Actress, comedian, and producer Kathryn Hahn had a feeling she was going to be in show business ever since her first appearance on television as a fourth grader in 1983: a local puppet show for children in the Cleveland, Ohio area.
It would take many years of hard work and sacrifice before she found widespread recognition. In fact, it wasn’t until 2001 that Hahn found a national audience when she was cast as "darling" grief counselor Lily Lebowski in the NBC crime drama "Crossing Jordan." Most recently, the actress starred in the Marvel miniseries “WandaVision." In 2018, Hahn also released her first book, My Wish for You: Lessons from My Six-Year-Old Daughter, a Scholastic children's book with illustrations by Brigette Barrager.
Hahn always knew that there was “no other choice” for her than becoming an actor. Thinking that a well-balanced, liberal arts education was the best way for her to cultivate her acting chops, she enrolled at Northwestern University in 1991 and it ended up being a perfect fit.
After graduating from Northwestern in 1995 with a Bachelor of Arts in theatre, Hahn made her way to New York City. Several fruitless years later, and already in her late 20s, she enrolled in Yale's MFA program, despite the risk that Yale might not boost her career and would certainly increase her student debt. But for Hahn, the benefits weren't quantifiable. “It was the best," she said, after receiving her Yale MFA in 2001, "because I just got to act for three years.”
Of late, Hahn has returned to her beloved Northwestern campus. In 2019, she delivered a talk on what it’s like to be a lead on a hit HBO show ("Mrs. Fletcher") and how the university shaped her development. In 2021, the actress was back to speak on numerous topics, including her lead in "WandaVision," future projects, and some of her fondest memories of Northwestern. Her talk concluded with a bit of advice to the university crowd: "What makes you special, your superpower as an artist, is your individuality,” Hahn said. “That acknowledgement is like a fire that can clear the lens through which you see the world as it is, which is key to discovering your own artistic expression.”