As a senior at Northwestern, Shauna Perlman was, by many measures, a success. She’d excelled in her School of Communication classes. She’d landed a competitive internship at United Talent Agency (UTA) in Los Angeles, which gave her broad exposure to the entertainment industry. She’d even run for Homecoming Queen — and won! But inside, she felt like an imposter.
When asked what she planned to do after college … she didn’t have an answer. “My peers were so sure,” she recalls. “I just thought, ‘I don’t know what I want to be! Am I a fool here?’”
What Perlman did know was that she loved Hollywood. As a UTA intern she learned about different career paths within the entertainment industry without committing to a specific one.
“I loved actors. I loved the behind-the-scenes stuff,” she says. “I loved reading scripts and helping to put the puzzle pieces together on projects. … But with any career path, you don’t really know if it’s right for you until you’ve lived it.”
So Perlman decided to try agency work for a while to see if it might stick. After graduating, she returned to UTA, taking on an assistant role.
More than 10 years later, Perlman can confidently say she was on the right track. As a talent agent for Creative Artists Agency, she now represents an impressive list of award-winning clients including Sebastian Stan (who starred in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films and shows, Pam & Tommy, The Apprentice and A Different Man), Danielle Brooks (who starred in the TV series Orange Is the New Black, Minecraft and Peacemaker) and Anthony Ramos (who performed in Hamilton and currently stars in The Beauty), among others.
Perlman remembers the thrill of signing her first client, Anna Baryshnikov ’14, after watching her perform in a Northwestern senior showcase in 2014. “I was still an assistant, not an agent yet, and I signed this actress,” Perlman says. She still represents Baryshnikov, whose film, Idiotka, premiered at South by Southwest in 2025. (The film’s crew also includes director Nastasya Popov ’17 and producer Tess Cohen ’17.)
Though Perlman may have felt imposter syndrome in college, her newfound confidence and self-assurance have since propelled her to success. “My job is to be an advocate,” she says.
Working with celebrities and big studios is not a walk in the park, Perlman cautions. “I’ve had jobs get pulled from under me. I get yelled at regularly.” But, she says, “If you let that be the center of your orbit, it will bring down your whole being.”
Instead she focuses on the wins — the moments that make it all worthwhile. “I love turning nos into yeses,” says Perlman. She recalls fighting to get Brooks the role of Sofia in the 2023 movie adaptation of The Color Purple. Brooks had earned a Tony nomination for playing Sofia in the Broadway revival, but the movie producers did not want to hire any of the actors from the musical. Perlman persisted, and Brooks eventually got the role.
And when Stan won a Golden Globe for his role in A Different Man, Perlman was among those he thanked in his acceptance speech, saying he would not have found the role if it weren’t for her.
“Those moments feel so special,” says Perlman. “Helping make people’s dreams come true is really amazing.”
