We were lucky to catch up with Dj Shattine recently and have shared our conversation below.

DJ, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

I’m no stranger to risk in my professional, creative or personal life.

But one of the risks I faced was when my older brother wanted to go running with the bulls in Pamplona, Spain. He did a lot of the research, planned and booking reservations for the trip. We looked into a lot of the details and had to start our planning at least a year out from when the event would occur in 2018.

We flew over and drove in Spain with both my brothers and their wives. We were all in one giant van. We had a lot of wonderful experiences before the event in Pamplona. We picked up the traditional garments to wear and the day prior to the event, it was my 34th birthday. In Pamplona they throw a big party the day prior so we went and hung out in the crowds for the day while everyone was throwing sangria all over everyone else in the crowds.

My eyes stung as we tried to find our way through the massive crowds of people, at one point we were pushing through a parade and I remember one of the band members holding a large drum intentionally hitting me with it since we were in the middle of the parade. I don’t blame him, I deserved it because we were just moving through the crowd where there was space and we shouldn’t have been there haha.

We woke up early to scope out the area. My brother had researched and said it was safest starting the run after what is known as Dead Mans Turn. We stood in the crowd, seeing some people pulled out by the authorities because they were too hung over to run. The crowd started making sounds from far away as we could tell they were coming. I held my ground as the whole crowd started moving, my brothers were swept away from me.

I started running and getting to the side, I saw the bulls pass by and their backs were nearing 6 ft tall, the sound of thunder and ground shaking on the cobblestone road was happening all around us. I was swearing expletives as I managed to maneuver through the crowd. I come upon a pile of people in front of me and someone trying to help people up. I stop to help, and see it’s my younger brother helping people. We tried to help the last person up but he kept shaking us off and was too scared to continue, I looked at my brother and just said, “Let’s jump over him.” and we continued.

The run ends in an arena where they then let smaller bulls (still like 800-1200 lbs) knock around people in a ‘safe-ish’ environment. I remember seeing one large man get knocked out cold and had to be carried away for his own safety.

I was playing with the bull at one point, got too bold, and the bull spun and came at me. I grabbed the horns with both hands and for a split second my brain was like, “Yeah, sure, you’ve got this.” knowing that I in no way “got this”. The bull lifted me into the air, slammed me into the ground and rolled it’s horns into me, I let go, rolled over and went into the fetal position to try to protect myself. The bull was distracted by someone else, but as it went over me it stomped one good hoof into my left buttock to which remained a deep purple bruise that stayed with me for the rest of my trip.

I’m happy I took on that risk and had an absolutely wonderful and unique experience, without dying!

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’d like to say I’m an actor, but always aspiring. I got into the industry about 8 years ago and started out by taking classes, landing some background opportunities and then seeking representation after building an example portfolio of work. In my line of work with acting, I like to help a director get what he envisions on screen. I’ll do my best to be adaptable and listen to what’s happening in the scenario to ensure I’m helping out the best I can.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

I think what drives me is my pursuit of enlightenment and in the continued development of my faith. Being an actor puts me into a position where I am able to explore my own personal self more as I shift and challenge myself to be something different. Exploring other aspects of psyche is, for me, a conjuring sort of experience where I get to have visibility into another individuals experiences and life when I am then performing.

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

I used to be very direct with my problems and people. A mentor that played a significant role in my life gave me this advice when I needed it, “You do not have to fight every enemy like a lion. Sometimes you have to be a snake.”

These words stuck with me as I repeated them frequently when faced with an obstacle in front of me. It consistently helps me change my approach, which really helps with acting, and always boils back to the surface when I feel passionate about a challenge in front of me.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @djshattine
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100071599284052