Actor/singer Dan Olivo: “You are enough.”

VOICES

Dan Olivo has been immersed in the performing arts since birth. His parents, both Italian actors, met when his mother auditioned for a play at the theatre company his father founded. Sitting in on his parents’ rehearsals as a young kid, Dan developed a sharp awareness of his surroundings—& he liked what he saw.

“My mom said I would sit in the audience—I was four years old—& she said that when an actor would miss a line or a cue, I would say, ‘Hey, they messed up, they screwed up.’ … I think anytime you watch your parents do something, there’s an interest. From then on, I had an interest in the arts.”

I sat down with Dan at The SmokeHouse, a vintage lounge in Burbank, & he shared a bit of his story with me: how his parents got him an agent at a young age; how he lost interest in acting during his teenage years & “just kind of wanted to be a kid”; how he took up saxophone & pursued a music major at Cal State Northridge; &, ultimately, how he dropped out of school to study with Milton Katselas because he’d caught the acting bug again.

Now, Dan has put his eggs in a lot of different baskets in order to keep the arts a centerpiece in his life—something that’s not uncommon for LA actors & singers. What’s uncommon about Dan is the self-awareness & wisdom I discovered as he shared some of the challenges & joys of his creative walk.

Enjoy listening in as we chat about how technology has changed the acting world, what it’s like to play the lead versus a costar/guest star, his pet peeves about music today, & what my “type” would be if I (as in, me, Alma Cook) decided to take up acting.

“The biggest obstacle for actors is confidence that you’re enough. You don’t have to be like, ‘Well, I want to be like George Clooney or I want to be like, you know, Bradley Cooper.’ You’re you. You’re enough. So be the best you you can be. Can you learn from those guys? Definitely. But there’s only one you.”

Dan’s advice for young actors

• Take an acting class. This will build your confidence & your skills as you consistently study your craft, and being in a room with other actors is a wonderful networking opportunity.
• Know your specific type to a T. “I saw a lot in acting class certain men or women who wanted to play leading men or women types—& that just wasn’t their casting. As soon as they discovered that they’re more salt-of-the-earth-type people, they started working & didn’t stop. It can bruise your ego a little bit, but it just comes down to: do you want to work or do you not want to work?”
  • “Do I play other things [outside of my type]? Can I play a dad or somebody’s best friend? Sure. Am I a leading man? Probably not. Does that mean I’ll never play a leading man? No. You look at the unconventional people like Al Pacino or Dustin Hoffman. When they started out, you don’t think, ‘Oh my god, there’s the next Robert Redford or Brad Pitt or whatnot.’ … Dustin Hoffman, not your typical leading man, but he’s such a great actor, such a great talent that eventually you do see him in that romantic part because he believes it so much.”
• When auditioning, know your part inside & out, but keep the script in your hand nonetheless. “You should go in the room like you’ve already booked the part. You should be off-script,” Dan says. But having the script in hand tells the casting directors that there’s flexibility to direct you. “This is not the final performance—he still has the script, it’s still a process.”

Dan’s resume

Dan’s acting career highlights include New Girl, Malcolm in the Middle, General Hospital, and Vampire Mob. And he played the lead—as he mentions in our conversation—in the award-winning comedy short The Deposition of Lou Bagetta.

And don’t forget that he sings, too. Specializing in The Great American Songbook, Dan & his jazz combo perform throughout Southern California at cozy clubs & lounges. For those of you local to Los Angeles, catch Dan at Le Petit Paris downtown on May 24. (I’ll be there, so let’s meet up!)

Recorded on April 19, 2017, at The SmokeHouse in Burbank, CA. Original theme music by Alma Cook. Additional songs featured: “Summer Wind” by Heinz Meier/Johnny Mercer & “We Are In Love” by Harry Connick Jr, both performed by Dan Olivo.

Relevant links & mentions

Find Dan Olivo online

• Dan’s website: https://www.danolivo.com/
• IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1602390/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thedanolivojazzband/
• Twitter/Instagram: @DanOlivo

Other

• Beverly Hills Playhouse: http://www.bhplayhouse.com/
• The SmokeHouse: http://www.smokehouse1946.com
• Le Petit Paris: http://lepetitparisla.com/

You might also like…

• The VOICES podcast – Campus minister LeAnn Jenkins on letting go of “supposed to” (March 15, 2017)

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