Before I officially met Miranda Rae Mayo, I watched her on a variety of screens. On my phone, she sings Alicia Keys’ “Fallin’” on TikTok. On my TV, she’s with her Chicago P.D. and Chicago Med colleagues on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, talking about how she’s been a cast member on Chicago Fire since 2016. On my computer, she’s on a YouTube interview from 2016, standing under a tree and answering questions about her life as naturally as if she were speaking to a dear friend.
I like her instantly. There’s something kind about the way she speaks, and the confidence with which she carries herself makes me want to be the beneficiary of that energy.
When she pops onto my computer screen for our interview, the vibe is so comfortable that it feels like we’ve known each other for years. Within five minutes, we’re laughing, opening the rigors of adulting and comparing Mary J. Blige lyrics.
Mayo is an incredibly likable person, and it’s not just because she knows how to act the part. Before our call, I was told by someone who knows her well that “she’s just such a magical human.”
Even while she’s sitting on the floor of a dimly lit closet, wearing yellow sunglasses that take up half of her face, she radiates so much light that we may as well have been standing under a tree in the bright summer sun. I appreciate that, even with an exhaustive shooting schedule for Chicago Fire, she’s spending a treasured day off with me—the rest of it spent, she says, cleaning out her closet.
“I’m in my closet right now so that I don’t forget about it and abandon it, because that’s how my mind is,” she laughs. “I’m all over the place. But I’m going to turn on [my music], and I’m going to jam.”
Musical influences
Despite spending her days as a full-time actor, Mayo has been singing since she was a child—likely taking cues from her dad, who is a jazz singer.
“Growing up, he would always sing to us,” she shares. “If there was ever a live band anywhere, my dad would probably figure out a way how to sing.” She remembers trying out her own voice at family reunions and her aunt’s spiritual center in Fresno, California. “I would always sing there,” she says. “So singing was the first dream. You know, to be some unique version of Britney Spears and Brandy.”
Despite those original influences, Mayo had a strong preference for the soulful stylings of Blige and remembers singing her hit song, “Not Gon’ Cry,” at age 7.
“That was the one that I imagined someday I’d be in a stadium singing,” she says. “It’s funny. I was driving home literally two days ago from the set, and I turned my car on, and [that song] was on the radio. I never listen to the radio. And that was the song that was on. I was so happy. I know all the words.”
I know all the words too, and I sheepishly ask if she’d consider singing it to me at the end of our call. But before I even finish my sentence, my speakers fill with a richness that reminds me of chocolate sauce being poured on top of a sundae. It has all of Blige’s characteristic depth and range, with Mayo’s etherealness acting as soft clouds of whipped cream atop the musical dessert being served.
The closet becomes a stage, with Mayo’s eyes closed and me swaying back and forth in my chair.
“Eleven years of sacrifice / And you can leave me at the drop of a dime… / Well, I’m not gon’ cry. I’m not gon’ cry. / I’m not gon’ shed no tears.”
Her early career
Mayo has clearly found her calling, and I ask if she always knew she’d be in show business.
“I hoped,” she said, remarking on the fact that she was always a dramatic kid. “And then, in high school,” she adds, “it was like, ‘Oh, that’s what you do with that?’”
Once she knew where to channel her talents, the roles started coming. In addition to TV appearances on Law & Order: Los Angeles and Pretty Little Liars, she was also in movies like The Girl in the Photographs and Going Places before landing on Chicago Fire as Stella Kidd. Mayo knows that the luxury of a longtime gig in Hollywood is rare, and it’s an opportunity she doesn’t take lightly, particularly when it comes to the show itself.
“I think it’s one of those shows that, once you watch one, it’s like Pringles,” she laughs. “Once you pop, the fun doesn’t stop. I do feel that way. Watching one episode is kind of enough to keep you locked in and curious. And everybody on our show is so just compelling and full of love.… I think people can feel it, and that’s part of what pulls you in and gets you invested.”
Facing rejection
I ask her what a career like acting, with its rampant criticism and unsolicited commentary, has taught her about rejection.
“I think all the way from the beginning of my career until when I was fortunate enough to land on Chicago Fire, [being accustomed to rejection] was something that was necessary,” she says. “And now, I think I definitely have not experienced the same kind of exposure to that kind of rejection on such a regular basis, so I’m a little out of practice.”
What Mayo does have practice with, however, is her mindset. She works a lot on attachment in her own spiritual practice—which she has cultivated with famed leaders like Michael Beckwith—and believes that not getting too attached is connected to our ability to evolve. This way of thinking has allowed her to look at any challenge as an opportunity for redirection.
“I heard someone say on Instagram that rejection really just is a redirection,” she says. “And so the more comfortable that I can get with inevitable or uncontrollable redirection, the more joy-filled my life can be.”
Redirection is a part of transformation, which is a concept that Mayo fully embraces, knowing that she has come far from where she first began. As a self-proclaimed dramatic kid looking to unleash the different parts of herself into the world, it seems like a fitting evolution that, as an adult, she is helping kids unleash different parts of themselves into a world that they don’t always feel safe navigating.
Spreading warmth through HLF
Since 2017, Mayo has been involved with the Holistic Life Foundation (HLF), “a BIPOC-led nonprofit based in Baltimore, Maryland,” that has helped youth and adults in underserved communities improve their “social, educational, emotional and environmental well-being“ through yoga and mindfulness since 2001, according to the foundation’s website. Its Mindful Moment program integrates mindfulness and yoga into the school day for children, which has led to “a 72% reduction in classroom suspensions.“ Students get to take part in daily 15-minute breath work and guided reflection sessions, and those who need extra support can visit the Mindful Moment Room, which contains meditation cushions, yoga mats, artwork, waterfalls and plants.
“Individuals transform into more compassionate, loving individuals who learn to live in the moment and to self-regulate so that they are not reacting to life but are able to respond to their internal and external stimuli,” says cofounder Andrés González. “They become more aware, focused, centered and empathetic. This then trickles out into their surrounding communities.”
Mayo, who has been a board member since 2020, says that working with HLF has matched the work that she wants to do in the world. One of the biggest things she has learned from working with HLF is how her own personal practice directly correlates with the kind of impact she can have.
“You have to know how to emotionally regulate,” she says. “You have to know how to be still and be patient and be loving, if that’s what you want [for] the children and the community. That’s how the world changes.”
Cofounder Ali Smith loves that Mayo truly practices what she preaches.
“When Miranda first appeared in Baltimore back in 2017, we were trying to figure out how a famous actress even knew about us and why she was so passionate about wanting to help,” he says. “Once we got to know her, her caring spirit and her desire to make the world a better place, it became evidently clear.”
Making an impact
Changemaker seems like a role that suits Mayo well. She understands that to have an impact on others, you must first know yourself. Transformation is an inside job.
“[Transformation] isn’t… reaching out and turning into something else,” she says. “It’s peeling back [the layers] and revealing who you are.”
Photo by: Alexus McLane
