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

Hi Shadow C., thanks for joining us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

While I have worked on many meaningful projects over the years, two jump out to me as the top ones thus far.

The First: A college theatre production that I was cast as one of the leads in was one of the most meaningful projects that I have worked as far as my theatre performance is concerned. The show as “Rabbit Hole” and the role was Howie. As someone in real life who has lost a child (albeit under different circumstances of course), I was able to take a more personable approach to creating the character. At the end of one of the performances, I remember an older gentleman coming up to me and shaking my hand and saying “Thank you.” I went on to thank him for coming to the show and showing support for the college production, but before I could finish what I wanted to say, he cut me off and said “No. Thank you.” That is when I noticed the tears in his eyes. My performance moved him so much that it left a beautiful mark on my soul. The feeling of being able to move an audience so much by my performance made me want to push myself harder to landing more meaningful roles! Ultimately this trickled down into my filmmaking as well.

The Second: Was a short film that I have just recently produced and is currently making it’s rounds in the festival circuit. The short film is “The Can” and I am the writer, producer, director and actor (Timothy Murphy) in this project. The Can is a loose take on my own struggles with addiction, depression, and suicide. I wrote the short in the summer of 2017 and pulled the screenplay back out of an old box in 2020 while living in isolation during the COVID pandemic. After many rewrites I was struggling to find the right time to move full steam ahead with preproduction. It wasn’t until a good coworker friend of mine lost his battle with addiction in the summer of 2021 that I said to myself “enough is enough” and went all in on this production. Ever since The Can has been screening at festivals, I have had at least 1-2 people come up to me after each screening saying “Thank you.”

At the end of the day, I am truly thankful and grateful to have the opportunity to make a positive difference in the lives of others through my work as an actor and filmmaker! I have seen my career slowly evolve into having more meaning in it. And I think at the end of the day, that is what makes my acting and filmmaker more enjoyable. Knowing that I am not just doing the work for me, but knowing that I am also doing the work for the betterment of others as well.

Shadow C., 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 performance career got off the ground and running in 2004 when I was approached by my Mom during my final year of high school. Another high school student had dropped out of the role of Will Parker in the school’s musical “Oklahoma!” After some convincing by my Mom, I accepted the role of Will and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. You’ll need to know, I was very much an introverted child growing up. I lived in a mostly isolated area of central New York where it was hard to be around other children my own age. So taking on this role in the school musical was a huge ask of me, lol. Once graduated from high school and having tried a semester of college, I chased my childhood dream of auto-racing. Having lived that lifestyle for a few years, I moved back to my hometown in 2009 to help my Mom take care of my Mimay (aka Grandmother) during her final years of life. After being home for only a few months, I was approached by my former high school choir teacher (Meredith Hudson) to fill the vacant role of Jonathan Brewster for “Arsenic and Old Lace.” Without hesitation, I accepted the role of Jonathan and have been performing ever since.

At my core, I am an actor of film, television, and theatre. I have worked some local commercials before, but my “bread and butter” so to speak is working on and building dramatic characters for film, television, and theatre. Most of my early work as an actor was in central New York on local horror films. Long story short, when it comes to what services I provide, I am an actor. As a necessity, I am also a filmmaker (writer, producer, director) to help create content that will both keep me active as an actor while also inspiring viewers at the same time. I am also a carpenter and have been known to work on some Center Theatre Group and Geffen Playhouse theatre productions.

I think what I would like people to know most about me is my willingness to push forward and do so in a positive way. I have spent many years struggling with depression, have controlled my addiction, and have overcome my suicidal thoughts and tendencies. The key to knowing me is knowing that I am going to do what’s right, every chance I can. Will I make mistakes, of course, who doesn’t? But you can always count on me to keep going and keep trying to make the world a better place!

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

Yes, to simply make a positive difference in the lives of others. I remember being at a “tipping point” of tumbling back down with my depression, addiction, and suicidal thoughts and tendencies when I first moved back to my home town to help my Mom take care of my Mimay during her final years of life. At the time, their favorite show as NCIS with the lead being the one and only Mark Harmon as Leroy Jethro Gibbs. I made an instant connection to the character because he struggled with the same issues I was struggling with. Of course they were not under the exact same circumstances, but I could easily relate to his character’s struggles. By watching this character trudge through these struggles and slowly turn them into positives, I was able to restructure my life into the positive it is today. This “tipping point” for me tipped towards the positive side and I have been on that positive side ever since. I owe a lot of my restructuring of my life to my Mom, my Mimay, and Mark Harmon and the entire team of NCIS! And is why my goal as an actor and filmmaker is to give that same positive inspiration that I received to others.

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

I believe as we continue forward into new frontiers, all actors should be well versed in editing software! I was fortunate enough to learn a lot of it early on through my filmmaking work, but for those actors who only focus on acting, I think knowing how to edit your own content is vital in this new day and age! Ever since the COVID pandemic, I have not had an in person audition. If your an actor, think about that for a second. When was the last time you had an actual in person audition? If you had many, then God bless! If not, then you’re just like me and millions of others. Everything is self tape now through sites like Actors Access, LA Casting, etc. Do yourself a favor and learn how to edit your videos! Cutting, splicing, removing video from your voiceover self tape, having a split screen of your full body shot along with your slate, etc. You’ll save yourself a lot of headaches in the long run!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4553850/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lavalleyshadow/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shadow.c.lavalley/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shadow-c-lavalley-a9383a46
• Other: Actors Access: https://resumes.actorsaccess.com/shadowclavalley

Image Credits
Meredith & Paul Hudson State University of New York at Oneonta (Theatre Department) Julie Topoozian Sean Cruser Gerren Hall