DERRA ST. DENIS

www.triggerstreet.com Kevin Spacey

...Derra in Greys Garden ...Indian shot by make-up artist for film Black Robe...

Scary pic above: I acted in a docu-drama about cocaine addiction on TVO called "Cracked"

L3xicon.coma web thesaurus and lexicon listing derrastdenis.com Actor, Actress and Film

Photo: Alex Beveridge

So, you want to be an actor? Do you realise the type of business you are entering? Of course, you don't. David Bowie once called L.A. the armpit of the earth although, everyone knows it is the mecca of film-making. You are filled with passion and a desire to act. You literally wake up one day, and it dawns on you that nothing, and I mean nothing will make you happy, unless you act. Everything else you have ever done is for money, to pay those bills, but nothing makes you feel alive and a reason to be on this earth as acting. If that has happened to you, then you must act. It is as simple as that.

Now, how do you start? What do you do to make contacts? There is an endless stream of questions going through your head. Being resourceful, you start by taking an acting classes. Yes, that is a good start, I'll learn how to act. School is familiar to me, and hence, taking classes. But, how do I find out where to take these classes? Well, I started at a place called Theatre Ontario because they had a board once upon a time, that listed acting auditions, classes, agents etc. and they were listed in the yellow pages under "theatre". Sounds simple enough. Now we have the intricate and endless resource, the internet.

After making many notes, I started calling some of the numbers related to acting classes on that board. I ran into a place at the time taught by a teacher named Eli Rill. I heard through the grapevine he is now in Los Angeles and I would like to thank him for being my first teacher!

Okay, you did the class, now, you want to work. Isn't that how it works? Yes, and no in this business. Yes, because work is a natural succession to training, but no, because in this crazy business it is a little more political than that. It is not just what you know, but it also, can be who you know. Of course, you can luck out, be at the right place at the right time, and land a professional theatre gig, a series, film or commercial, like some actors with very little or no training. Maybe you're hired because you have the right look. It may or may not be be your first and last gig! You've heard of one hit wonders in the music industry. Or maybe your family is connected to persons that can get you work...well, that works too. And then, there are actors who are members of the casting couch club. That's right, it still exists in this day and age of HIV. Take it from someone who has been hit on more times than I care to count. I have been asked to exchange sex for roles in their office, out of their office, at parties, you name it...with one person, more than one person, their wife, and asked to exchange sex for no reason at all when you're working in other industries just trying to pay your rent. No joke! It is disheartening, to say the least, especially when you are silently discarded because you will not be a player, or better, criticicized for it! Or how about someone who lost the role to you screaming out at an agent's party that you were hired for sex, and the role should have gone to them because apparently, you learned, they deserved it because they were 30 some odd years in the boxing biz. That was one of my experiences when I bagged the ring-announcing role at the Air Canada Centre. Meanwhile, no sex took place, and this individual was simply a sore loser with a very big mouth. I suppose he thought, being a prominent radio, sports personality at that time, this was his ticket to undermining me, and making everyone at that party feel very sorry for him. Apparently, my principle agent listened to him, as I got the royal bootola shortly thereafter. Or how about the time I was taking yet another acting class, and this peer in the class (who happened to have the same principle agent as me - another one), reportedly told the agent I was somehow defaming her in the class, when I innocently asked if it was easier to get auditions when one was also, working as an assistant agent in the office. Again, I was given the royal bootola, but later learned this agent went under, and this particular actor fell off the industry map. At that time, these events were crushing, but later on, I learned this same agent (who threw the parties), was banned from the industry for stealing commission cheques from actors on her roster. What goes around come around. It just takes a little more time. I could write a book about my great experiences and bad ones. Funny, we never forget the colleagues who lied, and hurt us along the way. This industry is ruthlessly competitive, and that is no exagerration. My belief was and still is, to obtain work based upon merit and achievement. Of course, it takes longer this way, but when you do work, it feels euphoric. If you are attractive, it always is, and always will be difficult to fend off the wolves (and I do not mean just the men).

Why do I bring all of this up and hit you with hard reality facts right off the top? Because these are my experiences. Ask yourself, do you want to look back and be proud, or do you want to look back with regret. It makes you wonder why so many are alcoholics, on extreme drugs and some even die, as we've seen in the media. Do you want to make an impact, be different, or follow the pack? Like a snowflake, there is no exact two of you. Opt for being different, and be true to your heart. It will reflect a thousandfold in your acting.