Today we’d like to introduce you to Dante Graves.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Dante. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Well if I begin somewhere, it would be best to start from my roots. I come from a family of Cuban refugees, who came to a country who weren’t very accepting towards them, especially during a very radical and racist time in 1960’s America.
My mother and her family couldn’t even stay at certain Motels in Miami, cos the policies were “No Dogs, No Cubans.” My Grandparents and Parents had to work twice as hard to only get half as far. They didn’t have time to chase their dreams, they were far too busy working to provide for their families. That’s why they encouraged me to pursue my artistic ambitions at such a young age. They weren’t artists themselves, but they were big appreciators.
My parents when I was nine years old signed me up for Acting Summer Camp at a Jewish Theatre in Miami, and I know this sounds like an old mouldy chestnut cliché, but that’s when “I was bit by the acting bug.” I loved it, I was a very shy nervous insecure kid growing up, but when I got to perform I forgot all that, I got lost in the world and doing of it all. I loved it.
I would go almost every year when my parents could afford it. After a while around when I was 15 I stopped going, the vigour I had for it was lost, mainly cos my direction in life was lost. I was going through a lot in my teen years, and the small town I lived in Ft. Lauderdale wasn’t helping. The opportunities for me there were slim, and I just felt beaten down by the people in the town and by my family.
So I did what any lost boy does when they barely graduate high school and feel like they have nowhere to go. I ran away. Well ok let me go back a step, technically I did run away but not in the typical Tom Petty-Esque way where you hop in your truck and just drive for miles and never look back.
What I did was I flew out to California in the Summer of 2012 to visit my dying grandmother. I thought it would be a good time to clear my head for a week, think about what to do and just step away from it all for a while. What was supposed to be a few weeks in California ended up being eight years. I decided to stay in California and distance myself from everything I left behind in Florida, although I still didn’t know what I was going to do, cos my grades in High School weren’t exactly stellar and I didn’t excel in a lot of things.
All I could think of was Acting, but I did not have a lot of knowledge outside the five years I spent at the theatre. So I decided to wait for some sort of sign that affected in me some shape or form to confirm it for me, and it definitely came. My friend loaned me a copy of The Wrestler with Mickey Rourke, and I was absolutely stunned by his heartbreaking performance in that film, and I knew in that moment that’s what I wanted to do… break hearts.
The next week I signed up at an acting school that taught the Meisner Approach to Acting in North Hollywood on Lankershim Blvd, Playhouse West. I had no clue what acting was until I started class, Hell I didn’t know how to live life until I started class. It was extremely therapeutic for me, I learned to listen and be in the moment, that nothing should be preconceived. I learned to find who I was a person and love myself “Warts and All.” Living Truthfully Under Imaginary Circumstance was a long time motto for me, still is. This allowed my inner child to truly flourish in a fantastic environment.
But I learned to cut my teeth in film acting with my mentor Clu Gulager, he’s like a wise spiritual grandfather to me. He’s been in the business 60 years and has worked with everyone from John Wayne to Quentin Tarantino. I’ve met many fantastic friends and filmmakers who helped me along my journey. We made so many awesome films and plays. A great short film that’s going to be making festival rounds I made with my friends was Bottomland where I got to play my grandmother’s favourite icon ELVIS, and I got to act long side my best friend Ramona Young and Matt Ukena.
Then there was YOU a gritty saddening tale of parents who were dealing with the loss of their children by a school shooter that premiered in 2018 at the IFS Film Festival and won Best Director for Linton Semage. Then I did an AFI film Losing It directed by Nathaniel Katzman and starring Niki Koss that made the festival rounds. I was recently in ÆROS: Or How I Cheated Second Death an Anthology Music Video directed by Steven A. Soria and Produced by Respectful Lust Records that premiered on L.A. Record Magazine.
Also, this February will be the Premiere of Baphomet Mountain directed by Jeremy Reyes & Austin Mitchell at the Hollywood Reel Film Festival screening at the Archlight Hollywood. I recently fell into Voice Acting, which has been a great challenge to tackle, I enjoy doing a million different voices, and accents gives me plenty room as an actor to just play and have free range My agency pushes me a lot for it.
I’m currently developing a Western Feature film that I have been writing with my best friend Matt Ukena, Achak-Kin Of The Mountain, it’s about Mixed Race Cowboys in Wyoming taking on an early version of the KKK. Sometimes I forget that I’ve worked on a lot of films. I guess it’s true what they say “Count your blessings with gratitude no matter how small or big they are, and stop letting your lacks blindfold you from noticing how blessed that you are.”
Has it been a smooth road?
Oh Hell no hahhahahah. It has definitely not been an easy road, but a lot of it is contributed to my own stubbornness and Burro like intellect. I was homeless through a great deal of my first two years in California. I was sleeping in Cars, Couches, sitting at Denny’s or IHop booths ordering coffee to keep from the cold all night till the sun rose. I did air bnb’s for a while till I finally was able to afford a place.
It also took me forever as well to get an agent. I tried so many places but no one really wanted to sign with me or even answered me. It was really frustrating and anxiety fuelling. All of it for the suffering of art, but like the old Cuban saying goes “If you’re gonna walk on Ice… might as well Dance.” Funny enough though after I decided to take a break and go to London and travel Europe for 6 months, an agency finally got back to me, and wanted to sign with me. Shout out to Avant Artists!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://dantegravesactor.wixsite.com/dantegraves
- Phone: (714)-822-1814
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/danteemersongraves/
- Other: https://vimeo.com/265031057
Suggest a story: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
