Meg Donnelly, former Bernardsville Middle School student and Peapack resident, debuts in her first major role on the new ABC sitcom, American Housewife this fall. This upcoming American family television show, created by Sarah Dunn and produced by Kaplan Entertainment and ABC Studios, follows the daily life of Katie Otto, an unapologetic wife and mother of three who tries to learn the ropes of her new pretentious hometown of Westport, Connecticut. She takes initiative to raise her family the way she deems best and rise above the “perfect” families in her new neighborhood.
Meg plays the role of Taylor, the oldest of the Otto children who, according to Deadline.com, “was an awkward homely dork up until about three months ago when she suddenly got beautiful and [beings to] embark on a new stage in her life”. Meg explains that she went through as many as seven auditions in New York City and two screen tests in Los Angeles to land the role. An actress named Johnny Sequoyah was originally cast for the role of Taylor, but the network decided to recast after the pilot, giving Meg her role and soon to be “big break”.
Other cast members of American Housewife include Katy Mixon, Diedrich Bader, Daniel DiMaggio, and Julia Butters. In an interview with Meg, she explains her relationship with this cast. “Every person in the cast and crew are just one big family.” says Meg, “I spend a lot of time with my TV family and we have such a great time. All four of them are so talented and I could not have asked for a better group of people!”
Meg shares that balancing school work and her acting can be quite the challenge. “It can be a struggle sometimes,” Donnelly states, “in between shooting scenes, we go straight to school. We have to acquire a minimum of three hours everyday”. She has attended multiple events with the entire American Housewife cast as well as events involving Instagram and Teen Vogue. “Everything happening in my life at this moment has been surreal” Meg states. 
Meg is currently focused on making American Housewife as successful as possible, though she misses singing and performing in New York City. She hopes to pursue both acting and singing in the future. As for her old hometown, Meg states that she misses everything about Bernardsville as well as Peapack, her technical hometown. “I grew up in the Bernardsville school district and really do wish I got to attend high school with all my friends” says Meg. All of Meg’s friends and family here in Bernardsville are very proud of her new role and many accomplishments. “I’m super proud of her success and I knew one day that her dreams would come true.” says hometown best friend, Julia Bilotti, “She has worked so hard to become who she is now and I will always support her.”. Be sure to catch Meg as Taylor Otto in American Housewife on ABC, premiering October 11th!
