David Reale graduated from Robert Hall Secondary in Caledon East three years ago. Since then he has had a number of acting jobs, but his career really started when he was 10.

“They thought I had A.D.D. I was one of those energetic kids teachers don’t know what to make of. It was parents’ night in grade 4 at St. Cornelius elementary school in Caledon East. My teacher, Mrs. Ditchburn, recommended to my mother that I try drama as an outlet. She mentioned the Hockley Valley Centre for the Arts. I started there and soon ended up at Theatre Orangeville where they had a ‘Younger Company.’ I got a part in ‘Jacob Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang.” That’s where it all started. I wanted more.

“My parents didn’t trust the acting industry. Jim Betts was the artistic director of Theatre Orangeville at the time and his wife, Catherine Knight, was an agent in Toronto. My parents trusted her, and she became like a second mother to me. She is still my agent today.

“We started to go to auditions and I very quickly got a part in an HBO TV movie called “Goya: Awakened from a Dream”. It was about the painter. I played his grandson, Mariano. We filmed it in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. I was 14 and my uncle came with me. I was horrible in it. I watch it now and cringe! I don’t know if I’m any better now. I’ve stopped watching myself.

“When I came back to Canada, I got a part in a film that came out of the Canadian Film Centre which Norman Jewison runs in Toronto. The film was called ‘Earnest’, and I played Earnest. It was a 25-minute short about a brooding teenager and his busy businessman father. It went to the Toronto Film Festival. There was a list of ‘10 Must Sees’ and a list of ‘10 Should Sees’.’Earnest was on the list of ‘10 Should Sees’.It was really cool. I got to go to all kinds of parties. There was a bit of a buzz about the movie.

“After that things kind of slowed down. I was doing at least two auditions a week for commercials but got nothing. Then I got braces – it was something quirky, something different – and I did six commercials in one year!

“I finally got a part in a short film that involved a bombing incident – and then 9/11 happened and the project died.

“After that, my main involvement was with Hall drama at my high school. It was an incredible experience working with Chico [the name Hall students use for their drama teacher, Mr. Ciccotelli]. We got to write the plays ourselves. It was very creative and collaborative. Every year I was doing two or three plays. One of the big productions was Godspell. I got to co-direct and also be Jesus! The highlight though had to be Macbeth which we took to the Winter Garden Theatre. That year I over did it though. I fainted at the Canadian Improv Games. I was just doing too much.

“After high school I auditioned for the National Theatre School. I never got a call back. I think they were looking for raw talent – kids they could work with and mould into something. I got up and did my “thing”. I don’t think they wanted people with a “thing”. What I wanted to do after high school was audition and act. I expected to get a job and do acting on the side – but I haven’t had a job yet. I’ve always lived very cheap, so I didn’t need much money. One commercial will pay the rent for half a year.

“I went to an audition at the CBC for “The X”. I made up a song on air guitar, and they hired me. I did that job for seven months from 9 to 5. We travelled around to elementary schools promoting the show, but we were also promoting popular culture. I was very glad to be unemployed again. When I have affluence it kind of stunts me. When I have nothing, it’s a lot more exciting.

“Someone at the Comedy Network saw an interview I had done. I like interviewing - exploring characters. One of the things that attracts me to acting is the chance to explore relationships. I did a show called “Pop Cultured” with Elvira Kurt. It followed the format of The Daily Show with John Stewart. It was kind of a spoof on Entertainment Tonight. I was a correspondent and did a lot of interviews. One of the things I found hard about that job was using the teleprompter. That’s not my way. I like to go wherever. The show wasn’t renewed.

“Then someone at “The Void” got sick, and I did three months of shows – me on the street with a microphone between kids’ shows. They’re still re-running those.

When I ask David what’s next, he tells me Africa. “A good friend of mine, Laura Cockburn, started this theatre company called “Theatre RECAP.” She pitched the idea of doing a theatre workshop in Kibera, Kenya. The two of us will go there for one week. The purpose of the trip is to help the people there learn how to address social issues through theatre. The hope is to create a show that the participants will find socially pertinent to their situation. We will be staying in one of the largest slums in sub-Saharan Africa where 50% of the people are HIV positive. I’m really excited about this project.”

David gives the impression of being a class clown, but it’s his serious and intelligent side that inform that clowning around. I asked David if he had any advice for young people just starting out in acting. “Cultivate your love of acting. The industry can be a dry and unforgiving desert. I would say ‘do theatre’ wherever you can – in your school, community theatre – do it with your friends. Make films with your friends. Do, do, do! Make sure you love it.”

David likes to talk about acting as an art form. “If we have artists who love their craft, who are independent learners, who create for the profit of something other than fame and money first, then I think we are heading in a good direction, and I think we do have these artists.”

As for advice to young people generally, “Proving yourself to others can’t be on the top of your priority list. You can waste a lot of time trying to be ‘cool’ – trying to be part of the ‘in crowd’.’It’s not worth it. I suggest teenagers read a book called ‘The Perks of Being A Wallflower,” treat each other well and take your education into your own hands.

David has seen the positive and negative sides of the entertainment industry. His career has oscillated between his love of the art and the demands of earning a living. “I have a sort of love-hate relationship with the entertainment industry. Hate: because I think reducing art to an ‘industry’ based on money and other elements of the lowest common denominator is a disgusting perversion of something that I feel is essential to human life. Love: because when I land a commercial or a small part in some random show or movie, I jump for joy and buy a fancy dinner. Hypocrite? Yes.”


Michael Reist is head of the English department at Robert F. Hall Catholic Secondary School in Caledon East. www.michaelreist.ca