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November 16, 2016

30 Minutes Alone with The BFG's Daniel Bacon

“Acting is simple, but it’s not easy. However, if you’re willing to strip down and go all the way, acting and life begin to get a lot easier. And a lot more fun!”
Daniel Bacon is an actor and instructor in SchoolCreative’s Acting: Film, Television & Voiceover diploma program, with previous roles in 50/50, Fantastic Four, and Bob the Builder. He is currently starring in Disney’s The BFG, which opened in theatres on July 1.
You played Bonecruncher in a Disney adaptation of one of the most beloved children’s books of all time, directed by Steven Spielberg. How did that happen?
I get an email from my agent in March 2015 inviting me to audition for the role of a giant in an unnamed film. And my first thought is, I’m 5’ 9’’, how the heck am I supposed to play a giant? I didn’t understand it. So I dug a little deeper and discovered it was going to be performance capture and I thought, okay, I get it, I could do this. Then about halfway down the page I see who’s directing and I’m like, ok-a-a-ay.
How did it feel to know you’d be working with one of the greatest directors of all time?
I’ve been fortunate along the way to work some successful actors and great directors, so my reaction wasn’t so much about hero worship or that kind of thing. Mostly, I was surprised he was going to be directing a film in Vancouver, which he’d never done before. He’d produced shows here, but not directed. That was interesting to me.
So knowing that height wasn’t a factor, what did you bring that they were looking for?
They wanted actors with a theatre background and who’d worked with animals, both of which I had done. For the audition, they gave us two scenes: one that was scripted and one we had to come up with on our own. And they wanted to see two different characters, once for each scene. This was a Thursday, and my audition was scheduled for the following Monday. When I finally found out what the movie was, I ran out, bought the book, and read it. I was very familiar with Roald Dahl – who doesn’t know about Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach, Fantastic Mr. Fox – but I hadn’t actually heard of The BFG. After reading the book, I watched the 1989 animated version of the story to get a sense of who the giants were. Then I went for a walk and started coming up with ideas for who my two giants would be and especially how the unscripted part of the audition would look.
Take us into the audition room. How did that go?
I came into town and visited a workout space where I did a full theatre warm-up, about an hour and a half. I don’t do that for every audition, but I knew this was going to be very physically and vocally demanding, requiring a British accent and a fair amount of grunting. When I got there, I took off my shoes and shirt, rolled my track pants up into a kind of giant’s diaper, and I just went for it. When I was done, I left the room thinking, I love what I just did. One take, the casting director thought it was fantastic, and because I did what I set out to do, I felt good about it and was able to let it go.
Do you think your preparation was the difference-maker?
No question. Preparation plus going all the way in the audition. Keep in mind there was only one audition, no call backs. Some of us didn’t have a clue what made the difference for us initially. But then as the full cast assembled, it became apparent that those of us who got the roles were the ones who really went for it. The ones who didn’t merely go over the top but were very detail-oriented and grounded with a very specific story they were telling. I’ve always said to my students that every audition is important, whether it’s for a student film or Spielberg. We should approach them all the same way, with the same dedication and focus. Adrenalin will usually remind you that one’s bigger than the other. But as far as the process is concerned, that part you actually have any control over, it’s the same: you always answer the same basic questions, go through the same paces, and have the same objective.
That being said, did you give your audition for The BFG a little extra something?
Not really. However, I would emphasize one thing: I wasn’t afraid to look silly or make mistakes. I wasn’t worried about being perfect. I didn’t think much about the fact that I was auditioning for Steven Spielberg. I just thought, this is my job, this is what I’m here to do. Actually, I was more excited about the creative choices I’d made with respect to the characters and performances. I committed to those, and that’s why I was able to walk in and out and forget about it, rather than obsess about whether I was good enough.
What happened next?
