Madison Blaine McLaughlin. is an American actress known for her roles in the cult classic television series like Supernatural, Arrow, and Teen Wolf; she is also an advocate for rare disease awareness with her non-profit, Mac Pac Foundation.
Photograph by Kelsey Fowler
Why did you personally want to go into acting?
It's always been about the emotions for me (I'm an enneagram type 2 / INFJ / Scorpio — I know that's a really LA thing to say ). I remember being five or six and getting a rush whenever I could make people feel things. I'd recreate really heavy scenes or perform my favorite musical numbers, just to feel feelings and to watch the grown ups around me feel feelings. There was a period of time when my party trick was doing this really dramatic monologue from Hope Floats (made iconic by one of the greatest of our time, Mae Whitman). In the monologue, I'd get really into it; crying and screaming, the whole thing. It was like magic. Watching the grown ups go from being amused by this six year old kid's antics to being absolutely emotionally destroyed in a matter of seconds like we were all on this wild ride of emotions together; it was riveting.
You’ve been acting since you were a child and have such an impressive project list. What is a role that's changed your life or resonated with you most?
My time on Chicago PD really changed my life. It was my first time living in a new city totally by myself, which at 19, would've been life-altering enough. But I also started boxing and Muay Thai for that role which forced me to address some trauma and my relationship with my body as a whole, which really cracked me open in a new way as an actor. Learning to act with my body was pretty revolutionary for me. I don't think I would've fully embraced that opportunity for vulnerability if it weren't for Elias Koteas, though. He played my long lost dad on the show. Every scene with him felt like a one act play. We'd spend hours talking about the characters and what brought them to this point, and we never did two takes the same way. It was different from any other TV experience I'd ever had. Working with Jensen Ackles was a lot like that, too. It's really special to have a scene partner who gives you the space and freedom to do the work, and who encourages you to follow your instincts.
What kind of characters and projects are you drawn to and why?
I really love playing characters that are written with a bigger purpose than being liked. I played one of the most hated characters on Arrow (you should see my DMs) and it felt very exhilarating to me. There's a certain freedom that comes with being allowed to be mean, sarcastic, or unlikable. I like when a character is layered enough to contradict herself. I also really enjoy the personal challenge of picking up a script and forcing out any judgement that comes up. I think actors need to be very empathetic people, because I don't think there's any room for an actor to judge their character. I really love playing roles that crack me open a little.
You've been part of a lot of cult classics, like Supernatural and Teen Wolf. What has that experience been like?
I really didn't know what to expect going into it. I was fifteen when I started Supernatural, and I loved the show. I watched it with my mom and sister. I was so nervous about all of it: flying to another country, working with actors I'd admired for years, having people meet this new character I loved so much and already felt very protective of... it was a lot. From the first moments I met them, Jensen and Jared went above and beyond to make me feel welcome. Jensen had conversations with my grandmother about our families and southern food, Jared physically carried me to set so I didn't get my shoes muddy. I was, as my grandmother would say, spoiled rotten.
A few days after I started filming, it came out on Twitter that I had been cast. Right away, people were so supportive and excited. A lot of teenage girls were especially excited to see a character like Krissy come up. I'd never experienced anything like that. It did initially add some pressure because I could feel how important the show was to so many people; I wanted to do it justice. But the nice messages kept coming in, and it kind of felt like a secret ingredient to the show. I always felt very supported on set, knowing that there was a whole corner of the internet being cheerleaders for all things Supernatural.
Teen Wolf was really similar! Still, almost ten years later, I'll meet people who know our storyline better than I do. The Teen Wolf fandom really showed up for me this year; they helped us bring in over $14,000 in a merch sale we did as a fundraiser for MacPac Foundation. One of our best sellers was a Teen Wolf design, and the Supernatural fandom is known for raising money for charities through GISHWHES. It's really amazing to see a bunch of people turn their love of a show into building friendships, relationships, careers, and even raising money for people who need it. Plus, they have some of the best cosplayers I've ever seen.
In addition to being an actress, you also run a non-profit. Can you tell us a little bit about that?
I have three teenage sisters, and two of them have one of the rarest diseases out there. It's called HBSL, and less than 25 people in the world are diagnosed with it. As you'd imagine, a disease that rare is nearly impossible to secure funding for, so my mom and I started our own foundation for it! Around the holidays, my mom always signs our Christmas cards as "The MacPac", so we named our non-profit the MacPac Foundation. The money we raise supports research and families affected by rare disease.
Not a lot of people know this, but a lot of accessibility equipment (like wheelchairs and accessible vans), medications, surgeries, therapies, and treatments aren't fully covered by insurance. We know how much weight that type of financial debilitation can put on families, so we wanted to lighten the load a little. With my sisters being Gen Z super humans, they've also educated me a lot on their experiences as young disabled women in America in 2021. We want to use our platform as a non-profit to raise awareness about rare diseases and disabilities in general. Did you know that airplanes are still not wheelchair accessible? There's a lot of work to do and I feel extremely under-qualified 92% of the time, but there were a lot of holes we saw that needed filling. As a family, we kind of just stopped asking "why us?" and started saying "why not us?"
What are three pieces of work (film, television, podcast, or book) that you think every women should know?
Promising Young Woman is a film that, no joke, rattled me to my bones. I'd definitely say to exercise your best judgement and maybe talk to your friends (or therapist) about it before watching, because it can bring up a lot. After I saw it the first time, I just sat alone and cried for a while. In a good way! Besides having a deeply complicated, very dark, very twisty leading woman, there were also lots of other complicated, messy, kind of very unlikable female characters which I'm always looking for in movies. Also, it's just beautifully shot. The colors, the framing, the wardrobe, the soundtrack... everything.
This is a new one, but lately I've been listening to The Drama Queens podcast with Sophia Bush, Hilarie Burton, and Bethany Joy Lenz. Fair warning, 80% of it may feel like gibberish if you've somehow missed the TV golden age of One Tree Hill. But what struck me is how honest they are about their time on set as young actors. They're very open about how they've learned to advocate for themselves not just as young creatives, but as women in general. To see them all leading their own careers now feels very cool, like they're all my fun aunts who I drink wine with and just happen to not know that I exist.
I was going to very unashamedly suggest Miss Americana (yes, the Taylor Swift documentary) because I think it's super important for girls to see someone that mega famous and talented talk openly about her mental health, but, I really want to talk about this podcast I love called Directionally Challenged. Specifically, there are two episodes I can listen to over and over again. One is with TV icon Julie Plec. If you're at all interested in acting or writing or making a TV show, it's so fascinating and Julie is brilliant and hilarious. The other episode is with ultimate dream girls, Aisha Tyler and Carina MacKenzie. It's a wealth of knowledge of how to approach relationships, careers, art, friendships; honestly it's some of the best advice I've ever heard. In the biggest stroke of luck of all time, all the stars aligned and now I get to be friends with Carina IRL. Sometimes when I burrow deep into an isolation hole, I'll play this episode to hear her genius voice give genius advice. 10/10 recommend.
What excites you most about the future of the industry?
Over the last few years, I've worked with more women directors, showrunners, and writers than ever before. Seeing firsthand how much more collaborative, empathetic, and safe those female-lead sets feel makes me very excited for the stories that will be told -- and the authenticity in which they'll be told. To be totally transparent, I'm stoked to see more female roles and stories come up that aren't centered on the women being likable (or in pushup bras 24/7).