Farmington Hills

Farmington Hills native finds acting success on TV

By Eric Czarnik
C & G Staff Writer

Julie Meyer

FARMINGTON HILLS — A bit of Hollywood is coming home for the holidays.

Farmington Hills native Julie Meyer, 29, has been busy racking up several parts in some of today’s hottest TV shows.

Some of her recent work has included roles on the CBS show “How I Met Your Mother,” the pilot of NBC’s “The New Normal” and ABC’s “The Middle.” She is also scheduled to appear on the CBS show “Rules of Engagement” in 2013, she said.

Meyer said she is happy that her career has blossomed throughout the past couple of years. “Someone’s paying me to do this,” she said. “It’s just amazing.”

Meyer said she has been acting since she was about 6. While living in Farmington Hills, she tried out for Star Search in downtown Detroit as a kid, but she didn’t make it past the auditions.

She still remembers when her parents used to usher at Detroit’s Fisher Theatre, in exchange for getting to see shows. “They would get me a kids ticket, and I would kind of help and hand out … programs,” she said. “I saw, like, every show there.”

Meyer said she developed her acting skills at the Jewish Community Center of Metropolitan Detroit and at Walled Lake Western High School. She later attended college at Michigan State University and transferred to the University of Michigan to pursue film and video studies.

Right after college, she moved to Los Angeles and jumped into auditioning and taking additional acting classes. She described the process of adjusting to life in the West Coast entertainment industry.

“People think it’s such a tough city and it’s so hard,” she said. “I’m constantly reminded by how kind people are out here. People want you to do well. … It just takes time.”

In 2009, she got a breakthrough part on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” in a skit where she played a secretary. Although her lines ended up getting cut, she kept working hard to get roles. “Each year, more people knew who I was,” she said.

Meyer said many of her onscreen roles are quirky, funny characters who fulfill a niche.  One of her most memorable career moments involves working with Neil Patrick Harris on “How I Met Your Mother.” The two acted together onscreen during a “last call” bar scene.

Meyer’s mother, Sharon Greenspon, said her daughter grew up in a very nice area and was free to pursue the arts. She said she is proud of her daughter’s accomplishments and called her an inspiration to other young adults.

“It is so exciting to see her hard work and to come into fruition,” Greenspon said. “She is doing all the right things and sticking with it and being smart about it and making the right decisions. So many people work in jobs where they don’t like them, and it took a lot of bravery on her part to do this.”

Looking ahead to next year, Meyer said she hopes to work more TV comedy roles, and she added that she would love to appear on AMC’s “Mad Men.” On the side, she also plans to continue her weekly improv sessions with the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in Los Angeles.

She said it’s very important to continue to get better at her profession.

“It’s my own journey,” she said. “I cannot control the outcome. All I control is what I do in my audition.”

Learn more at www.imdb.me/juliemeyer.

You can reach C & G Staff Writer Eric Czarnik at eczarnik@candgnews.com or at (586)498-1058.