Meet Shadow LaValley

Today we’d like to introduce you to Shadow LaValley.

Shadow, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
With regards to a career in acting (and entertainment/filmmaking as a whole), it all started in the last half of my senior year of high school in ’04. I was approached by my Mom (a teacher at the local school that I attended) during my final year of high school and asked if I wanted to take on a role in the school musical? Another high school student had dropped out of the role of Will Parker in the school’s musical “Oklahoma!” Mind you, I grew up in the country. Basically, in isolation from other kids my own age. For me and my sisters, it was a 15-minute drive (one way) to get to the center of our small town. Plus, I was super shy as a kid growing up. So for me (at the time) to take on this role was a big deal for me! After some convincing from my Mom, I went to my choir and band teachers (the two who were putting on the musical) and accepted the role of Will.

Once graduated from high school, I went to college for a semester before dropping out to pursue auto racing. After some early success and relocating to North Carolina to become a development driver (driver in training) for a NASCAR truck series team, I quickly realized that this was not the life for me. So, I moved back to my hometown in 2009 to help my Mom take care of my Mimay (Grandmother) during her final years of life. After being home for only a few months, I was approached by my former high school choir teacher to fill the vacant role of Jonathan Brewster for “Arsenic and Old Lace.” Without hesitation, I accepted the role of Jonathan and have been performing ever since.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
So here’s where it gets interesting.

In between that time (auto racing and moving back home) I had moved to Ohio to pursue a family with my now ex-fiance. We had become pregnant but had to abort the pregnancy because our little girl had turner syndrome (missing an X chromosome). As you could imagine, this took a big toll on the relationship which ended shortly after the abortion. While all of this was going on (May-July 2008), I found myself battling alcoholism, depression, and suicidal thoughts/tendencies. Mind you, at the time I was 21/22 years old, fresh into young adulthood, and had literally packed up my old life (quite my job, left my family/friends, etc.) to start a new one. Knowing that I grew up in an isolated atmosphere and was the super shy/awkward kid growing up, this life event was devastating on all levels for me. I felt trapped and isolated in a whole new way that I could not have ever imagined. In August of 2008, I moved to North Carolina to pursue auto racing.

Now back to 2009, still battling alcoholism, depression and suicidal thoughts (not tendencies anymore), I moved back to my hometown in central New York. Again, to help my Mom take care of my Mimay during her final years of life. During this time, I started spending more time with both Mom and Mimay and thus, watching their favorite show NCIS. If you don’t know the show, the lead character (Leroy Jethro Gibbs) played by Mr. Mark Harmon, had also lost his daughter, as well as his wife. Although not the same as my situation a year prior, I quickly made a connection to the character and the show. I quickly picked up on certain traits and qualities from Special Agent Gibbs, and between the years of 2009-2012, I restructured my life loosely around this character. I tore down all of my former negative thoughts, ideas, opinions, and views to rebuild upon new and positive thoughts, ideas, opinions, and views. A rebirth if you will. In the coming years, this connection further solidified my purpose as a performer: To make a positive difference in the lives of others through my work as an actor. I want to be able to inspire audiences to make positive changes to their lives, just like Mark Harmon has done for me!

Since that time.

I went back to college to up my GPA from the university where I had dropped out of (State University of New York at Morrisville). It was a 1.8GPA when I dropped out and I graduated with a 3.52GPA. I then had the grades to transfer over to the State University of New York at Oneonta where I could study theatre. Once I graduated SUNY Oneonta (3.84GPA / B.S. Theatre), I quickly saw myself moving up “the ladder” with regards to my acting.

Today, I am living in Hollywood (since 2018) where I am still actively pursuing this purpose of mine. To simply make a positive difference in the lives of others through my work as an actor 🙂

We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
I am an actor, but along the way I have found myself working other areas of entertainment. These include, but are not limited to: producing, writing, directing, set construction, puppet design, video editing, etc.

I specialize in acting and am slowly specializing in filmmaking. Not necessarily by choice, but by design. As an actor who is actively competing with hundreds of thousands of other actors in this town and in this country, you have to find ways to stay active and relevant. Therefore, creating my own works has helped me stay in the thick of things. Now I look to not only stay active in the industry but to also tell parts of my own story through these works.

I am currently working on one short film (The Can) which production had to be put on hold due to COVID-19, one television series in which I have six episodes written for the series, and actively writing one feature film which is about 1/3 completed.

I believe what sets me apart from the others is my “country” upbringing. I am not full of myself and am known to be overly humble. I don’t go around gloating about this or that, so promoting myself and my accomplishments on social media (for marketing purposes) can be more of a hassle for me at times, lol. I am the actor you’ll see 30-45 minutes early to an audition or to set, just to make sure that I am on time.

What were you like growing up?
I was the super shy/socially awkward kid growing up. Mainly because I grew up in the middle of nowhere central New York. It took us 15 minutes one way to get from our house in the country to the center of our small town. I never had the opportunity to hang out with kids my own age. So most of my childhood was spent in one of three places: Home, School, Mimay’s House.

As a kid, I was a big NY Giants fan and an even bigger Dale Earnhardt fan. Which is what initially guided me towards pursuing auto racing right out of high school.

Most of my life was spent in the country. I remember random walks through the woods, seeing the seasons change, and living the simple life.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.shadowclavalleyofficial.com/
• Phone: 323-793-4374
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lavalleyshadow/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shadowlavalley
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/lavalleyshadow
• Other: https://pro.imdb.com/name/nm4553850

Image Credit:
Michael D. Young, Gerren Hall

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