Today we’d like to introduce you to Danielle Pope.
Danielle, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I actually used to be a sports kid, as I did a lot of competitive dance, gymnastics, and ice skating growing up. However, around the time I entered middle school, I found out that I had scoliosis. I went to professionals to check it out, and I was told I had to wear a back brace for a long time or else further precautions, such as surgery, would have to be done. This provided a great challenge for me as I continued to try doing the sports that I loved. I slowly had to reduce the amount of dance classes and hours I put into those sports, which led me to take up acting at school as an extra activity. However, I found a real passion and love for it. Eventually, my scoliosis got to the point where I had to discontinue competitive gymnastics and dance for a while, especially as it compressed my body and spine in a stage of development for myself. I turned to theatre and acting full time, as a means of replacing those sports, but found eventually that I was actually okay with changing my after-school activity to this. I started getting myself more involved with school shows, auditions, and musicals and really got a momentum going for myself. I entered high school, and COVID-19 hit my sophomore year, which took a big hit to the acting and theatre communities altogether. Most projects were shut down, and if they weren’t, they were moved to Zoom, which greatly prohibited actors, designers, and audiences from the full experience of a theatre performance. Through this, I decided to take matters into my own hands, and I applied to online summer college programs. I was very lucky and grateful to be selected to do the Yale Summer Acting Conservatory at just 16 years old, even though it was online. As COVID-19 started to slow a bit, I started to take a more professional route with my acting, especially after taking the summer program, and applied to agencies. I signed with a great, Texas acting agency and started sending myself off to various jobs and auditions. This overall got the ball rolling for me and inspired me to pursue acting in college. Currently, I study acting at the California Institute of the Arts, where I continue to hone my skills and practice every day.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I would say, at first, it was a bit of a bumpy road because I felt like I had a lot of things blocking me from pursuing my passions, such as scoliosis, COVID-19, and tricky decisions about which paths to go down. But once I fully committed myself to a path that I devoted myself entirely to, I found “the road” to be much smoother. I would say that I am currently at a place where I feel secure and grateful to be set on a bright path.
Thanks – so, what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Even though my major is in acting, I still do dance and movement and infuse those elements within my performances to help me excel in physical theatre, ensemble work, and movement-heavy theatre. I would definitely say that I am a physical-based actor and like to work from the outside in. I find that engaging oneself in outside stimuli and inspirations can help a performer take those things internally and give a performance with inner and outer workings of the self and natural world. In addition to movement based acting, I love when those elements can be combined with genres of horror. I have always been a horror movie fan, and watching horror content on stage and screen has given me much inspiration for auditioning for similars pieces and composing my own work. I think the idea of “horror” mixed in with physical theatre, especially on the stage, is beautiful to see and unlike anything I’ve experienced before. That is where my aim is set: to involve myself in more of those kinds of projects. And I am definitely taking those steps to get there, as I have been writing my own play about psychological development and isolation. I have also performed in a lot of “darker” and intense pieces, such as Fishbowl Sonata by Skylar Shen, Sunken by Skylar Shen, and Etta and Ella on the Upper West Side by Monty Cole.
Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc.?
I’m a big advocate for reading fiction. I love, love, love the idea of fiction-based works sometimes reflecting our own realities better than nonfiction. Some of my favorites would have to be Tender is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica, The Grip of It by: Jan Jemc, and Your Shadow Half Remains by Sunny Moraine, which all have a horror dystopian ambiance and feel to them.
I also love the Calm app. I try to meditate and stretch every day. I love the resources the app provides, even for some wisdom, bedtime stories, and overall personal growth. I definitely recommend that app to anyone who is looking for some peace of mind.
When I was going through a rough time in my life, my friend recommended me to read Letters to a Young Poet by: Rainer Maria Rilke. That book has given me such a solid foundation of acceptance and love for myself. I always thank her for recommending me that book, because there are a lot of beautiful quotes in there that really makes one contemplate and wonder about themselves and the world in a more positive light.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @danielle.a.pope
Image Credits
Danny Fain
Skylar Shen