Three weeks later, I got a call from my agent and found out I’d been put on a short list. They were looking for nine giants in total and they’d auditioned a couple hundred actors in Vancouver, plus more in Toronto, L.A., and London. Two days after that, I learned I’d been put on a shorter list. Finally, five days later, my agent called with the news that I’d been confirmed as one of the giants. To which I said, okay, cool.
“Okay, cool.” That’s it?
I’ve worked long enough in this business to know that, until a project wraps, I’m not going to get too excited. Because anything can happen. Just because they cast you, it doesn’t mean you’ll be in the final product. It’s okay to have your head in the clouds so long as your feet are on the ground, if you know what I mean. You need to stay focused on what you’re there to do, especially with big productions like this. Because if you’re not, you could easily be replaced. Having said that, every day I was filled with a sense of excitement and gratitude for this amazing opportunity. Every day, a part of me was going “woo hoo!”
Can you tell us about one of those “woo hoo” moments?
There’s a sequence in the film where I’m lifted up from the ground in a cargo net about three or four feet. When we filmed that, Mr. Spielberg came and laid down on the floor right below me, coffee in hand, to walk me through the scene. That was one of those moments where I was like, okay, this isn’t happening. Another one was when I got to stick my butt in Bill Hader’s face, walk over and push Mark Rylance over, then have Spielberg tell me, “great work!” And of course, there was walking the red carpet in L.A. I’d always wanted to experience that and, for years, had imagined what it might be like. Of course it never occurred to me that it would for a Disney film directed by you-know-who, with a bank of forty photographers shouting my name.
What was it like working with the cast and crew?
Mr. Spielberg was full of this incredible energy and joy right from the start, putting us at ease and getting us excited. That took all the anxiety away on day one, which I’ll never forget. I mean, he must understand that he and his body of work exude a certain aura that some could find intimidating. So for him to go out of his way like that to break the ice, it was wonderful. And he was there every day, equally enthusiastic from one day to the next. He could have kept to himself if he wanted to, be unapproachable and stand-offish, but he never was. At all times, he seemed genuinely excited to be working on this project. And it trickled down to the rest of the cast and crew. He’s got award-winning costume designers, lighting people, and camera operators that have been working with him for years, and they’re all incredible gracious and humble, working together to get the job done. Mark Rylance was the same, an Olivier-award winning hero of British theatre, treating everyone with dignity and enjoying the process. It felt extraordinarily collaborative, it was wonderful.
What did you take away from that experience that you’d pass on to your fellow actors?
Same things I’d say in general: Remember your reasons for being there, know what your job is and do it. As an actor, you’re there to support the story. Everything else is bonus. Above all, stay grounded. I had two cards, one that said “breathe” and one that said “trust”, and put them in my shoes. Every day when I walked on set, with every step I took, I was reminded: Breathe and trust. It’s okay to be nervous, but breathing is how you overcome that and get on top of it. M. Scott Peck once said, “fear is excitement without the breath.” Do just remember to breathe! And trust. Trust that I got here for a reason, trust the process, trust in my peers, my cast mates, the director.
When did acting start for you?
I went to theatre school when I was 26, but before that I was going to be a teacher. I completed two years of a bachelor of physical education in Nanaimo, BC, then decided I wanted to get off the island for a bit and visit the big city before continuing my studies at the University of Victoria. So I came to Vancouver and while I was here, I got involved in a singing project. A Vancouver company was interested in me because of my involvement with a group in Nanaimo and eventually I became part of a boy band that toured and performed for a couple of years. This was 1991 as as hip hop was starting to gain steam, pre-internet and well before the Backstreet Boys. As a result of that experience, I was invited to audition for a commercial, which I landed. Then I got a couple more right out of the gate, and I thought, hey I could do this! Some actor friends at a restaurant where I worked recommended I take some classes, which I did and really enjoyed. Did that for a year before I came to a serious crossroads: do I pursue acting full-time or finish my teaching degree?
A lot of aspiring actors end up at that crossroads. “Do I go all the way with my dreams or choose the ‘safe’ path?”
