A Richmond native and St. Catherine’s graduate is the quirky, one-eyed housewife on Amazon Prime’s “Fallout.”
Annabel O’Hagan, 26, plays Stephanie Harper in the new series based on a video game. “Fallout,” which was released April 10, explores the lives of shelter-dwellers 200 years after the apocalypse as they discover a world above ground.
O’Hagan describes her character as her “psycho housewife dream girl.”
“(Steph) is patriotic and smart and bubbly and motherly, but she’s also got something dark under the surface,” O’Hagan said. “Something I love about (the writing) is that they present you with an archetype of a character, which for me would be the 1950s housewife, and they would find some way to subvert your expectations about (the character).”
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O’Hagan’s acting career began during her years at Harvard University, where she studied theater and psychology. She participated in about three productions per semester in college, ranging from Shakespeare to musicals.
O’Hagan was one of the first women, along with a few others, to break the glass ceiling of Hasty Pudding Theatricals, a once all-male organization and the oldest theatrical organization in the country.
After graduating from Harvard, O’Hagan moved to New York City to begin what she called the “actor hustle.”
“The early days of living in New York were rough,” O’Hagan said. “I worked multiple side jobs at once. I auditioned for hundreds of projects across TV and film and theater. I got a lot of rejection. I still do. It’s just a part of what it means to be an actor, and it’s a harsh reality, but it makes the successes totally worth it.”
The first year living in New York, despite meeting her manager, Myrna Jacoby, showed O’Hagan how to be resilient, she said.
“My first sigh of relief during those early days was booking a top-of-show guest star role on ‘Law & Order: SVU,’ which is a very classic first opportunity for a lot of actors” O’Hagan said.
Her ‘SVU’ appearance was in 2020, just before the COVID-19 pandemic, during which she began the “actor hustle” again. The industry slowed, and O’Hagan had to work to find jobs, she said.
In 2022, she received an email request to audition for “Fallout” and was quickly blown away by the script, she said.
“I literally would have given an arm and a leg to be on that show, but it really only cost me an eye in the end,” O’Hagan said. Her character loses an eye during an early scene of the show.
O’Hagan spent a lot of time and energy creating the perfect audition tape for “Fallout” because she loved the script so much. She would even call out sick from her other jobs to work on the tape, she said.
“Whenever I submit an audition, I immediately have to let it go,” she said. “Because if you are sitting there wondering when they’re going to call you back, you end up disappointed most of the time.”
After submitting her “Fallout” audition, O’Hagan went on a trip to Italy, where she got a call that she had gotten the role. Despite having to cut her trip short, she was thrilled.
“It was a total whirlwind, but probably one of the top days of my life so far,” she said.
She describes her experience working on “Fallout” as a dream come true.
“From the first day of filming, you could tell the whole team was just buzzing with creative energy,” O’Hagan said. “We just knew we had the capacity to make something really special.
“It’s been so satisfying and incredible to just watch the world have as much fun watching the show as we had making it.”
“Fallout” has been renewed for a second season as of last week. However, O’Hagan has been working on other projects to fill in the gap between seasons. She is starring in a film she made with her friends called “Rent Free,” which is premiering at Tribeca Film Festival this June.
“I am hungry for the next project,” she said. “I want to have the kind of career that extends across genres.”
While waiting for this next project, O’Hagan tries to come to Richmond to visit family every few months. She loves to visit her favorite restaurants, specifically Taste for the Caprese sandwich and Kuba Kuba for the Cuban. She also uses her visits to Richmond to buy vintage boots from Clementine in Carytown and see a show at the Virginia Repertory Theatre. She also teaches acting classes to students at St. Catherine’s in addition to her usual visits.
“After living in (New York City) for four years, I understand why someone wouldn’t,” she said. “Richmond has, to me, the most amazing balance of old and new, of art and great food, and it just brings my heart rate down to come back to Richmond.”
“Fallout” season one is streaming on Amazon Prime now.