Q&A

GN: Improvisation and acting often require very different muscles—how has your work in improv shaped your approach to scripted roles on stage and screen?
TD: That's such a good question. So often I'll do an audition and then throw in some improv at the end and I'll be able to really see how alive I am when the words are mine and realize that though I thought I had been embodied on the scripted stuff, I could always go farther to own it more. So I guess it's challenged me to bridge that gap and really make a script's impulses and words seem like my own!

GN: You’ve performed internationally in cities from Vienna to Athens to London—how has working across different cultures influenced your perspective as an artist?
TD: I spent a year or so in my mid 20s based out of Berlin, and was predominantly travelling teaching and performing improv. One of the most unique experiences I had during that time was teaching with and without a translator. It was fascinating and really challenging to be figuring out how to teach when the scenes weren't in English-- I had to really rely on physical communication-- when I could sense hesitancy or miscommunication in the body. It got me thinking about the body in performance in a completely different way and I became very aware of how much it communicates. That experience shaped a lot of my technique and beliefs around performing now. It was also so exciting to be performing in communities where improv wasn't synonymous with comedy-- in Berlin and Norway especially there's a huge crossover with more traditional theatre. That was really mind expanding.

GN: Blind Date is such a unique, live-created experience—what’s the most surprising or memorable moment you’ve had while performing it with an audience member?
TD: Rebecca Northan created such an amazing show. Every night is really memorable in its own way. All kinds of things have happened during the show, from needing to get my co-star/audience member a bathroom break while I stall for time, to getting their real life partner onstage to be my "stunt double" in a steamy kiss. There have been a couple moments though that have stuck out where I've been surprised and taken aback by the power of...I guess you could call it intuition? My "date"/audience member will mention something off-handedly like a sibling or parent and I'll suddenly feel some energy around the mention of that person and ask more, and suddenly a really wild/often very tender story would emerge. The feeling of following and trying to intuit someone's signals and let them subtly lead, even when it may look like I'm in charge is so rewarding. It's a kind of exercise in attention and release.

GN: This year you’ve appeared in both indie films and major projects like The Monkey—what excites you most about moving between independent and studio work?
TD: I was really lucky these past few years as I haven't really done much in the film world, and then got to work on a couple really rewarding/very different projects-- namely Keeper and The Monkey with Osgood Perkins and Sarah Galea-Davis' The Players. Like most actors, I just really love working and count myself very lucky when I can! I learn something about the world and myself with each new project, and the more diverse the experience, the more I learn. I just turned 38 this month and it's so exciting to feel like a baby in something. I kind of get that with each new project-- like "ok, starting from square one here". I want to have that feeling forever.

GN: You’ve written your own projects while continuing to act—how do you balance those creative identities, and do they feed into each other?
TD: Hmmmm. Writing helps me consider the larger function of my character, so I don't get sucked into thinking it's all about me haha! And acting helps me get inside a character which can really help with dialogue etc. It was so rewarding to get to do both recently with my best friend Tatiana Maslany in a short called How Brief, directed by Kelly McCormack, which will be premiering this year. I have a feeling though that any kind of engaging with the world, any kind of creativity, all feeds in. I would say caring for my plants or cooking a meal with friends or reading a book are all just as valuable to my "artistic process"...and easy to forget about when the world can feel so hussle-heavy.

GN: With People, Places, and Things coming up, what drew you to this play, and what do you hope audiences take away from your performance?
TD: It's an amazing play. I haven't started working on it yet so I'm not really sure what I hope people will take away, beyond empathy for these characters as we encounter them in the real world, or some kind of personal identification. The play focuses on a woman in a rehab facility and I love the implied themes about the power of witnessing, the power of a group to facilitate personal transformation. Theatre feels like the perfect medium for that journey as the audience itself is a kind of new witnessing entity every night. And The Search Party in Vancouver is the ideal company to be putting it up, at one of my favourite theatres: The Cultch!

GN: And finally, on a more personal note—what does Goodnight mean to you?
TD: hahahaha I'm not sure! A tender wish! The release of the day! A beautifully illustrated children's book!

Courtesy of photographer: Graham Isador & Andrew Freedom Parry