myself grounded," she says. It's as though she doesn't realise how much of a star she has the potential to be.

Actresses unknown and well-established clambered to even be able to audition for the role the actress has snagged and Cartwright is the third Marilyn to have graced the stage. During the workshop stages we saw Miss Ivy Lynn, the buxom blonde daughter of famed actress Leigh Conroy, take on the task of Marilyn. She was then fired in favour of the more seasoned Rebecca Duvall, who had never gotten close to gracing the Broadway Stage before being given Marilyn on a silver platter. When asked whether there was ever any animosity amongst the three actresses, Karen replies with an answer that sounds like it came out of the brain of a publicist. "Ivy and I had a slight rivalry but nothing too major. We've come to a neutral ground over it all now," And Rebecca? "She was surprisingly awesome. When you meet an actress of such a high calibre as she is you expect to be working with a total diva but she was so inclusive of all of the ensemble members. I wouldn't go so far to say that we were friends but I can safely say that we were firm acquaintances,"

Marilyn is, of course, the role of a lifetime for any young actress, as Karen will freely admit. "Marilyn was definitely the dream. I feel like I'm filling her shoes until she comes back," she states as she finally sits down, having now cleaned her kitchen as we've been conversing. "She's one of the very few characters who is both vulnerable and guarded and I'm so grateful that Tom [Levitt] and Julia [Houston] turned her life into the incredible show it is," When asked about her research for the role she giggles slightly before answering "I mean I've seen the films, I don't really know anyone who hasn't at least seen one of them but aside from them I think I read one which was The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe by J. Randy Tamborrelli and that was it. That was both helpful and a bit of a hindrance,"

Like her character, Cartwright has a history that takes a while to believe. If you were to trust the tabloids, you'd hear the story of how she was a small town sinner from a Christian family but that isn't true at all. "The rumours aren't true," she defends when asked about her father "He isn't the homophobic bigot Riedel made him out to be. When my brother came out, the rest of us had known for a while, it had seemed obvious but to Dad it wasn't and I think he was just shocked," Of course Rodger Cartwright is a perfectly respectable man. Like many in Iowa, he owns a business and works the family farm, the place where Karen and her younger siblings were raised. He married his childhood sweetheart, Elizabeth Cartwright (nee Shaw) straight out of college and Karen was born about a year afterwards. As far as Iowan standards go he lived up to them "We didn't really go to church that often. We went there for weddings and funerals, on anniversaries and at Christmas. Not all people from small towns are the god-fearing people television makes us out to be," she acknowledges regarding the stereotypes.

And what of the rumour of teenage promiscuous behaviour? Her face darkens when asked, her mouth losing its smile and her eyes gain a look of sadness to the point where you want to retract the question but she answers anyway "I wasn't a slut, I really didn't want any of the male attention I got as a teenager," and then there's the question my editor made me ask. What about this teen pregnancy? "This is difficult to talk about, it's been seven years and it's still difficult to talk about. I was pregnant at the age of seventeen, that much is true. I won't even bother to deny that fact. The rumours that it was a one night stand are false, the rumours that it was a boyfriend who then dumped me aren't true either," she says taking a deep breath and I'm able to figure the rest but she continues "I was 17, just turned and my dad had some of his friends round for one of the college football games they air on ESPN. It was the Iowa State Hawkeyes versing the NYU Violets. It hit half-time and I went downstairs so that I could grab some beers for them. I didn't realise until he cornered me, but one of Dad's friends followed me down and from there things… escalated," she tells and tears spring to her eyes. They aren't the tears we're used to seeing from actresses either, they're true tears, the tears we never want to see in those close to us. It's hard to watch and yet she continues "When I found out I was pregnant with his child I'd put myself in one of those dark holes of despair and I slit my wrist, just that little bit deeper than you should if you want to survive. The next thing I remember was waking up in a hospital room. My parents told me that they knew and that they wanted me to stay with my Uncle Harvey and Aunt Donna out in Des Moines. They were never ashamed of me, they knew the truth but they thought I'd get better if I wasn't in Davenport [the star's hometown],"

It's at this point where I decide to switch off the Dictaphone for a couple of minutes while Cartwright recomposes herself and takes young Olivia up to bed for her nap and, after she arrives back in the kitchen, we decide that we'll meet again in a couple of days.

I came back to see Cartwright in rehearsals for Bombshell at the Richard Rodgers theatre a couple of days later "This'll take a bit of getting used to," she says of the pre-show routine as she sits in her dressing room, putting on Marilyn's hair. Once again, everyone rushes around here, this time because of preparation for Bombshell's Invited Dress. Veterans of the ensemble come and go, telling her not to let the 'Dark Lord' get to her and she just laughs at them. That's one thing you quickly learn about Karen, she loves to laugh.

After we left our discussions on such a sad note, I ask the corniest possible question. What's it like dating your director? She laughs at it slightly, it's one of those high giggles you expect to hear from schoolgirls when they're discussing a boy and it's the thing that makes you realise that Karen Cartwright is just like us. "He'd kill me if I told you the truth," she jokes. Karen's current boyfriend director Derek Wills is famous as a hybrid of Voldemort and Casanova, yet it appears that she might have tamed him "He's one of those guys who has a reputation for the sake of work and then at home he's different, not completely but different," she confesses with one of those smiles that tells you she is completely in love. By now we are listening to Bob Dylan's Highway 61 Revisited album off of her phone, something you definitely wouldn't expect somebody of her age to listen to. She says that she prefers the sound of it on a record player but the theatre's contents insurance policy won't allow her to have one. Is Wills harder on her while at work now that they're together or easier "Are you kidding me? He's harder but then he has to be," she jokes lightly, her laugh effervescent as it spreads throughout the room and you can't help but smile at her "Work is work and personal is personal, we've tried to make sure the lines don't cross,"

The ensemble think very highly of her "Iowa is one of those once in a lifetime people. She loves a laugh but my god does she take her work seriously," One member, Bobby, tells me. Apparently, the ensemble have always called the brunette by her home state, she takes it as a term of endearment from a group who she claims "made [her] into the actress you see today,"

"She was so different when she came to our circle," Bobby continues "Karen wasn't necessarily our favourite person to start with but then we got to know her and we love her now," he tells me "She had this horrendously good looking boyfriend but he was a total a**hole, pardon my French," That boyfriend is Dev Sundaram assistant press secretary for New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, who when asked about his relationship with Cartwright preferred not to comment. Karen is tight lipped on the subject as well saying "It ended badly, that's all I'll say,"

What about the future? Where does Miss Karen Cartwright see herself five or ten years from now? "I'll get back to you on that. I probably won't have it figured out until I get there to be honest,"