"I have had the opportunity to work with Valerie Hager and I find her to be an exceptional and unique talent. Her discipline and commitment are fierce and total. Her lack of ego in service to finding the truth is admirable." - Jeffery Marcus, Alien Nation, JAG, NYPD Blue

Valerie Hager is a "not to be missed" (NoHo LA) actor, solo show writer, improviser, and movement artist. She has appeared in film and TV including Warner Brothers' The Invention of Lying with Ricky Gervais, Comedy Central's Mind of Mencia, Discovery Channel's Guilty or Innocent, and the award-winning short film The Harshest Place.

Her theatrical performances include Dracula at Symphony Space, The Ensemble Workshop at LAByrinth Theater, Meet the Lady at 92Y, and many others. Valerie also performs at Stage Left Studio in the Selected Shorts Series, the All for One Festival Salon Series, and in The Room's Salon Series and Performance Events.

Valerie's third solo show, Naked In Alaska, has been accepted into numerous New York City theatre festivals including Emerging Artists' One Woman Standing, Planet Connections, Women at Work, EstroGenius, and Dixon Place's Performance Series. In fall 2013, Naked In Alaska will have its international debut in Paris, France.

Based on her ten years as an exotic dancer, Naked In Alaska is Valerie's true story of working clubs from Mexico to Alaska to California. Told with live pole dancing and over a dozen characters who danced in and frequented these clubs, Naked In Alaska is a fearless look at the objects we make of ourselves to fit in and the buried truths we must face to have a chance of coming home.

Valerie's fourth solo show, Big Man, based on one evening posing as a high-class escort at the Bellagio Hotel, recently enjoyed two celebrated performances in Stage Left Studios' Selected Shorts Series.

Valerie has studied dramatic acting with Ivana Chubbuck, Tony Greco, Karen Kohlhaas of The Atlantic Theater Company, and Cinda Jackson of The Loft Studio. She is a graduate of the LAByrinth Theater Ensemble Master Class. She has studied dramatic writing in Jack Grapes's Method Writing Workshops, Cullen Thomas's Advanced Memoir Writing Workshop, and Matt Hoverman's Create Your Own Solo Show Workshops.

Adept at comedy as much as drama, Valerie has studied improv at Upright Citizen's Brigade (UCB), The People's Improv Theatre (PIT), and Second City. She is a graduate of Bang Comedy Theatre's five-level improv program and has performed in Los Angeles with her improv group George.

Valerie began performing as a child alongside her father, mime artist Jerry Hager, as his silent sidekick Punky the Clown. Her earliest training came from her father in the form of mime, movement, and the art of physical storytelling. Later, she continued to train in mime and movement under Rick Wamer at The School for Mime at Kenyon College and Lorin Salm at Mime Theatre Studio.

An improv, acting, and creative movement teacher in Los Angeles and New York as well, Valerie teaches for renowned arts and outreach organizations including Lifetime Arts, Wingspan Arts, and Elders Share the Arts. She earned her teaching artist certifications from New York City's Community-Word Project and the Mark DeGarmo Teaching Artist Institute.

Valerie lives New York City.