We recently connected with Danny Bernardy and have shared our conversation below.

Danny , appreciate you joining us today. Let’s jump back to the first dollar you earned as a creative? What can you share with us about how it happened?

I’ve been performing since I was a child but rather than talk about the 80$ a week I made at the Lawrence Welk Dinner Theater as a ten year old in The Music Man– it might be more interesting to discuss my first dollar earned on a UNION contract.

I had moved to NYC the day after graduating from Carnegie Mellon Drama and threw myself into auditions after signing with a large agency. I was ready to make it big the NEXT DAY! I couldn’t find my chill. I didn’t realize that relationships needed to be forged, cultivated and nourished….That the industry wasn’t on the same timeline as my personal ambitions.
Well it took a full year and a half before I booked my first big job. That big job was a principal role in the play “Vincent In Brixton” at Virginia Stage Company in Norfolk, VA. I was elated because I would finally be on stage being paid to act professionally and I would be joining Actor’s Equity Association. Joining the union is often a benchmark in many actors’ careers and I was doing this at the age of 23 on a principal contract. It was big moment! The opportunity offered a lot of external validation (the union, the paycheck, the credit, the breakthrough) which helped fuel me psychologically. I was reaping (some) of what I’d sewn. Remember that leading up to that booking was a terrified young 20’s Danny that had complete tunnel vision with regards to the business and what defined success. So it was very important to me.

I remember when the company manager handed me my first paycheck; I can still see it in my mind’s eye. I think it was for 535$. But it felt like a million! The check practically glowed in my hands. I remembered thinking that in order to get that money all I had to do was rehearse this beautiful play with amazing artists….that I could sustain myself with it and nothing else (this was 2005 :). I didn’t need any side hustles for this incubatory time to sustain my art. I was so proud to have that check that I walked into a Wachovia bank in downtown Norfolk and I OPENED AN ACCOUNT with it. Mind you: this was a Six Week contract….but I was just so PROUD of it that it needed its own account. And each subsequent week I would deposit my hard copy check into the downtown Norfolk branch. I was equally proud to make out a check for the commission to my agent and sent it back to NYC. I still have that pay stub tucked away.

Danny , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I was born and raised in Southern California. Specifically? I was born in Downey (perhaps you may have heard of it? It’s where you stopped for gas on your way somewhere ELSE :).

I was raised in beautiful San Diego and I am the brother of two incredible sisters, the uncle to their kids, and the father of my own little girl, Nadine Paula.

Growing up in San Diego– everything was 72 degrees and NICE all the time. And my childhood was indeed NICE. It was spectacular! Full of secret hiding places, brawls with my two sisters, and chock full of activity. The family van was pumping Phantom of The Opera, Cats, and A Chorus Line at all possible moments; each of us kids were immersed in the arts. I spent most of my time after school at San Diego Junior Theater and graduated from San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts where I had incredible experiences on and off stage.

72 degrees and NICE changed very quickly when I moved to Pittsburgh to attend Carnegie Mellon School of Drama where it was more like 42 degrees and…REAL. I graduated with honors and went to school with some people who have created big names for themselves including: Josh Groban, Josh Gad, Leslie Odom Jr, Rory O’Malley, Megan Hilty, Matt Bomer, Joe Manganiello, and the list goes on. I am constantly amazed at the Carnegie Mellon mafia.
Since graduating I signed with a wonderful agency and began carving out my career in independent film, commercial, off-broadway, and on the regional theater circuit. I can describe many experiences from those years when I was sneaking away from my job as a bellman to peel off my uniform in a Starbucks bathroom, get to my audition and get back to the hotel before anyone truly noticed or cared. One time I just went ahead to a callback in uniform. It was for Julie Andrews. Some experiences are so memorable that looking back on it — it seems irrelevant whether or not I booked the job. Like the time I screen tested with Kathy Briar. I recognized her not from television– but from that same job as the bellman. She was struck by a taxi in front of my hotel, the Hudson, while I was on duty. I came to her aid and I was her key witness. It wasn’t until I was digging through old papers and found the note with her handwritten name and phone number that I realized that she was my scene partner in a screen test years later for ABC.
Since graduating from Carnegie Mellon I have been lucky to have a fulfilling career in the performing arts through independent and commercial forms.
I have led productions Off-Broadway, at major regional theaters, and on National/ International tours. I have also worked in film, television and voiceover in a variety of principal roles. Over the years I have been reviewed by the NY Times, LA Times, Washington Post and many other respected (and not-respected) publications. I am proud to say that both as an individual and as a member of a collective I have been nominated and have won awards such as the Drama Desk, Stages Edinburgh, various area critic’s–and at film festivals. Nothing I have done could have been accomplished alone.
I tend to do a lot of comedy but my most recent works include a drama (’26 Miles’ at Gulfshore Playhouse and by contrast a comic musical revue: “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change” at the JW Engeman Theater in NY.

Another favorite role was as Professor Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady at Olney Theatre Center. Our production was re-conceived: Higgins was younger, a philanderer. Eliza was a person of color and the show was set later– when women had the right to vote. The result of this examination was an explosive production celebrated by critics.

