We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Mike Danner a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Mike, appreciate you joining us today. Can you take us back in time to the first dollar you earned as a creative – how did it happen? What’s the story?

The first dollar I made as an actor was back in 2011. I had been in acting class for 2 1/2 years at that point and had done a few short films, which gave me credits but no money. One day, a mutual acquaintance that I had gone to film school at Chapman University with a few years earlier reached out to me. She was producing a short film called “Daddy Issues” about a lesbian couple meeting with a potential sperm donor for their baby. There was a small role in the film of a waiter who keeps coming by the table at inopportune moments, which would comedically add to the tension of the situation. I ended up getting cast in the role and shooting it a few weeks later. The role turned out to be a bit smaller than I anticipated–I had a few lines, but really was a glorified extra. But I was paid $100 for my part in the film, which doesn’t seem like a lot to me now, but at the time, it affirmed for me that I was on the right path. I was paid to act in an interesting and funny project and I felt like I did a good job with the role. I remember when I got the check in the mail for $100, I thought to myself, “This is just the beginning.” It wasn’t long before I booked my first commercial, and still now, whenever I book something that pays me, I do think back to that first job that made me see myself as a professional actor.

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?

I’ve wanted to be an actor since I was a kid. When I was in elementary school, I did several school plays that always made me feel like I was doing what I really wanted to be doing. In college, I got back into the theater scene, and did all the plays and musicals from my sophomore year through my senior year. I think my favorite role that I played was Bud Frump in “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying”. After college, I ended up getting my Master of Fine Arts in Film Production with an Emphasis in Directing at Chapman University. Filmmaking was something that always interested me, and even though I had a passion for acting, I felt called to learn about what goes on behind the camera, as well. While at Chapman, the acting bug never really left me, and I ended up acting in many short films throughout my time there. And when I graduated, I realized that as much as I loved filmmaking, acting was my true love and my true calling. However, I continued to, and still continue to, make films, but mostly in service of my acting. Since moving to LA after graduating from film school, I have been in several different acting classes, including the Berg Studios, where I studied for 4 1/2 years, and the Last Acting Studio, where I have been for the last 2 1/2 years. I have also taken several improv courses at UCB and I have been a member of SAG-AFTRA for 10 years. I have acted in many different projects over the years, from independent features and shorts, web series, live theater productions, and national commercials. I feel that my best roles are still in front of me. My goal is to be a film and TV actor and to make my living doing what I love. I’m 6’6″, which has always been a double-edged sword in my career. I can think of several jobs that I got in part because of my height, and several jobs I was excluded from–I booked a commercial once that I was then un-booked from when the creative team did a tech scout at the location and realized I was too tall for the set. I’m proud of all of the work I’ve done as an actor over the years, and I’m excited for the opportunities ahead.

Have you ever had to pivot?

The biggest pivot in my professional journey came when I graduated from film school. I had gone to graduate school at Chapman University where I studied directing. I had ups and downs while in school, but my biggest takeaway was that I still wanted to be an actor more than anything else. I had acted prior to going to Chapman, doing all the plays and musicals in undergrad at Merrimack College, and I could never shake the feeling that acting was where my passion remained. So when I graduated from Chapman, while most of my friends were getting jobs as editors or PA’s, I decided to dive back into acting full force, even if that meant taking jobs completely unrelated to my field. These jobs included temp jobs like answering phones, working as a lawyer’s assistant for about a year, and even working as a barista for one shift–it turned out that they would have needed me to work weekends, and the acting class I had just enrolled in was on Sundays, so that was out. The hardest part about making this transition after spending 3 years in graduate school was that I was going against friends’ and family’s expectations. There were plenty of people in my life who wondered what I was doing–several that voiced this to me directly, and I’m sure many more who speculated about it unbeknownst to me. All these years later, however, I know that I made the right decision. I am still close friends with many of the people I went to Chapman with, and these connections have led to plenty of acting work over the years. And even the life as an actor can be difficult at times, I always know that I am doing the right thing whenever I’m acting on stage or in a film. Nothing compares to that feeling.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

I think that society can sometimes be less than accommodating to artists and creatives. I know that growing up, I was constantly looking for creative outlets, and public school didn’t always provide them. There were only so many acting opportunities in school, and they were few and far between. Occasional plays and maybe a skit here and there, but looking back, I was always craving more. I remember in 4th grade we recorded a radio play about a boy looking for his dog. I played a giant who gave the boy a hard time along the journey. I remember that we worked on this radio play about once a month, and I was always so excited. But the rest of the time, I was constantly just wishing we were working on the radio play. I dreamt of a world where I could spend all my time acting, and public school in Athens, OH was never really conducive to this. Being an actor always felt out of reach. I look around today, and it feels different, but only because I live in Los Angeles, so being an artist and a creative is encouraged. But throughout the rest of the country, I doubt this is the case. Especially in today’s political climate, where books are being banned and artists and their thoughts and opinions are often viewed as uninvited. My hope is that we can do a better job as a society to encourage art and creativity in today’s youth so that a thriving creative ecosystem can continue into future generations.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/realmikedanner
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@mdanner1983

Image Credits

Stephanie Girard