Meet Danielle Tarmey

We were lucky to catch up with Danielle Tarmey recently and have shared our conversation below.

Danielle, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.
On the one hand it was by chance! Growing up, and into my 40s, I knew there were things I wanted to do with my life: be a mother, travel, and make a difference somehow. Other than that, it was a bit vague. I didn’t want a 9-5, I didn’t want a job that was predictable, and I didn’t want a job where there was no room for growth or learning. In other words, I knew what I didn’t want but not what I did want to do with my life.

In my early 30s, after working in retail and as an office assistant, I went back to college and got my Master of Arts in Teaching K-6. It fit all the requirements more or less and I had a 15 year career as a teacher. I loved it, but always knew I might find something else to do further down the line. I was working at a Charter school that taught the curriculum through the arts. As a 6th grade teacher, our specific artform was film. The students wrote short scripts about various historical figures, performed and filmed them.

One day I was driving home from my piano lesson when I saw a new business opening up. It was offering acting classes for film and tv. I signed up to audit the class, then got my school to pay for four weeks as professional development. I really thought I would take the classes, learn something and bring it back to my own students.
My first class was electrifying. I prepared the activity I was supposed to do, went in there absolutely terrified, knocked it out of the park, and knew that I had discovered what I wanted to be when I grew up. I was 45 years old.

In retrospect I realize that it wasn’t completely by chance. Throughout my life there were so many signs pointing me in that direction. I just wasn’t listening. I love talking to people and learning about them and their stories. I love reading. I love telling stories. I love film and theatre. I love traveling and learning new things. Acting encompasses all of that. I would say that all of those loves are integral to being a good actor.
So, here I am.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
Since 2017 I have been represented by Formation Talent Agency (formerly People Store Talent Agency) in Atlanta. I spend my time taking online acting classes, helping friends with auditions, and doing my own. I started a podcast called <i>Acting: Conversations on Craft </i>where I interview experts in the industry. I have been lucky enough to talk to some amazing casting directors and acting coaches from LA and the southeast. I also teach drama part-time at a local elementary school.

This career is not for the faint of heart. It is a constant roller coaster of emotions. I love the feeling of hope that I get when I receive an audition request. I also love the fun I have when preparing for, and doing the scene for the audition. I get to step into someone else’s shoes. I get to be goofy, stand offish, or mean and no one gets hurt! I get to be a surgeon without actually having to cut people up. I get to be a chef, or a witch, or a mom. I get to explore all of the emotional parts of me that make me human and I get to bring that humanity to each role I audition for. The best part is that I get to do that again and again.

When I book a role, it’s exhilarating. Not only do I get to play some more, I also get to work with a team of dedicated, hardworking artists. A lot of people think of actors as being central to any project, but there are so many other people involved. Making a film or show is such a collaborative enterprise. You have directors, show runners, the people working on lighting and sound, other actors, and on and on. It takes so many people working together to make anything. As someone who thrives being part of a community, that is one of the aspects of the industry I love the most.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Empathy, experience, and an interest in other people. Acting in its most basic form is the art of listening and reacting. The job of the actor is to bring to life very complex characters with complicated emotions and lives, and to do it in a way that audiences connect to.

Why empathy? Many of the characters you have to play do not resemble you in any way. Let’s say you are cast as a mother who ends up killing to protect her child. What if you, yourself do not have children? And most of us have never killed someone (hopefully). How do you portray that in a way that the audience believes it? You cannot judge your character. You have to understand them, empathize with their lived experience, and find the part in you that believes you might kill to protect another being. Now that’s an extreme example, but the point is you have to be able to understand the characters you play and bring parts of yourself to the character if you ever hope to be a good actor.

I believe experience (another way of saying age) gives me so much more to draw from as an actor. I have so many more life experiences that will help me understand the characters I am to play. It’s almost like the older I get, the more colors I have on my palette to create my painting.

As an actor, you have to be a master of observation. Pay attention to what other people do when they get mad. Do they get quiet? Throw things (most people don’t)? Say really mean things? What about people who are drunk? What do they do? Most of the time they are trying really hard to prove that they are NOT drunk. Someone crying is likewise always working hard NOT to cry.

So my advice to young actors starting out is threefold:
1) Take time out to watch the world around you. Sit in a coffee shop or a park and just watch (without making people uncomfortable of course). Observe, observe, observe.
2) Challenge yourself to new experiences. Travel as much as you can, learn a new skill, get a job that is totally different from acting.
3) If you are not naturally empathetic, volunteer at a soup kitchen or anywhere you will come across those less fortunate than yourself. Hopefully that will help you develop some empathy and make you a better all around human.

To close, maybe we can chat about your parents and what they did that was particularly impactful for you?
I credit my parents with showing me that part of living life is to take risks. They broke with the “norms” of their time in some ways. A lot of people don’t do things in life because of fear (fear of judgment, fear of failure, fear of the unknown). My parents weren’t like that. They never had the “I couldn’t do that!” mindset.

My father was British and my mother is French. She was working as a student teacher in England where they met. After they got married, my mother moved to England. A year later (with my six month old sister) they moved to sunnier climes and settled in the Bahamas, where I was born. This was the early sixties and both my parents came from traditional catholic families. Can you imagine moving 3000 miles away from your family and everything you’ve known when you have a six month old? But that’s what my parents did. They always moved/made decisions according to what they thought was best for them and their family unit and they didn’t let fear get in the way.

So I knew, when I met an American and decided to move to the States they would understand.
I knew when I gave up a steady job, with benefits, to become an actor at the age of 47 they would not judge. When I called home to tell my parents I had signed with one of the top talent agencies in Atlanta, my dad, who was already sick and not talking on the phone at that point, called me back and was tearful. He was so happy and proud of me. I had taken a huge risk, but I was on one of life’s adventures. If my parents hadn’t lived their lives with the courage to take risks and live life to the fullest, I’m not sure I would have that same courage. For that, I am thankful to them.

Contact Info:

Image Credits
Official Headshot – Tara Gulledge at The Actor Headshot The rest are mine.

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