We were lucky to catch up with S. Duvall Thornton recently and have shared our conversation below.

S. Duvall, appreciate you joining us today. Do you wish you had started sooner?

I wish I had started my career as an actress much sooner. I’ll preface the remainder of my response by stating that the life decisions that I made at a very early age dictated my career path. I deferred my career because I became a mother as a teenager and I knew my children were my first priority. I was 17 years old and became pregnant with my first child. Shortly afterwards, I had my second child at 20 years old. I’d gone from graduating high school two years early and being the winner of a county pageant (Miss Indian River County) to being a teen mom thrust into poverty and scared as hell that my choices had led me far off the course of life that I’d dreamed of. I began to recognize that I was not living the life I desired. I didn’t want to live on welfare, I didn’t want my children to be subject to the stereotypes or outcomes associated with families with little resources, so I decided I go to college. I ultimately earned a MA in Human Resources and pursued whatever jobs I had access to to change the outcomes of my life and that of my young family. Prior to earning my advanced degree, I worked in a grocery store, a factory, even McDonald’s. I was determined to focus on my families development. I think I was afraid to pursue an acting career because I was uncertain if I’d be able to meet my young families everyday common needs, i.e., food, shelter, etc. While my focus was predominantly on caring for my family, it ultimately meant I was denying myself the career that burned inside of me. It was extremely hard to wait and sometimes watch actors living the life that I yearned to experience. Starting my acting career earlier would have ‘perhaps’ allowed me to engage in a career trajectory and experiences in the field that might have changed my life/our lives financially, materially, and the gratification of doing what you love.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

At the age of 12 I participated in middle school drama club. I was hooked, I knew from that time I’d found what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. I experienced euphoria on stage and it never stopped. Every time I step on stage, in front of a camera, or even if I’m writing about a character, it becomes transformative for me. My life’s experiences have been varied, everything from homelessness to possessing more than what average people have (materially). I often tell others in the industry that I bring to my acting the unique experiences of being impoverished and well-off.

Whether acting or writing, I’m drawn to women characters whose lives reflect that of common people. I write plays that highlight the unique experiences of women. I wrote a play about women, who like myself experienced homelessness, another about the relationship of two women (one white from an extremely wealthy family, and the other black from a low socio-economic family) whose paths cross and they form an unlikely friendship. I’m drawn to stories that have impact on human beings and on human life itself.

There are multiple social issues that frame my writing and interest artistically. The two issues that are of great importance is poverty and social justice. Off screen I advocate for the rights of those whose voices are sometimes oppressed and I look to reflect those voices and issues in my art. While these issues are serious in nature, I’ve also written a sit-com that allows the audience to laugh at issues that can be painful.

It is my goal to provide (through performance or through my writing) characters that others can identify with. My varied experiences allows me to craft characters that hopefully audiences will adore.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

My life’s story is reflective of perseverance and resilience. I had three children as a single young mom and one of the most difficult things for me was to raise them to be progressive members of society. We started with so little and on welfare. As a family we overcame immense challenges, all of my children have done extremely well, all have advanced degrees, with one having recently completed all of her classes for her doctoral program. As they grew up I reminded my children of the statistical odds that they faced. I’d told my son statistically you’ll go to prison because of my choices and my daughters I’d tell them that you’ll statistically be a teen mom because I was. I’m happy to report that despite our start, their lives were not stereotypical statistically. So, I’m very proud of my children and as a family the resilience that help us accomplish goals.

Today, despite my late start in my acting and writing I’ve not given up and I continue to work everyday towards my goals artistically. Resilience and perseverance are etched in my story.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

One of the things I had to unlearn was to stop playing safe. Be less afraid to take chances that I’m uncertain of. Take more risk and chances, especially those that might enrich my life and career. Additionally I had to unlearn my procrastinate and seize the power of now.

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