Aaaaaand…I also cross disciplines. I work as a teaching artist with One Year Lease Theater Company for their Apprentice Program in Northern Greece. I am a core member of their acting ensemble and over time I have taught myself to read, speak and write modern Greek. Through this unique opportunity I have developed a technique that marries traditional English voice and speech practices with the unique demands of the Greek language. Every summer I shepherd groups of students to perform in Greek as native English speakers and we bring the show to remote villages that are otherwise deprived of cultural programming.
All of my work is driven by my love of language.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Sure, let’s talk about that time. I parted ways with my agent and I thought my life was going to be over.

I had been signed with a large agency on multi-year contracts straight out of Conservatory. Through them, I experienced a lot of wins: my first screen test, my first national commercial, my first Equity show, and I met so many wonderful industry folks.

But 7 years in it wasn’t working out.

And wow, this feeling was very mutual. I had been calling casting directors and asking for references for new agents for months….but they got to break up with me first.

I’m not particularly proud of how I handled this struggling relationship. But at the time I didn’t have the cojones to call a meeting and address the issues. I was intimidated by the agency’s largesse. They occupied an entire floor of a building in New York, had ergonomic leather chairs, large conference rooms, and fancy card stock letterhead.

The inciting incident? They got me an appointment for a show I KNEW I wasn’t right for. I was gaining a stronger sense of self and turned it down…They turned me loose.

That was a hard day. I felt sorry for myself. I cried. I remember exactly where I was on 125th St. when I got a phone call from the head of the Commercial Department of (un)said agency who said, “This does not reflect the way WE feel, Danny.” (I was signed across the board, meaning both the theatrical and commercial departments). The fact that she stuck by me gave me a little glimmer of hope.

So what did I do? I got Thai food in Hell’s Kitchen with my best friend from college, Rory O’Malley. He always has the best advice. He’s known me since the halcyon days of corduroy shorts, Caesar cuts and frosted tips. I told him how angry and sad I felt. He said, “Be angry. Be mad at the business for a while. Take a break. Do something else! Go work on an oil rig.” (OK, I’m not sure if he actually said the part about the oil rig.)

Anyway, my partner, (who is also an actor), and I decided to go out to Los Angeles. He was going for pilot season, and I was going… to work on an oil rig! I decided to be mad at the business for a while and let that be OK.

Well, we had just settled into our friend’s place in LA when I got an email. It was from a casting director I’d met right out of Carnegie Mellon. She asked if I wanted to audition for a show at American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco. (This would be an amazing job.) But I had just filled out my application to work on an oil rig! (jk). But I had decided to let go of the industry for a while—! And now, just a month into my hiatus, I’m getting a call for an audition?

Anyway, I booked that job at ACT. I had the most amazing experience working for them. I broke down artistic barriers in my work on that production and I don’t think any of it was a coincidence.

I had just gone through an excruciating but profound experience of letting go, like molting a shell. I let go of a toxic relationship—which, by the way, was as much with myself as it was with the agency. The problem also had to do with me trying to BE something FOR someone. So, I don’t blame the agency and I don’t blame myself. I was doing the best I could at that point in my life, and they were busy being a business.

From that point forward, I worked regularly for the next 10 years. I said yes to developmentals, table reads, and helped bring a few successful Off-Broadway productions to life including *Cougar the Musical*. In that production, I played a wacky collection of characters, which has become a go-to for what I do best. As a result of that show, I met my next agent and began my next chapter.

Plus, a new benchmark: health insurance through the union, attained and maintained for several years until the pandemic hit. Vested.

My most fulfilling roles and richest artistic relationships came out of that time.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Naturally, with the onset of the pandemic and realizing it was a disaster that would stick with us for years, I found myself in a situation where three different union contracts just vanished into thin air. Along with those went my health insurance.

When it became clear that theater wasn’t coming back anytime soon, I knew I had to pivot. Amid a landscape of Zoom readings and an otherwise total work stoppage, I couldn’t keep up with COBRA premiums (RE: health insurance). So, I saw this as a chance to interrogate parts of myself I hadn’t explored before. If performing arts were off the table, where would I turn? Many of the usual side hustles—bartending, serving tables—weren’t an option either.

I did some serious thinking about my core self: What am I drawn to? What makes me tick? What other passions might be lying dormant? A lot of people like to imagine their historical figure counterpart—someone they closely identify with. Some might name a politician, an activist, or a sports legend.

For me, I thought about a part of myself I’d always had to suppress: which is someone who is a bit of an alarmist. I thought perhaps my historical figure might be Paul Revere—raising the alarm on his famous ride. So, that’s a long way of saying I pivoted into a job in emergency management with FEMA.

What started as a solution to cover my COBRA premiums actually worked. I got a job with FEMA as part of their on-call surge workforce, became a reservist, and responded to disasters as needed. I’d serve for a certain number of days, gain my health insurance, and help people in disaster response. I’d go from a disaster to a show, back to a disaster, and then back to a show (which sometimes felt like a disaster too heehee). It was a solution that got me through the pandemic and helped me understand myself better.

And through it all, I learned that I LOVE my life in the theater.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.dannybernardy.com
• Instagram: @dannybernardy
• Linkedin: @dannybernardy

Image Credits

Jason Tam, Neilson Barnard, Ken Fallin, Kevin Berne, BW Productions, Russ Rowland, Stan Barouh,