Taryn Manning

“It’s not easy to be vulnerable in the world right now. It’s too easy for people to pick you apart for no reason. But I’m building the strength to be fully open and honest, knowing that what matters is the truth in my art.”

Taryn Manning

By: Larry Flick

Taryn Manning is in the midst of a creative and emotional renaissance. Strange as it might sound, she owes much of it to the pandemic.

“My experience was much like everyone else’s at first,” she says. “I remember just sitting very still and feeling very alone. It forced me to really look at myself and work through some important issues. That made everything shift. As the whole world opened up, so did mine. It felt quick and out of nowhere.”

But it wasn’t. The COVID-enforced downtime allowed Manning time to dig deep and make peace with her life, from the choices she was making to the ones over which she had no control.

“After years of asking myself, ‘what now?’ I started to have answers. They were MY answers, not ideas that there foisted upon me by fate or circumstances,” she says, adding that she soon felt “a world of possibilities” open up around her. It hasn’t come without a fair share of pain and heartache, including an unexpectedly public engagement and break-up with musician Anne Cline – an experience that taught Manning to stop trying to control every aspect of her life and image.

“I’m learning to just be myself in every possible way. Who knew that it would so hard?” Manning says with a self-depracating laugh. “But I guess it’s worth it.”

It certainly has sparked a spree of work. Manning can currently in a fistful of projects this fall. High on the list has been her unflinchingly provocative and aggressive performance as the title character of “Karen,” a cinematic meditation on racial tension

written and directed by Coke Daniels. Manning was so intent on playing the role that she took on the duties of co-producing the project.

“I saw this movie as a platform to be a part of the movement to change society and wake people up,” she says. “We feel this movie’s job is to put out a message – to help affect change. This movie covers issues that are still uncomfortable for many, issues that need to be confronted in film to teach change.”

Following “Karen,” Manning co-stars in the crime thriller “The Gateway” with Shea Whigham, Olivia Munn, and Bruce Dern. She can be seen later this season in the theatrical/digital feature “Every Last One of Them.”

“There was a point after the first lock down when I found myself with a lot of cool opportunities to work, so I grabbed them,” she says, noting that the work process had changed in a welcome way with new COVID protocols.

“All of the fat was cut. We worked quicker and smarter, and we took no health risks. I was amazed by how productive you could be when you eliminated all of the unnecessary stuff and just got down to work. Best of all, the creativity didn’t suffer. If anything, it felt stronger. We were all just so grateful to be making art. The pandemic reminded us that our ability to work is a privilege. I’ve talked to so many people who had an attitude adjustment since COVID. You cannot take anything for granted.”

Part of the attitude adjustment for Manning was reckoning with where she lives as an actor.

“I was disappointed when I went up for a leading lady role and didn’t get it,” she says, adding that she tends to land quirkier, more challenging characters like Karen or religious zealot Pennsatucky in the iconic Netflix program Orange is the New Black. “I take a lot of beat-downs for the roles I play. But if I get an offer that intrigues me, I’m going to play the crap out of them. To me, the full range of humanity is interesting. I give it everything I have.”

It’s arguable that Manning earned her reputation as a formidable character actor in films like Eminem’s 8 Mile, as well as Hustle & Flow, which earned her a nomination for best breakthrough performance from the Washington DC Film Critics Association. Along the way, she earned props for roles in the Britney Spears vehicle Crossroads, as well as in Cold Mountain, White Oleander, and the Perfect Age of Rock N’ Roll. Eventually, she was cast in the groundbreaking Orange.

“People thought we were nuts for signing on for a streaming show,” Manning recalls with a smile. “It was new and pretty unknown in the mainstream. A year latter, those same people were trying to get a job in the medium. Taking on Orange was a leap of faith based solely on creativity and innovation. Everything else fell into place naturally.”

The end of Orange left Manning feeling uneasy. Shapeless. And anxious about her future.

“I’m the kind of person who needs to know what happens next,” she says. “Uncertainty is an anxiety trigger for me, like it is for many, I guess. I did a lot of therapy about accepting the uncertainty in my life I wanted so much to get rid of it.”

Then her therapist challenged her with a simple question: What kind of job can you do that will make you feel more secure and happy? What can do you instead of what you’re doing? The answer was equally as simple: Nothing.

“I love what I do too much,” Manning says. “In recognizing my love for the art, I was able to manage my feelings of panic. We all panic. And we’re all resilient. Watching the world bounce back during COVID helped more than I can say. I mean, we just got on with the business of life. None of knew about Zoom or changing protocols in work environments. We figured it out. We figured it out fast. We got rid of the distractions and go down to the core of who we are.”

So, who is Taryn Manning at the core?

“A musician,” she replies without even pausing to think. “Music is my heart and soul. It’s all I think about all day, every day.”

Manning started her career as a recording artist, signed to Dreamworks as part of the band Boomkat, releasing two albums between 2003-2009. It was a logical progression from the influence of her parents, a former Radio City Rockette dancer and a musician

in a band signed to the legendary Gamble and Huff in Philadelphia. When the band dissolved, Manning became an active club DJ, infusing her sets with live performances of her own original songs. Among her singles is the No. 1 Billboard Club Play smash Send Me Your Love. Although she still proudly describes herself as a raver, her direction is shifting.

“I picked up my guitar again for the first time in years, and it felt so good. So natural,” she says. “I’m ready to shred, but in a way that shows skill and passion. I’m writing all the time, and I’m working hard to be good. I don’t just want to be the actor who makes records. I want to be heard in a pure and honest way, without an eye roll.”

Those last words overcome Manning with tears and emotion. As she catches her breath and regains composure, she says, “It’s not easy to be vulnerable in the world right now. It’s too easy for people to pick you apart for no reason. But I’m building the strength to be fully open and honest, knowing that what matters is the truth in my art.”

And it’s the truth that the artist is ready to share. After years of keeping a tight lid on her personal life and sexuality, has recently come out as bisexual. It came on the heels of an engagement to musician Anne Cline that the indie artist made public. Although the whirlwind experience left Manning initially startled, it has proven to be a “most liberating experience. For so many years, I was scared to talk abut my sexuality. I was afraid that it would hurt my acting career.” All that matters to the post-pandemic Taryn Manning is experiencing freedom in every possible form.

“I am living without fear for the first time in my life. That allows me to really go after my true dreams of total creativity and music that matters. It makes me emotional to share this right now, because it shows how much I care about the outcome. I feel totally exposed. Naked to the world.

“But then again,” she concludes. “I’m finally willing to bet on my true self. No secrets. No lies. That feels so good.”

It makes me emotional to talk about my true dreams. It’s hard but it’s worth it. Ready to be more vulnerable. Coming out changes like. Creative soul is free. Press found out. My mother had to accept it. I tried to prove to her that I’m a good person. I feel free. I feel like my heart is open. I’m not hiding anymore.

Photographer: Heather Koepp Stylist: Oththan Burnside Hair: Brandon Liberati

MUA: Beth Follet using Chantecaille and Vapour Beauty

There’s also the universal issue of facing the judgement of your family. “I just thought, ‘what is my mother going to say? How will she reconcile all of the human that I truly am? The most important thing I said to her was ‘I’m still a good person.’ And she believed me.”

While Manning calls her family relationships “an ever evolving work in progress,” she feels good about the doors of her closet being blown off their hinges – even though her engagement with Cline has since ended.

“I am a person who loves other people; regardless of gender or orientation. I respond to a heart and genuine actions and emotion without societal rules or