We were lucky to catch up with David Harrell recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, David thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?
A lot of my work as an actor and writer has come from autobiographical pieces. During one of my first professional acting gigs, a director encouraged me to write a solo play about my life growing up with a disability. I was born without my right hand. I created a solo play that I produced in New York and was presented at several festivals Off-Broadway and around the world. It focused on my experience and was a love letter to my family, however, it also had a universality to it that resinated with others. I began to perform for community groups and schools throughout the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. I created a second solo play for younger kids and developed it with the Long Island Children’s Museum. Sharing my story and seeing how it connected with others throughout the country was very meaningful. I got to play characters from my past; my dad, my mom, my grandfather. It was nice to tell their stories too. In 2022 my father passed away. It was devastating but I had these moments of connection with him through these plays and that was helpful in a way. In 2023, I adapted one of my plays into a mid-grade novel. This allowed me to continue to have these stories, especially about my father live in another way. By publishing the book, the stories can reach a larger audience and hopefully encourage them as they read my story. This work is meaningful to me not only because I am keeping stories of my father alive, but I hope that I am also using those stories to bring a little light and kindness into the world.
David, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
Hi there! I am David Harrell and I am an actor, speaker and writer. I was born in the late 20th century with a disability. I was born without my right hand. Back then, there were no ultra-sounds or dads in the delivery room. My dad waited with several members of our family in the hospital waiting room. Not sure if he brought cigars, which was a custom, but he did bring a baseball glove. He knew his new kid was going to be a baseball player. My mom was in twilight sleep so my dad was the first to hear from the doctor. The doctor came to the waiting room and told my dad he had a beautiful baby boy, there was just one glitch. I was born without my right hand. My dad tried to process those words, he looked at the baseball glove in his hand, he wondered how this kid was going to play baseball. He set the glove down in a chair and went to the bathroom to “collect himself”. He came back after a few minutes, grab the glove, looked the other family members in the eye and said, “my son, will just play baseball…left handed.”
And I did, I journeyed through life and found ways to adapt to play this sport my dad and I loved. I played through varsity in high school and even had an offer to play at a small college. But somewhere in that journey I also found theatre. Perhaps it was a crush in high school telling me I would be cute on stage and should audition for the drama class. I thought I might get a date! I didn’t. But, I did fall in love. I fell in love with theatre. It was my true north. So, I turned down the baseball scholarship and took one to study theatre. My journey led me to work professional around the country and ultimately move to New York City where I spent close to 15 years. While in New York I created solo plays about my life growing up with my disability. I performed Off-Broadway and got to travel the country and even internationally performing. I also worked in theaters, did films, and am in several television shows you could have blinked and missed me. During my time in New York, I also created a Keynote presentation that I shared with companies, associations, and conferences around the country.
During the pandemic, my wife and I decided to move closer to our families. We relocated to Savannah, GA and have been here since 2021. In my time down south, I have continued my solo performance and keynotes. I also published a book based on my solo play, “A Little Potato and Hard to Peel”. The book was a finalist in the 2025 National Indie Excellence Awards.
With all my work I try to bring an awareness to the universality of our human experience. My youth programs focus on disability awareness. Seeing someone in front of you with a visible difference being funny and captivating can be a powerful experience. My goal is to show that my missing hand is really just one of many, many, many, many differences about me. All of us have so many different things about us. Maybe they are not seen by everyone but they are known by us. If we can learn to accept and love those differences in us, then I believe we have the capacity to accept and love the differences in others. If that happens, we can have a much kinder world to live in.
In my keynote, I focus on 3 A’s. ACCEPTANCE, ADAPTATION and ACTION. Wherever we are in our lives we have to accept the situation. It may not be a situation we are proud of or one that we want to be in, but accepting it allows us to begin a plan to move forward. That is Action. We have to move forward, sometimes in to uncertainty and fear but we are going to go forward in life no matter what, so why not move in a direction we desire. In that movement we are going to face challenges and limitations. This is where we Adapt. We have to look for new ways of doing things and not allow those challenges or limitations to define us. This is true in business, leadership, study, and faith. Through my stories I illustrate how we can all take more control of our lives and not allow difficult circumstances that are beyond our control to peel away the core of our humanity. And I do this the only way I know how…theatrically! I believe the skills I have built through my journey as an actor allow me to make powerful and meaningful connections with my audience.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
In 2015, I was chosen to perform in the ABC Talent Showcase in New York City. This showcase allowed the ABC Television casting department to highlight talent they really liked to others in the entertainment industry. Over 7,000 actors auditioned each year and that is whittled down to 12 actors. I auditioned for several years and finally was selected as one of the 12 actors. I thought this would be a big break, I was signed by an agent, I was pinned for a large role on a television series. Things were moving in the right direction in my acting career. I booked a few television shows during the next few years and continued growing as an actor in NYC. In 2020, I was selected by the Casting Society of America as on of the 20 top actors from under represented populations. Meaning one of the top actors with a disability. It seemed like this was going to be a great opportunity to move my acting career forward. Then COVID hit. The world turned upside down. MY wife and I had to really take in the reality of our situation. Our son was four and we really had no support system of family in the City. We decided it was best to move closer to family. It was hard to leave NYC but the pivot was needed. I was able to find acting representation here in the Southeast but I had to pivot to focus more on other work. My new day job is with a nonprofit called Camp No Limits. We hold camps for children with limb difference or limb loss all around the country. So, kids like me. I get to provide community to kids like me and help them become more confident in themselves. I still perform, I still do my keynote, I still wrote a book, but I had to adapt from the path I thought I was on. That is what life is, it is pivoting and moving forward.
How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?
I think as a society, we can try to uplift creatives by shopping locally. Buying products from local artists and helping to push positive thought leaders and performers by supporting their platforms. If each of us slowly tried to cut out the “brain rot” on our phones and televisions, and followed more empowering artists I think the money would follow that consumption of material. So, I guess my suggestion is try to find artists that a meaningful to you and tell your people about them.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.davidharrellonline.com
- Instagram: @davidharrell3
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/davidharrellactorspeaker
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidharrell3/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@davidharrell2841
- Other: Where to buy my book:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-little-potato-and-hard-to-peel-david-harrell/1146540914
https://www.amazon.com/Little-Potato-Hard-Peel/dp/1645434052
