Cora Josephine Hagerty grew up in the small town of Porter, Maine. Facing the cold winters and buggy summers, Cora grew up in some of the most beautiful countryside in the nation. Her hippy parents named her after her neighbor Cora Bean and great grandmother Josephine, a pioneer in all respects.

Her great grandmother was one of the first Irish American Catholics to get into Harvard and at 14 Cora Josephine decided she wanted to carry on her pioneering legacy and go by Josephine. Her parents told her that she could do anything that she wanted with her life but that she must change the world before she left it.

After having some of the most incredible years of her life at Sacopee Valley High School, she headed to Grinnell College in Iowa. While she met amazing friends and some life-changing teachers, her most valuable experience was during her off-campus study program. She was privileged enough to study at the Moscow Art Theatre in Moscow, Russia, and in England at the National Theatre Institute and in Waterford, CT, at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center. It was during these adventures that she became convinced that there was no other life for her other than a profession in acting.

After graduating Grinnell College in 2000, she headed to the big apple where she worked doing theatre in houses like the John Houseman and Carnegie Hall and supported herself with commercial voice over work. After many interviews with her favorite directors and mentors, she was encouraged to apply to the top graduate schools. Wanting to stay in NYC, she applied to the best: TISCH’s NYU Graduate Acting Program. After working for over a year on her admittance monologues, she got in and started constructing a network that would dramatically benefit her as she started her career.

At NYU, she was awarded the Marcia Gay Harden Scholarship her final year as well as given the mentor assignment of Camryn Manheim. After graduation she did a show at Primary Stages, a new play of Jose Rivera’s, and a promotional video for TISCH featuring Alec Baldwin. Yearning to be in California for years, during the winter of 2005 she received all of the signs needed to head west.

Since she has arrived in California, she has experienced enormous luck and is most determined to tell the stories of others who have not yet been heard through writing, directing and acting her own words. A small town girl with big town sophistication, she is the happiest she has been here in Hollywood pursuing her life’s passion and is excited to give back as she has been so graciously given to her entire life.

 

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