Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Damian Joseph Quinn. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Damian , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Have you been able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen? Was it like that from day one? If not, what were some of the major steps and milestones and do you think you could have sped up the process somehow knowing what you know now?

I think redefining the phrase “earning a living” can better shape how we see the whole game as artists: we are already alive. More than most, even. There’s no living to earn.

In my experience, an employed full-time artist looks a lot like becoming a multi-hyphenate. I’m writing this in Houston on a typewriting poet gig, my coffee table adorned with QR codes to the film I co-created. In my 2-door car, I stuffed a portable massage table. On my laptop, I have an app open for my next screenplay, another to start a profile on a new voice over data base, another for research on open mics in Austin.

In my professional acting career, Hollywood has screeched to a halt twice: the pandemic and the writer’s / actor’s strike. To work full-time as an actor & an artist means to be ready to pivot and expand and transform and step into power in all directions. And if you want to be in a movie — write it. Get your iPhone and a few friends and play.

It’s a game of catch and release. As soon as you think you can settle into the ground on the riverbank, the water swells and you’re carried away or it dries and the soil becomes barren and you have to relocate. It’s not personal — it’s seasonal.

Practically:

As an actor, stop trying to do it “right.” If you have an audition, honor the world of the script, of course. Have a feel for timing and rhythm and size. Then dissolve your idea of what you think casting wants or what this character has to be. Because if you go that route, you’ll produce the 500th self-tape for producers with the same choice they’ve seen 500 times that day. Play things true to humanity and dare to surprise yourself with radical authenticity because you’re an artist and not an insurance agent.

People in this industry will tell you how to make it but they really have no idea. Just be exactly who you are. Cultivate your worth ethic and cherish all of the unique things that make you exactly who you are. And then shine undeniably bright as you. Hollywood will come on its knees to you. And say: “we always knew you were gonna be a star, kid!”

Damian , 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?

My name is Damian (she/they/he). I’m an activated + activating actor & filmmaker.

I’ve had featured roles in US v. Billie Holiday, NCIS, AppleTV’s Roar + Physical, and Jury Duty.

As a filmmaker, my most recent project is Honey & Milk. It’s a short film about a couple’s separation. The film captures their final weekend in a house before my character, Grayson, embarks on a gender journey towards something that feels Truer to their own Nature. We produced this short in Austin, TX with a nearly all-Queer crew.

At the heart of my dream, I aim to skewer masculinity & redefine “strength.” I want to be one of the first gender fluid & visibly Queer artists who play all sorts of men, women + beyonds: play a historically straight guy in some war movie and accept the award in a gown and pumps. I hope I can pioneer a mindful, soft/strong, sweet/deep artistic field that frees up expression for all bodies.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I had to unlearn how to value my art.

I’m a Taurus & a straight-A student. I graduated as the most outstanding actor + scholar with Honors at NYU Tisch in ’17. I was committed to getting things “right” and knew I was doing a good job with quantitive measurements like scholarships or good grades.

Art doesn’t work like that; there’s no count. Some of the most impactful pieces I’ve done have been in black box theaters for 10 people. Some folks have tattooed poetry of mine on their bodies from random side-hustles I’ve taken to pay the bills. Some of the flashiest credits I have had far less audience impact than little short films my friends and I did that people still watch globally.

My ego has been so hooked to being good and doing well. After graduation, capitalism teaches us to measure by money: bank account statements and credit card IOU’s. But we’re not known as broke actors by accident. Then throw in a pandemic & a very very long actor’s strike, and I’m suddenly massaging gay men shirtless to pay my rent.

Our value & worth as artists are not measurable: by anything! Especially not by money. Or followers. Or views. Or reps.

If you need to know you’re doing a good job, measure the art you’re making by your resilience — like how you’ve managed to keep your Light alive and your dream palpable in spite of all of it.

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

Taking a career as an actor means juggling a house of cards with side-hustles until that “one gig” hits. I’ve been a masseuse, typewriter poet, production coordinator, producer, barista, bartender, server, social media marketer, administrative manager, voice over artist, substitute, etc.

And one of the biggest career pivots — which felt more like a blossoming than a sharp-turn — was becoming a yoga teacher.

Yoga helped me re-see my life. It helped me feel with my body and be in a body that breathes breath and trust that it’s enough. It helped me find Spirit! And, with a deepening relationship to my own life, I can find a day worth living in a cup of coffee and a beautiful tree just as much as I can from a day onset opposite Issa Rae. Yoga has helped me deep my Santosha, or contentment, so I’m in an open + relaxed body no matter what my external conditions are.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.damianjosephquinn.com
• Instagram: @damianjosephquinn
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/damian-joseph-quinn-759017134/
• Other: @honeyandmilkfilm www.honeyandmilkfilm.com

Image Credits
Image credits include: Bettina Neidermann, Gargoyle Girlfriend, Alok + Nikki, Kimberly Millard.