Garlington was the winner of the 2020 Indie Series Award for “Best Lead Actress in a Comedy” for her portrayal of Elsee in Before We Go. “That was a shock,” she admitted. “When they said my name, I literally had nothing prepared. It just never occurred to me. When I won, it was such a surprise.”
“Before We Go was a labor of love, and it was all René Ashton, her writing, and her direction. René created Elsee, and I was so happy to get to inhabit her. She’s a pistol that Elsee,” Garlington said. “It was a beautifully written part.”
She has nothing but kind words about her Before We Go co-stars Rachel Marsh and Jared Scott. “Rachel is just delightful and wonderful. We had so much fun and we connected. Rachel was a delight from the beginning to the end,” she said. “Jared Scott is a sweetheart. I like him. It was an amazing experience to do Before We Go.”
In 2018, she was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for “Outstanding Actress in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series” for Broken for playing Darlene. “That was shocking as well,” she said. “It was a new category. It has existed for two years before that point.”
On being an actress in the digital age, Garlington said with a sweet laugh, “There are so many platforms, why am I not a series regular on something these days? There are more platforms than there is good content. The digital age is great. I’m in the age group where if you are not already ‘famous,’ it is more difficult to get parts. That’s fine because you can create your own content. I’ve been doing this for 40 years.”
For young and aspiring actors, she said, “This is a business where many are called but a few are chosen. It’s a business that eats its young and throws away its old. It’s a business that’s riddled with addiction and all sorts of problems and issues. A lot of people come into show business trying to fill that hole. There is no greater teacher of humility than show business.”
Garlington continued, “Do not be one of those people that stops their life in order to be an actor. When I go into auditions, I bring everything I am to the plate: I’m a wife, mother, homeowner, I paint, I write, I read and I bake bread. All of these things form who I am. Be a fully rounded human being. Never say that ‘you are an actor.’ Say that ‘you make your living as an actor’. Show business is a part of me, as opposed to vice versa. You need to fight long and hard to get there.”
On the title of the current chapter of her life, she said, “Re-storying whiteness and moving into consciousness about white privilege.”
The veteran actress defined the word success as “waking up every day feeling good, purposeful, and grateful.” “I haven’t had my peak yet, but I have had an incredibly successful life of which show business has been a big part. I think I am going to peak in my 70’s,” she said.
“We would love for more people to see Before We Go. It’s funny but poignant. You have no idea where it’s going at this point. René’s writing is fabulous and it takes you on all of these twists and turns that you don’t see coming,” she concluded.
Read More: Before We Go earned a glowing review from Digital Journal, which was hailed as “witty, entertaining and superb.”
