Rising Star Brett Donahue On The Five Things You Need To Shine In The Entertainment Industry

An Interview With Elana Cohen

Don’t let the fear of getting it wrong stop you from stepping out of your comfort zone. Early on, when trying to book jobs, I thought so much of how something is “supposed to be” and venturing beyond that preconceived idea locked me into choices instead of allowing myself to move with what was going through me in the moment. It makes for fine performance, but not necessarily one that is alive as it can be.

As a part of our series about pop culture’s rising stars, we had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Brett Donahue.

Brett Donahue is an actor, filmmaker, and theatre creator originally from Winnipeg, Manitoba and currently splits his time between Montreal and Toronto. He is most known for his role as John F. Kennedy Jr. in the television drama mini-series The Kennedys: After Camelot alongside Katie Holmes and Matthew Perry. Other works include roles on Bad Blood, Suits, Slaxx, Three Pines, Shadowhunters, and Private Eyes.

Coming up next, Brett can be seen starring in the new original four-part movie event, The Love Club following the story of four women, each dealing with their own dating debacle. Other upcoming projects include the third season of the French-Canadian crime drama series, Portrait Robot, about a forensic identikit artist, who profiles suspects and victims for a Montreal police unit.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Can you tell us the story of how you grew up?

I grew up in a working-class household in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Two parents, and an older brother, and a whole bunch of aunts, uncles, and cousins. My family was mostly split up by a nine-hour drive across the prairies. So road trips became a pretty big staple of my childhood. I was pretty sports focused on most of my young life, with basketball being my thing. I didn’t really get into the arts until later in high school and university — when my dreams of being in the NBA weren’t working out!

Can you share a story with us about what brought you to this specific career path?

My dad was a mechanic and factory worker but was always a bit of a singer/songwriter, and happened to be great at telling stories. The moments we shared of him telling tales of his youth had a big impact on me and I suppose it created a natural link to me being attracted to storytelling myself. When I was in university, I didn’t really know what I wanted to do with my life. I’ll remind you that the prospect of being a basketball player wasn’t looking too bright, and my theater elective became the thing I was most interested in. I found some great support through professors and friends, and bit by bit, the reality of trying to do this as a career seemed like something that was actually possible. So, I kept training and developing, and eventually I got myself to a place where I thought I was ready to give it a go in the professional world.

Can you tell us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?

One day working on the project Bad Blood, Paul Sorvino, an iconic actor with about a thousand credits under his belt overheard me playing the piano. He complimented my playing and then seemed to spontaneously belt away an aria from some opera. It was just one of those wild moments that can arrive in this business. One day you’ll meet someone you’ve seen in so many great things, and you can have the most mundane conversation, or they’ll do something so unexpected like Paul had, and at the end of the day all you can really do is have a chuckle about how oddly wonderful life can be sometimes.

It has been said that mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

When I was shooting the remake of Total Recall, I halted an insanely expensive production to debate with the director whether I should do an accent or not. Basically, I auditioned with a supposed British accent, but on set, I was looking around to see if anyone else dressed like me (I was a soldier) was doing one, and sure enough, I was the only one of us with any lines. So, we set the shot up and blocked it out and everything was ready to go, and Len Wiseman (the director) was about to head back to his monitors when I was like, “Oh wait” and proceeded to ask whether I should do an accent or not. It felt like one of those record scratch moments. Like everyone everywhere had stopped to watch this playout. I could tell he had no idea what I was talking about for a moment, and I felt like I was jogging his memory of what this three line actor was there to do….. I can’t imagine how much money this conversation cost, but, in the end. I suppose the mistake was that I didn’t speak up right away, and then stopped everything just before we were going to shoot. I suppose what I was afraid of was looking like a fool by not knowing whether I was supposed to do it or not. Like this information was somewhere and it was my mistake for not ascertaining it sooner. That I was being problematic to the flow of things by having to find this out. I mean, I was so young, and this thing was so big, I just didn’t want to screw it all up. I realize now that it was a pressure, I had been putting on myself. What I can say years later is not to feel foolish if you have to clarify something for yourself, because it will only a benefit to you and the project. There’s no need to have all the answers, and if there is any merit to the people you’re working with, they’ll be there to collaborate with you.

What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now?

I was just a part of the hit Amazon Prime series ‘Three Pines’, a film called “Luckless in Love’ which just premiered on UpTV. I’ll be the lead on a rom-com called ‘The Love Club: Tara’, which will premiere on Hallmark Channel. And I am about to shoot the third season of a Québécois series called ‘Portrait Robot’, where I’ll be acting in English and French.

You have been blessed with success in a career path that can be challenging. Do you have any words of advice for others who may want to embark on this career path, but seem daunted by the prospect of failure?

