Max Désir
Picture by Stanley Louis from www.3imagespro.com
The Foreign Language Acting Group is proud to recognize Haitian born multi-talented and mulit-lingual actor/singer/model Max Désir as our Artist of the Year for 2012. Max joins the cast of Circle Players production of TITANIC in the role of Joseph Laroche, which runs at TPAC April 5th - 8th.
I asked Max to tell us about himself and his work, and here is what he has to say:
What role did theatre and the arts play in your childhood and upbringing?
Growing up in my childhood church in Haiti, theater and the arts were dormant in my life due to the fact that I was taught that I couldn’t be a Godly man and an entertainer at the same time. I was taught the two were opposites, so I suppressed my innate ability to create a reality that alters life through possibly one of the most transforming apparatuses on earth, the arts. I remember watching movies as a child and reiterating lines and facial expressions of actors as I got to the parts I really liked. As an adolescent, the mirror became my best friend not because I was practicing modeling faces, which became part of my career, but because I wanted to see how convincing and mesmerizing I can be as an actor. Interestingly enough, I still practice in the mirror nowadays
Tell us about your own evolution as an artist.
After years of suppressing my ability as an actor, in 2005 my university (Medgar Evers College CUNY) held auditions for a short film featuring Danny Glover and I landed my first supporting role. Landing that role gave me the confidence and the audacity that I needed to embark on my journey an actor. From that point on, I took continuous classes, workshops and voice lessons. I partook in a lot of student and Independent films, theatrical works, commercials, voiceovers, modeling in different cities.
What brought you to Nashville and what are your "Nashville" objectives?
In 2006, I went to Las Vegas to compete in a nationwide acting/modeling/singing competition called Talent Rock founded by Lou Pearlman. I won in some categories, and received a few offers from agencies. One of these offers came from a Nashville agent. Ever since then, I have been moving between New York and Nashville looking for gigs. Nashville has been very good to my career and has built my resume in more ways than one. I hope to continue to grow as an actor in Nashville whether it is in theater or film and hope to create a triangular relationship between Nashville, New York and Los Angeles. I am also looking forward to working together with my fellow actor, business partner, and friend Stanley Louis as we periodically merge my production company, S.T.A.R. Productions, which stands for Spiritually Renewed And Trained Productions with his all inclusive videography/photography company, imagesProductions to put together independent films, commercials, and original stage plays within the community and abroad.
What are your thoughts on Circle Players and the work they do?
I became familiar and active with Circle Players back in October 2010 when I landed my audition with them for the role of George in “Raisin in the Sun.” From that point forward, it has been an exciting ride working with them. Being the oldest community theater in Nashville, Circle Players stands on its own as a pivotal force in the community. As now a proud member of the board of directors, I count it an honor to be part of an organization that keeps on reaching new heights. As I learn about the history of Circle Players, I have noticed that it is becoming stronger and better than ever before under the leadership of its President Tim Larson and Vice President LaTonya Turner, who exemplify the caliber of the board as a whole. Each board member brings their own artistic historical background that contributes toward the steps forward that Circle Players is taking. And now we are daring enough to embark on this current audacious journey where we are having a Broadway quality production of “Titanic, the Musical” at TPAC April 5th through the 8th for the one weekend only. It is also worth mentioning that Circle Players will make history as they feature the
only black passenger on the Titanic (Joseph Laroche) whom I will have the honor of playing. The Laroche family has quite a fascinating story and the director and producer of the show thought it was worth featuring in the musical. Circle Players also reaches out to the youth in our community by having workshops that focus on refining their abilities as young performers.
Career wise, what's on your to do list now?
I have quite a few things on my list due to the eccentricity of abilities I’ve been blessed with in my life. The more immediate ones happen this summer 2012; I have a few short film projects lined up and am shooting potential commercial ideas on dvd to submit to big corporations. I hope to hit a music studio by end of summer to start working on a Worship CD in Creole/French and English. I’m working on finishing my first motivational/inspirational book “Just Like a Tree” by the beginning of 2013 and last but certainly not least I will start traveling the country again on certain weekends to churches and other organizations as a traveling evangelist and a motivational/inspirational speaker. I’m just going to stay busy and prepare myself in and out for bigger things.
Don't miss Max and the other fine actors of the cast of Circle Players TITANIC at TPAC April 5 - 8.
To learn more about the Circle Players, please click the post's title.
Come to Nashville and Go to the Theatre!
Jaz Dorsey
The Nashville Dramaturgy Project
Jaz Dorsey
The Nashville Dramaturgy Project
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