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

David, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Are you happy as a creative professional? Do you sometimes wonder what it would be like to work for someone else?

It’s a strange feeling knowing what you want to do with your life from an early age. It all started at this 2-week-long summer camp when I was four years old — I danced, sang, made crafts, played improv games, and even learned a few lines for the final night’s play, summer after summer — so I don’t really remember my first time being “on stage.” As long as I can remember, I’ve been a performer. It’s who I am, part of my identity.

But there was a quiet moment of reflection I had at around eight or nine, when I realized I wanted to be an actor for real. For the rest of my life. I was frustrated with getting up every morning to go to school and go to classes and then my afternoon extracurricular activities, then dinner and homework and straight to bed. A blessed life, for sure. I wasn’t laying bricks. But all of that for what? Two days off a week plus a couple vacation days each year? I was terrified by the prospect of that level of routine. First school, then more school, then get a job and work, weekday after weekday, until I die at some point. I wanted a different life — I wanted to live a thousand lives. In an eight-year-old way, I wanted something bigger than just me.

So now that I’m 28 and have a fancy theatre school degree and a couple fancy film and TV credits and a life as a working actor on the cusp of my “big break” (I heard it only takes about five or six big breaks to be successful in this business), I have to admit I never became a performer to chase happiness. I just did it because I felt a kind of calling. And I often think how my life would be different if I did what my friends or family do. If I were a corporate lawyer, or a middle school teacher, or a management consultant, or a car salesman, or a stockbroker. Would I be happier? I can’t know. But I do know I may very well play those parts in my life. Not just one (nay, let me play them all!). And I’m tickled knowing that being an actor means being so many different people in so many different worlds. So, I guess, I don’t think I chose to be an actor at all. It chose me. It gripped me hard and it won’t let go!

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I was born in Toronto near the end of the millennium, where I was raised by a family lawyer, a psychotherapist, and my vibrant younger sister. At four, I played Apple Vendor #2 in a summer camp version of Romeo and Juliet — then at 22, graduated from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts with a BFA in Drama. When I emerged from the pandemic with the rest of the world, my film & TV career began to flourish. I might reluctantly describe myself as an up-and-coming character-actor based in Toronto and New York, but I’ll defer to my IMDb instead:

I’m a Canadian-American actor who made his feature film debut alongside Nicolas Cage in A24’s Golden Globe-nominated Dream Scenario, directed by Kristoffer Borgli. I will also appear in the upcoming Disney+ film Out of My Mind and Entertainment One’s Everything’s Going to Be Great.

On the small screen, I recently filmed recurring roles in Benito Skinner’s upcoming A24/Prime Video series, Overcompensating, and Atomic Monster/Prime Video’s upcoming thriller series, Obsession. I can be seen recently guest-starring in Brilliant Minds for NBC.

My earlier appearances include the critically acclaimed short film Gloria, Murdoch Mysteries, and The Expanse. Growing up, I performed in numerous youth theater musicals and studied drama at Etobicoke School of the Arts in Toronto. After high school, I moved to New York City, where I graduated from NYU Tisch. Then I moved back to Toronto. For now…

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

There is no weekend when you’re an actor. Not really. There’s no vacation. No sabbatical. There’s no time off. The actor brain is always working, always absorbing human behavior and overheard conversations and striking images. It’s always running lines or imagining fictional pasts for unusual characters on the street. It wonders how many people have sat in this same chair in this same restaurant and what did they dream about? The actor brain is on high alert not only for life, but also for emails. When will your agent call? When will the next audition come in? Where the hell are you supposed to shoot that scene tomorrow? There’s no office. There are no hours. There is no weekend.

At the same time being an actor feels like never working a single day in your life.

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

My seventh-grade teacher, who I greatly admired and who in fact taught me many profound truths about being a mensch, a good thinker, and a responsible human, said this a lot: “If you don’t have anything intelligent to contribute, don’t raise your hand.” Something like that.

Now, I think I knew what my teacher meant at the time. Something or other about being prepared for life (and math class), not wasting your peers’ time, not opening your mouth just for the sake of it but only when you actually had something important or true or helpful to say, thinking BEFORE speaking, blah blah blah…

But I can’t recall a more harmful idea when it comes to being an actor. As a human being trying to be a different human being, trying to be honest and present and alive and emotionally uninhibited, you have got to speak before you know what you are going to say. You have to raise your hand first, before you know what you are going to do. And by god, make it up if you have to — IMPROVISE — even if you suspect subconsciously you’re wasting people’s time. You just gotta jump. Otherwise the amygdala takes over, and you realize the audience is watching, and you’re screwed. The classroom and the stage (or any house of art) are different places. It’s taken me some time to know that in my bones. Cognitive restraint has no place on the stage or screen. Blurt it out.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.davidklein.me
• Instagram: @davidmfklein
• Other: IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm5697985/
  TikTok: @davidmfklein

Image Credits

Logan Graham Greene @loganonceagain