City College alumna Katherine Bottoms shines in the spotlight while her family history doesn’t hold her back from breaking into the acting industry on her own.
Coming from a family of actors, her father is Joseph Bottoms and her uncles are Timothy, Ben and the late Sam Bottoms. Her grandfather James Bottoms made the dolphin fountain sculpture at the entrance of Santa Barbara’s Stearns Wharf.
Bottoms credits her father’s old soap opera scripts in which she would draw on as a child to help jumpstart her love for acting.
“My dad is such a theatrical person that there’s no way that that couldn’t seep into me somehow,” Bottoms said.
Bottoms is no stranger to the Theatre Group as she has played roles in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” “Present Laughter” and “The Heiress.” She is currently casted as the lead role, Catherine, in the Theatre Group’s production of “Proof” which premiered earlier this month.
“This show is just so real and the writing is so natural and it’s not over-the-top situations,” she said. “I still can’t believe I get to do it. This is like a dream role for any girl just because there’s so many layers to this character.”
When she first started this production, Bottoms was juggling two plays, one of which was an hour away from Santa Barbara.
“I was doing a show in Simi Valley,” said Bottoms. “I was driving there for a show, coming back for night rehearsal. Then staying here for this [“Proof”] in the morning and then having another show at night back in Simi Valley.”
Prior to finding her success in acting roles in the Santa Barbara area, Bottoms found herself in Los Angeles auditioning alongside young well-known actors. One of them starred in television show, “Degrassi.”
“Right out of high school, I got an agent and a manager,” said Bottoms. “I went down there and started auditioning like crazy for pilot seasons and then I just got overwhelmed and I wasn’t ready.”
Looking into her future, Bottoms goals consist of having a humble, yet rewarding career in the industry as a “lower C, upper B-list actress.”
“It’s all I can see myself doing,” said Bottoms. “It totally keeps me going. It’s so much fun.”