And I totally get that. It’s inevitable. What you want versus what society tells you that you should want. At first, I chose to finish my degree and moved back on the island. But it was while I was at university, preparing for the next school year and filling out my timetable, that I thought, what am I doing? This isn’t what I want to do. But I’m not a hundred percent sure about this acting thing, either. It felt like the 25 year-old version of a mid-life crisis! So I snapped my pencil in half and walked out, wondering which way to go.
What did your family think of all this?
I’m a bit of a black sheep, a do-my-own-thing kind of guy. My mom mostly stayed in the background, a bit unsure of the whole acting thing. But she was never heavily involved in my life path, so that didn’t play too much of a role. I did, however, have a roommate who was very supportive. After the deadline passed at UVic, I spent a lot of restless hours working at the restaurant and watching Oprah, trying to figure out what I was going to do next. One night, I went to my roommate and we sat up all night talking about life, and I realized that while I loved teaching, I loved acting even more. So I decided then and there that I was going to move back to Vancouver, give everything to acting and see it through. A month later, I was back on the mainland in acting school.
Over the span of your career, have there been other moments when you felt stuck, and that resolving to give it your all lifted you from that plateau?
About eight years in and roughly 30 roles under my belt, I hit a place where I felt stagnant. I wasn’t moving forward. I was still getting parts, but they weren’t growing in size and they were infrequent. Plus I was in debt and didn’t have some of the things I wanted in life, like a house and a wife and kids. So I began to question whether I’d made a mistake with acting. I even seriously considered becoming an agent, realizing I’d come to a place where I could walk away, make a living doing something else, and pursue the kind of life all my friends had. But in that moment, I also realized I wouldn’t be happy; that deep down, I’d spend the rest of my life realizing I didn’t invest fully in what I really wanted to do, and that I’d really regret that. So I made the choice to level-up and give 100% to acting. Struggle, toil, claw, whatever it took, even if it meant bartending at 50. And I was okay with that. But I also knew something had to change. I had to step out of my comfort zone, take another class, make some sacrifices, do whatever it took.
Can you give an example of a sacrifice that helped take your career to the next level?
There was a night, a big gathering of friends for a guy’s night out, an annual thing we all did. I was super excited, all dressed up and ready to go, and I got a call around 6:45 from my agent with two auditions lined up for the next day. At that moment, I had a choice: I could either carry on and go to the dinner I was really looking forward to or say, sorry guys, I’ve got to go. The old Dan would have gone for dinner, but instead I made a quick appearance, then went home to prepare.
Truth is, if you want to be successful doing what you love, you’re going to miss out on a few things. I’ve missed out on birthdays, weddings, a lot of things. And that’s a choice you have to make as you build an individual identity of who you are and how you move through life. Your true resume is about how you conduct yourself in the industry. The cream will always rise to the top, which is way less about talent than about how passionate and committed you are. And by the way, if you don’t choose to go all in, someone else will. And they’ll get the part.
As an instructor at SchoolCreative, what do you hope your students leave the classroom with?
To know this: that acting is messy and to embrace the mess. Acting it’s about translating real life into your art. I see a lot of actors who try to be perfect in an audition or performance, try to nail it without making any mistakes, try to get it right, whatever that means. But I say, embrace the mistakes, the mess, the struggle. Life is messy, awkward, often irrational. So often, students come in and want to make it neat and tidy and orderly, but that’s not life. So just be yourself. Everyone’s always looking for the secret to giving that extra five or ten percent, but the real secret is to just let go of “getting it right” and be you. Acting is a field, a craft where there is no getting it right. No right, no wrong, only strong and true. It’s not about giving a flawless performance, it’s about whether they believe you. It’s not about the costume or the gimmicks or the tears, but about knowing the story, how your role fits into that story, and above all, being yourself. Which can be hard, I understand, because that means taking the time to find out who you really are. Like we often say, acting is simple, but it’s not easy. However, if you’re willing to strip down and go all the way, acting and life begin to get a lot easier. And a lot more fun!

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