Holly Hinchliffe, left, was in six episodes of “Chicago Fire” on NBC this season. Photo by Peter Gordon/NBC

Holly Hinchliffe says she started to learn about what it takes to be an actor  — not just the talent, but the desire and commitment — when she was a youngster acting in Southern Maine community theater.

She started as a 10-year-old, in the ensemble of “Annie Warbucks” at Lyric Music Theater in South Portland. She went on to act in many shows around Greater Portland, working with other kids but also with college students and adults, who came to rehearsals after work or class. As she continued to act, through high school, she found herself learning to juggle acting with school and sports.

Holly Hinchliffe started acting in community theater around Greater Portland. Photo by Chris Ruetten

“I got to make friends with these college kids and young professionals who were doing community theater and dedicated so much of their time to it, without getting paid for it. They demonstrated such an incredible work ethic,” said Hinchliffe, 27, who grew up in Portland. “Being an actor now I find myself doing a lot of things I needed to do in high school, managing multiple calendars and running from one thing to another. I think I really benefited from learning how you fit it all into a day.”

Since graduating from Northwestern University in Chicago in 2020, Hinchliffe’s been juggling the many facets of an actor’s life — auditions, performances, shooting schedules and part-time jobs. She’s landed several roles in high-profile TV shows, including as the sassy girlfriend of a firefighter on six episodes of the current season of NBC’s “Chicago Fire.”

In 2023 she had a role in an episode of NBC’s “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” directed by that series’ star, Mariska Hargitay. In a flashback she played a newlywed, a younger version of a character who is found murdered. In 2021 Hinchliffe was featured on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” in a skit that parodied the hit Netflix series “The Queen’s Gambit.”

Hinchliffe says she feels lucky to have been exposed to so many creative opportunities while growing up in Portland. Besides three shows at Lyric, she also acted in productions with Portland Players in South Portland, Portland Stage, Maine State Music Theatre in Brunswick, Portland High School and Stages Youth Theater.

PEOPLE KEEP SAYING YES

Hinchliffe said she never set any sort of an ultimatum about pursuing acting as a career. She decided fairly early on that she’d just keep making the most of opportunities and see where they might lead.

“I remember conversations with my parents and just with myself, saying that if people keep saying yes to me, I’ll keep doing it. I’ll keep pushing doors and see if they open,” said Hinchliffe, who lives in Brooklyn, New York.

People who saw Hinchliffe act as a youngster in Portland say they never thought she’d have to push very hard to convince people to cast her. Her talent, personality and stage presence made her stand out at an early age.

“She has this inner light, even at a very young age you could see her personality shining through,” said Stacey Koloski, who directed Hinchliffe in “Annie Warbucks” in 2008 and was a co-founder of Stages Youth Theater, now located in Portland. “There are plenty of skilled actors who can be whoever you ask them to be. But sometimes a person can just walk in a room and you know they have something magical. She had that at a very young age.”

Bailey Auspland-Jones of Westbrook was in her 20s and performing in a Lyric production of “Legally Blonde” about 12 years ago when she first met Hinchliffe, who was the youngest member of the cast.

“There’s this thing that happens with some performers, my mom calls it being a bright shiny penny. Holly was in the ensemble but she was one of those people you always wanted to watch,” said Auspland-Jones. “But she never pulled too much focus, she was always right. She was just a kid but we were all hugely impressed.”

Holly Hinchliffe, far left, with Mariska Hargitay, closest to camera, during the filming of a 2023 episode of NBC’s “Law & Order: SVU.” Photo by Will Hart/NBC

LATE SHOWS AND PRIMETIME

Hinchliffe remembers hearing music in her home at an early age. Both her parents were musical and her father would sing and play piano “all the time.” She joined the chorus at her schools and eventually became part of Musica de Filia, a choir featuring girls from all over southern Maine. Her interest in singing led to her involvement in musicals, and acting. After her first stage production, even in a minor ensemble role, she was hooked.

“I have such fond memories of my first show (“Annie Warbucks”) and it was an absolute blast for me to be surrounded by so many other children in the cast. It was all very exciting,” said Hinchliffe.

Her parents drove her to rehearsals after school or after field hockey practice and Hinchliffe says she always felt supported in her theatrical pursuits. She picked Northwestern for college because she didn’t want to feel like she was only getting “conservatory training,” but wanted access to different courses and fields of study beyond theater, which became her major.

She was in theater productions at Northwestern, including musicals, and did sketch comedy and improv. She graduated in 2020, during the pandemic. She was home in Maine, making infused sugar cubes at Vena’s Fizz House in Westbrook, when she got a call about an audition for a skit on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.” She drove to New York to film the skit for the show, which was still being produced remotely at the time.

“I remember being so nervous about the COVID tests. I thought if I test positive, I can’t do this job,” said Hinchliffe. “It was just me and a green screen. The other actor was not even in the room with me.”

Colbert introduces the skit by talking about the popularity of the Netflix series “The Queen’s Gambit,” about a young woman who becomes a chess master and how the game and the world of chess come to dominate her life.  He explains that he’s launching a new “prestige” streaming series focusing on the world of competitive Rubik’s Cube solving.

Hinchliffe plays the story’s hero, like Anya Taylor-Joy in “The Queen’s Gambit,” and is seen in a series of dramatic/funny moments trying hard to solve the little plastic 3D puzzle, getting lessons from a master, and having a breakdown.

A couple years later she got a call to audition for the popular NBC police procedural “Law & Order: SVU.”  She played a newly married and younger version of a character played by Nancy Travis, who is killed. Her husband (played by Bradley Whitford) is suffering from dementia, and confesses to the killing. But investigators believe there is more to the story.

The episode was directed by the series’ longtime star, Mariska Hargitay, who plays police captain Olivia Benson, and aired in February 2023. Hinchliffe said being on that set was a great experience. She said the story also was personal to her, because her father had experienced dementia near the end of his life.

Jake Lockett as Sam Carver in a scene from this season’s “Chicago Fire.” Holly Hinchliffe, who grew up in Portland, plays his girlfriend in six episodes. Photo by Peter Gordon/NBC

Because she went to college and worked in Chicago, Hinchliffe has representation in both New York and Chicago, where “Chicago Fire” is filmed. She auditioned, waited several weeks, then found out she got the part and flew to Chicago, where her partner lives. She said it was fun being part of the Chicago universe of NBC shows, including “Chicago PD” and “Chicago Med,” because so many of her classmates and teachers at Northwestern have also had roles on the shows over the years.

Her character, Tori, is the girlfriend of firefighter Sam Carver (Jake Lockett). She’s sort of  a troublemaker-type from Texas, says Hinchliffe. She played Tori in six episodes of the current season of “Chicago Fire,” which aired on NBC in the fall but are streaming now on Peacock.

“It was definitely a departure from my normal life playing Tori, the Southern bartender with sass. So it was fun to deliver those lines,” said Hinchliffe.