We were lucky to catch up with Dylan Vassallo recently and have shared our conversation below.

Dylan , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s jump back to the first dollar you earned as a creative? What can you share with us about how it happened?

The first time I made real money from booking an acting job was earlier this year. I booked a small role on a feature film shooting on the Gold Coast in Queensland and I was a little unsure of what the pay was going to be when I got my first pay slip, I was more worried about taking everything in, the flights over, the pre production stuff that I was doing before even getting on set;

When it finally came, I wont say the exact number out of respect for the production, but it was five figures for 3-4 days work, plus I was staying in a apartment on the beach in Queensland. That was absolutely surreal to me. Not one did it feel like work while I was there and thats what I got paid at the end of it. Absolutely amazing.

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 grew up up loving theatre and singing but I also loved sports and as a kid, I grew up playing rugby league.
I often let the insecurities of being a “theatre kid” get to me so I pushed it away for a long time; until I got a little older and started to mature and realize I don’t care, I was gonna do what makes me happy. When I was 17 I started acting in theatre again booking a lead role in a local theatre production of grease and it completely kick started my love for acting again.
When I started working as a carpenter it was obviously a bit harder to juggle the two but I always had that desire.

I am a very I know what I want and I don’t care what it takes to get it kind of person.

After finally biting the bullet and pursuing acting school, and all the hicups of Covid.
I spent some time studying in New York, on a scholarship where I had my eyes opened even more to the world of Broadway and standard of acting training. It was such an amazing experience to learn from so many amazing actors on the other side of the world and make so many friends and memories along the way.

Shortly after returning home from New York, my partner and I moved from Melbourne Australia to Vancouver Canada and what a shock we were in for.

We both went from living at home with our parents to living together, paying rent paying bills, it was a massive shock but it made us mature as people and adults.

Living in Vancouver was exactly what I needed; I was hungry I threw myself into my acting, I reached out to agents and casting directors, I started auditioning and was fortunate enough to book a role is a feature film a few months after landing it wasn’t a big role but hey it was a role and damn it felt good.

That time on set was so beneficial to work and be around other creatives.

Don’t get me wrong there were hard times too; long hours at work, not knowing if we would have enough for rent but we were persistent and resilient and we figured it out.

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

I started working as a carpenter just before my 17th birthday. I worked as a carpenter, for nearly 3 years, I knew I had to make a change. I applied to a film school and was fortunate enough to get partial scholarship.

I quit my day job and started to study full time, then Covid happened. The frustration felt; the program was put on pause,

It was definitely a hard time; having this goal in front of and not being about to do anything about it so I went back to work on the job site until, in 2021 we finally got the chance to start all over.
It was a year of ups and downs, doubts but it gave me the opportunity to learn from some amazing professional actors and really helped me build the foundation for the work I do.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

I think the goal is every actor is to be able to provide for myself and my family with my craft.
I would love to use acting as avenue so I do what I love full time.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: Itsdylsss

Image Credits

Joshua Hoareau

Fabrizio Evans