Failure is inevitable. Failure is such a crucial part of the creation process, it’s the only way we’ll learn from our mistakes and find great ideas; where we’ll find what works. And nobody doesn’t fail in this industry. My best advice is to make good friends with your failures; because it’s from that place that you only truly grow.

We are very interested in diversity in the entertainment industry. Can you share three reasons with our readers about why you think it’s important to have diversity represented in film and television? How can that potentially affect our culture?

I guess I’d need you to clarify what culture you might be speaking of? Because in my life, what I seek for in entertainment and intellectual stimuli is incredibly diverse. But to speak to three things I’d say

1. Look around you. Diversity is everywhere. Their stories are important.

2. A concentration of diversity only expands and adds to whatever dominant culture may be in place.

3. If you’re not a curious person, and you don’t want to see artistic expressions of music, film, TV, dance, food etc. etc. from cultures other than your own, then I’m sorry to say you’re missing out on beauty, the world over.

What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why? Please share a story or example for each.

1. Don’t let the fear of getting it wrong stop you from stepping out of your comfort zone. Early on, when trying to book jobs, I thought so much of how something is “supposed to be” and venturing beyond that preconceived idea locked me into choices instead of allowing myself to move with what was going through me in the moment. It makes for fine performance, but not necessarily one that is alive as it can be
2. Perfection is not a thing. It’s just not. It can’t be, and even if it was, it would be completely subjective. One of my favorite voices of all time is Ray Charles. The man was incredible, but not because he was perfectly on pitch with a perfect vibrato. It was how he found the note; played with being slightly below it, and leaped around it that made his voice so wonderful. It’s surprising, and that’s what makes it so profound
3. You’ll never please everyone. Whatever you do and however well you do it, It’s not going to work for someone. So don’t worry about it always having to. Develop standards for your work, it will attract people who value what you’re putting out and make you happier where you are.
4. Promote yourself. I naturally thought promotion would just happen for me: I’d do something good and it would be noticed. But your work is always going to be up against every other good or bad thing out there, and naturally, it may not get the attention that you’d like.. There’s dignity in work, so talk about it. Even if it’s not a breathtaking project, talk about that. Develop a critical language on why it may not be. What may have made it better? Distance your ego from the situation, by not letting it define you. A career is full of great, good, and bad projects, and every caliber of actor has had their share of them.
5. Embrace being yourself. One of my favorite actors is Andrew Scott. He’s so undeniably himself when he’s in front of a camera, that I’m just drawn into his performances. There’s such a comfort there, a nonconformance, and it’s utterly refreshing. You are not anyone else. It’s not to say to just be you in every opportunity, but the more you allow yourself access to yourself in what you’re doing, the more presence you’ll be able to bring.

Which tips would you recommend to your colleagues in your industry to help them to thrive and not “burn out”?

Maintain a healthy work/life balance. We’re only here for a short amount of time, and there’s only so much that we can acquire through our work. At the end of the day, I’ll remember the great experiences I have in my life just as much, if not more, than the great projects I may have been a part of. Be honest with yourself about where you’re at and take on the work that supports that conversation and if you need to step away for the moment, do it. The industry isn’t going anywhere.

You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

Ultimately, the greatest impact I can have on a daily basis is how I treat the individuals that I encounter in my life. Whether they’re good friends or strangers, I try to approach them with a great degree of humanity and if more people operated this way, then perhaps the world would be a lot more civil. Maybe we’d care more about how our actions affect others. I think a lot of the major issues we’re facing on a global scale are based upon care. Do we care enough?

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

There have been so many influential people that have helped me get to where I am now. For instance, in high school I was taking drama classes with no real fantasies of becoming an actor. One day a substitute teacher sincerely asked me if I ever thought that this could be something I could do. I think it was the first time that I actually considered this in front of another person. It’s funny how a suggestion so small can play out years down the line, and I often wonder, had she not asked me, what I’d be doing now.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“In two hundred years, no one will know you existed, so be kind and have fun”. I think we can be so hard on ourselves for some of the mistakes we’ve made, or choices we’ve made. When things don’t go our way it’s so easy to put the blame on ourselves. That’s how I’ve reacted anyway. But I remind myself that life is short, and not to let the stress of little things keep me from enjoying it. Because one day me and all my stress’, are going to be beautiful specks of dust floating out in space somewhere. So, make the most of things while you can.

Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. :-)

I would like to have breakfast with P.T. Anderson, and he’d be so impressed by the fact that we drink our coffee the exact same way that he couldn’t possibly not put me in his next film. And then I’d have lunch with Michael Jordan and after I’ve overfed him, I’d challenge him to a game of one-on-one.

How can our readers follow you online?

INSTA BAYBAYYYY!! @bjdonahue

This was very meaningful, thank you so much! We wish you continued success!