The first time Weinberg sophomore Hana Hyde ever acted, she was a 6-year-old standing on the sidelines of her younger brother’s soccer game when a stranger gave her a short script for a McDonald’s commercial and asked her to memorize it.
She did. Quickly.
The woman — who turned out to be a talent agent — asked to film her reciting it. Minutes later, she asked Hyde if she wanted representation.
“I was 6, so I was like, ‘Sure,’” Hyde said. “Then I got my mom.”
That moment led to a contract with Big Fish NW Talent Agency and a childhood filled with commercials for companies like T-Mobile, Volkswagen and Microsoft, modeling work for Seattle-based brands like Nordstrom and Amazon and, eventually, film roles.
Acting on the big screen
Most recently, Hyde played the romantic lead in the feature film “Off the Line.” The film centers on speed skating prodigy Mark Stevenson (Samuel L. Pierce) and his friend Jake Flyer (Forrest Campbell) as they train for the elite European Grand Prix 24-hour race.
Pierce, also the film’s lead director, writer and producer, said Hyde’s presence on set made emotional scenes feel natural rather than forced.
“Her easygoing vibe is really easy to be a bit more vulnerable with,” he said. “It didn’t feel stiff. It didn’t feel awkward at all.”
Today though, Hyde is a 19-year-old Wildcat majoring in environmental policy and sociology, trying to decide how much room acting will ultimately take up in her life.
Learning, performing and teaching
Hyde is the daughter of two Seattle dentists: Her father, Gregg Hyde is an Army veteran turned hometown practitioner, and her mother, Amy Kim is a dental professor.
“There are nine living doctors in my family,” Hyde said. “Almost everyone is a dentist or psychiatrist.”
For her, creativity wasn’t the expected path.
Still, she vividly remembers reading chapter books with her mother, who was an English major at the University of Michigan. This tradition fostered Hyde’s love for stories.
“She tried really hard to leave space for creativity,” Hyde said. “That’s something we’ve always shared.”
Balancing professional acting with school was easier at first, she “loved” using the excuse of commercial shoots to miss class. But the balancing act grew more complicated in middle and high school.
Hyde learned early how to advocate for herself, negotiating missed assignments and long days on set that could stretch up to 14 hours.
“You develop a strong sense of self pretty quickly,” she said.
That self-assurance deepened while teaching preschool stage performance back home at Stone Soup Theatre in Seattle, where Hyde now works summers with children ages 3 to 8.
Watching them perform without “self-consciousness” reshaped her own approach, she said.
“They just go on stage and be who they are,” Hyde said. “That’s usually when it’s the best.”
Theresa Francomacaro, director of education at Stone Soup Theatre, said Hyde brings that same openness into the classroom.
According to Francomacaro, Hyde’s presence goes beyond technical instruction, shaping the atmosphere of the theater itself.
“I always say to folks she can teach skill, but you can’t instill will. And Hana Hyde has willingness in droves,” she said.
The director also said her “amazing smile” and joy is wonderful for the kids acting at Stone Soup.
Francomacaro said Hyde grew up within the theater’s community.
Hyde started out in its initial programs, then stepped into leadership roles as an assistant and eventually directed summer productions herself.
That growth came naturally, Francomacaro said. Hyde earned trust not by seeking authority, but by collaborating and bringing the same calm, joyful presence to the leadership that she brought to the classroom, she added. Her consistency made her someone others could rely on in fast-moving, high-pressure environments, Francomacaro said.
“She jumped right in as an assistant,” she said. “But Hana rose to being a director because she had that self-confidence, she had the discipline and she had the artistic ‘know-how.’”
When roles mirror reality
Hyde thought about these lessons last year while filming “Off the Line” and playing Angela, a former champion speedskater pulled back into a competition after stepping away from the sport. The character’s arc closely mirrored Hyde’s own uncertainty about pursuing a career as an actress.
“Those emotional scenes were real,” she said. “It was me deciding whether I missed it enough to go back.”
On set, that same steadiness carried throughout long summer shoot days. Pierce described Hyde as a natural scene partner who kept performances unforced and genuine, even during vulnerable moments. Between takes, she was relaxed and upbeat, Pierce said, helping create an easygoing atmosphere that made “emotional scenes feel authentic rather than stiff.”
Hyde does not actually speed skate. A stunt double handled the fast scenes, while Hyde learned to fall convincingly.
“I had bruises everywhere,” she said. “I was definitely the worst out of all the actors.”
Marking a new chapter by marching through The Arch
The sophomore applied early decision to join Northwestern’s class of 2028, keeping the door open for acting, but deciding it might be better kept as a passion rather than a long-term career.
“Sometimes our goals have to change and adapt based on what’s realistic in our lives at that point,” Hyde said. “That doesn’t mean you need to stop being (an) artist or stop being creative.”
On campus, she found another stage through NU Mock Trial, where she often plays emotionally charged witnesses, roles that draw on the same instincts as acting, just in a courtroom.
The team’s president and Weinberg senior Téa Bartlett vividly remembers Hyde’s audition.
“It was about two minutes into her tryout, and our vice president messages, ‘Holy s–t guys, she has an IMDb page,’” Bartlett said.
But what mattered most was the person behind the resume.
As a member of the mock trial team, Hyde is part of a standout season that advances past the second qualifying round and becomes the first Northwestern B team in six years to qualify for nationals: a milestone teammates describe as especially meaningful given the competitiveness of the field.
In the witness role, Hyde has stood out for her emotional range. Bartlett recalled her performance as Kirby Doolittle, a “demanding“ witness role, and said Hyde’s ability to convey believable sadness was “immediately striking.”
“It was very clear that she had a lot of control over how she portrays a character,” Bartlett said.
When Hyde is not studying or rehearsing mock trial testimonies, she’s swimming laps at the Norris Aquatics Center or painting watercolors. Broadway may still live in the back of her mind, but so does law school, environmental advocacy and even talent representation.
Hyde hopes to bring more young talent into the theater business while encouraging youth to feel no shame in stepping away from creative pursuits — or reshaping them — when they choose paths that feel more sustainable and realistic for their lives.
“I don’t think giving something up means abandoning it,” Hyde said. “You can find pockets of great wherever you go.”
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