Daily Inspiration: Meet Daphne O’Neal

Today we’d like to introduce you to Daphne O’Neal.

Hi Daphne, so excited to have you on the platform. So, before we get into questions about your work life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today.
There’s a definite performing arts throughline in my life. When I was two, I asked my parents for a piano. They bought me a toy piano. I wanted a real piano. My mother did the research and selected the Cleveland Music School Settlement (now known as The Music Settlement). The school required an audition and a semester of theory before instrumental training could begin. I was accepted at age 5 and completed my first semester of theory to begin my piano studies before I turned six. A few years later, I developed a strong interest in ballet. As it happened, the music school had just added ballet to its course catalog. I started classes at age 9. We moved, and I danced in local Nutcrackers and other ballets from middle school through high school. I also enjoyed singing and dancing as a chorus member in high school musicals. I just always felt comfortable and at home on stage. In college, I studied with ballet teachers from well-respected companies around the world; I danced semi-professionally in modern and jazz troupes after graduation.

Some years later, I was living in Chicago and saw a request for guests at the end of the Oprah Winfrey Show. I decided to call in and was a panelist on the show the next day. It was almost the first time I had had occasion to speak in front of a large group . The audience was so warm and encouraging that I decided to begin auditioning for plays when I returned to Boston.

I did a few plays there and then relocated to San Francisco. I wanted to do on-camera work but did not want to go straight to LA with so little preparation and experience. I started working right away in corporate videos, commercials, and indie films. I stayed in San Francisco for more than 20 years. When I booked a national campaign that aired on WGN, I thought, “Maybe I can really do this. Maybe it’s more than just a hobby.”

So, I put together an acting reel and focused on more TV and film work. I played a hostage in a blockbuster Japanese TV miniseries and then a judge in the PBS short Refuge which debuted to a sold-out house at Tribeca Film Festival in New York City.

In 2017, when 13 Reasons Why was filming its second season in San Francisco, I received a casting notice for a character who was “elegant, educated, and cultivated.” I thought, “Wow, that sounds like me.” I submitted my reel on a Friday. The next Monday morning, I was on my way to a corporate video job in Santa Cruz when the casting company phoned to say I’d been selected for the role of Marcus Cole’s mother.

After Season 2 of 13 Reasons Why dropped in May 2018, I felt I could no longer move forward as an actor in San Francisco. So that September, I loaded up my jalopy and drove through the night to relocate to Los Angeles.

Before I left, I carefully researched LA commercial agents. The very one I most wanted to sign with contacted me just a week after my arrival. It was like a dream. I started working right away in lower-paying gigs I got on my own. I didn’t care about the compensation. I wanted to see myself as a working actor in Los Angeles. I booked a voiceover just two weeks after arriving, then was selected for a very imaginative short film. I shot three music videos and three more short films that first year.

Toward 2020, I left Los Angeles. Both my commercial and TV/film agents continued to submit me during 2020 even though I was out of town. When I returned in the spring of 2021, I began auditioning a lot.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
As mentioned above, I returned to LA from Ohio in March 2021. That April, I started auditioning like crazy. But I booked nothing.

That was unusual for me. In San Francisco, I would audition for a while and just book a job. My ratio was pretty high. So, it was staggering to me that I was auditioning sometimes 4 to 5 times a week — averaging 2 to 3, including commercials and TV/film — and had not booked anything.

I could have given up during the pandemic. I could have given up during all those months of auditioning. But I felt strongly I had something of value to offer.

I stayed the course, and in January 2022, I booked my first TV movie, Bodyguard Seduction, which aired on Lifetime last August.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
It’s funny you should ask because I’ve just been working on my actor brand. I think my primary qualities are elegance, intelligence, and empathy. If you look at all the characters I’ve played so far, they have that in common. Whether a judge, a doctor, or a mom, they are well-educated people with huge hearts. Of course, it would be wonderful to take on roles outside of that niche. But that’s really my sweet spot.

I am enormously proud to be a working actor in Los Angeles. It means I’ve gotten past the naysayers. It means I’ve stayed the course. It means I have not been deterred.

I’m probably best known for silently playing Marcus Cole’s mom on 13 Reasons Why. I certainly feel good about that.

But these days, I’m excited about having played a small role in my first Christmas movie, Aisle Be Home for Christmas. I’m also thrilled that I was recommended for the role. I did not have to audition. For someone who is relatively new to Los Angeles, that feels amazing. I was even more excited to find that the movie was to air on Christmas Day. I remember so enjoying Christmas programming as a child. And it’s heartening to think that our movie might become a part of someone else’s Christmas memories. Very moving…

I especially enjoy conveying strong emotion, as is apparent in my upcoming TV movie DC Down in which I play the Vice President of the United States. A Tubi Original, it will air sometime in 2023.

I think everyone’s early life has an impact on how they do their work or what kind of person they become. My early experiences in classical piano and ballet, and the formalities involved with performing in those arts, became a part of me.

I also think being from Ohio — where, generally speaking, the values are different in terms of conduct, in terms of a sense of propriety, in terms of what matters — is a factor. I spent two years speaking to high school students in the San Francisco area and routinely asked them for their first impressions of me. They all said something to the effect of, “You come from ‘someplace proper’.” If that sets me apart, I’m fine with it.

In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
As you may have noticed, there’s an ever-shifting kaleidoscope of networks, platforms, and other broadcast entities. Ad-supported Fox entity Tubi, for example, experienced a 40% increase in total viewing time from 2020 to 2021, making it “the fastest-growing AVOD service in terms of consumer awareness,* according to a May 2022 press release. (Tubi, by the way, broadcasts live Cleveland’s WKYC-TV news programming.)

In 2022, Tubi announced it would be creating 100 original movies over 12 months. My upcoming movie, DC Down, is among them.

Of course, Netflix, Amazon, and HBO are better known, all having produced their own content for years. Add in Apple TV, Paramount+, Peacock, Starz, and others, and it appears the number of scripted shows requiring live actors has mushroomed.

There was a time when doing a Netflix show was considered a lesser gig than working at one of the three broadcast networks. Clearly, those days are gone.

In addition, in 2020, cinema attendance plummeted and has not fully recovered. Even today, many films continue to premiere on streaming platforms.

For an actor, I think the key is to stay focused, know your brand, keep improving your skills, and work closely with your reps to understand the shifting landscape and maximize opportunity.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.daphneONeal.us
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/thedaphneONeal
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/daphneoneal
• Other: https://m.imdb.com/name/nm1830036/

Image Credits
Juan Sebastian Valencia