On The Line with Nadia Dajani...Part 2

When last we left off, Nadia Dajani moved to LA and signed with Writers and Artists - her first agent!

After performing her self-written 20 minute-long Donny and Marie-esque variety show, according to Dajani, her auditors were in shock:  "The three of them were staring at me like I had just grown a second head.  They said, 'We have no idea what we're going to do with you, but we'd like to sign you.'"

Not surprisingly, Dajani said yes...and she was off!

...or so she thought.

"I waited tables at a 50's restaurant, and I went out on auditions...and I never booked a thing."

Never really feeling she belonged in Los Angeles, the final straw came when her parked car was totaled by a hit-and-run driver.  Lacking the funds to pay for the repairs, she took the misfortune as a sign it was time to head back to New York.

Little did she know that packing up to go home would be the decision that would lead to the beginning of a great career.

Back on familiar East Coast turf, she stayed with Writers and Artists and began taking acting classes taught by her agent.  For four years, every Monday, Dajani would either drive or take a train from Grand Central Station up to teacher Molly McCarthy's Westchester home, honing her craft and building lasting friendships with fellow clients of the agency, including Heather Graham.

She also booked her first job ever:  An afterschool special directed by Linda Lavin, perhaps best known for playing the title character in the hit TV sitcom Alice.  Recalling that very special time, Dajani said, "I was very lucky -  I always belonged here more."

Of course, one job does not a career make, so Dajani continued to live at home and work "all over."  She played the roles of hostess, waitress and eventually bartender at a variety of New York City's less-upscale watering holes, finally "doing her time" at Down the Hatch, which, according to Dajani, was like "walking into the very bowels of hell."

But if that was the home of the devil, she found her angels while performing in a play at New York University.  In a production directed by an eighteen-year-old Keith Bunin - who had yet to blossom into the accomplished playwright and television writer (In Treatment) he's known for today - Dajani acted in a cast with Ethan Hawke, Maddie Corman (actress - Some Kind of Wonderful & so much more), Liz Tucillo (writer - Sex and the City, He's Just Not That Into You), and Josh Hamilton (TV, Film, Broadway, you name it).

Whether they knew it in the moment or not, participation in that show would plant the seed for the Malaparte Theater Company.  They only knew one thing: "We all loved each other and wanted to do more together," said Dajani.

At this time, Hawke was already well-known and donated $7000 to rent a little black-box called the Sanford Meisner Theater so the clan could mount a production of their own.  Bunin offered up his translation of a Pirandello play, never before performed in English, and they mounted the show with the help of a cast that included Linda Larkin, Cynthia Nixon and prolific character actor/director Austin Pendleton.  

The show was a hit:  They made their money back and were able to continue reinvesting to produce more work.  During the early to mid-90's, Malaparte's productions featured ensembles of talented up-and-comers such as Frank Whaley, Steve Zahn, Calista Flockhart...and of course, Nadia Dajani.

Between bartending and performing with Malaparte, Dajani continued to audition for film and TV projects, and her next job after the afterschool special was a mini-series (A Woman Named Jackie) in which she was cast as Christina Onassis.  "That was the most hilarious mini-series I think ever made," said Dajani.  She recalled shooting John F. Kennedy's fateful drive in Dallas, with 10 extras holding a flag on one side of the street and using the same 10 people when the camera turned around to capture the reverse angle.  "But I had the time of my life.  I learned a lot."

Despite these intermittent moments of success, Dajani would continue pouring drinks for drunken revelers until she got her "big break," booking a series regular role in the Debra Messing-led pilot Ned and Stacey.

She remembered the day she called the bar:  "They were having a staff meeting and I said 'I got the job,' and they all screamed, and I said 'I've been waiting to say this for four years - I quit'...the stupidest thing was, most pilots don't get picked up.  All I did was fly to LA and shoot for ten days, but then I was done."

Fortunately, for Dajani, the pilot did get picked up, and that marked the end of her days at the bar.

For that job, Dajani credits Amy Introcaso Davis, who was the head of casting at Fox.  "I loved her and she loved me...we just really got along," said Dajani.  

Because of that relationship, Davis "snuck" Dajani in to meet the show's executive producer, who was in New York to see actresses for the role of Stacey.  "I met him on the same rainy horrible day - freezing winter February rain, snots coming out of your nose - that I met a really eccentric director, David O'Russell.  I auditioned for (the film) Flirting with Disaster and then went over to Fox to meet (Ned and Stacey's) Michael Whitehorn.

She got the movie, six weeks later learned that there was "interest in her" for the role of Amanda Moyer on Ned and Stacey, and by August, she was in Los Angeles working as a series regular on a prime-time sitcom.

After the two-year life of the show, Dajani said, "everything changed - I wasn't green anymore."  She'd proven that she could deliver, and the industry recognized it.  "I was the go-to snarky New Yorker for a little while."

But although Dajani feels that she's been lucky, no one can say that she hasn't worked hard for her achievements...and continues to do so.

Even now, with nearly 20 films, as many television credits, and 16 pilots under her belt, she's flying to stay at a friend's place in Los Angeles for pilot season.

Her rationale?  "Not for nothing, but it's not a bad idea to show your face."

...and not a bad excuse for escaping another cold New York winter!

On The Line with Nadia Dajani...

Nadia Dajani may not be a household name, but the New York born and raised actress has certainly made her mark in independent films and on the small screen as the (in Dajani’s words) “go-to snarky New Yorker.”  She has accomplished a feat sought by most any thespian – to be a working actor.  And although a bit of luck played a role, it was talent and hard work that brought this actress success.

Dajani grew up in the Westbeth apartment complex, an artist housing community in the West Village.  “It was sheer madness – artists and their children,” Dajani said with a smile.  “I was lucky and cursed right away, since this [a life in the arts] was what I knew I would be doing.”

Through high school, where she attended the city’s famed High School of Music and Performing Arts, Dajani trained in voice and musical theater.  “I was a singer, a perform-ah,” said Dajani (insert jazz hands here), “but I wasn’t good enough.  My mother would tell you otherwise, but I just wasn’t good enough to be a singer and a Broadway star.  And so I shifted my focus to figure out how to be an actor because I had no clue.”

In a logical move for any aspiring actor to make, following her high school graduation, Dajani traveled across the Pond to study Shakespeare in London, but quickly realized that it too wasn’t for her.  “I learned I’m terrible and so I stopped that madness right away.”

Having spent a year abroad, Dajani found herself stateside once more.  After time making money waiting tables and hostessing and all the while wondering how she could start being an actor, she decided she needed to move to Los Angeles, because she assumed, “that’s where actors go.”

It happened that her best friend was a musician who had done some acting in his youth - Adam Horovitz, now known for his success with the Beastie Boys.  It also happened that her best friend was the son of accomplished playwright Israel Horovitz, and had an agent that he agreed to help Dajani meet.

Upon arriving in LA, Dajani was brought before a team of agents at the now-defunct Writers and Artists Agency, who requested to see some evidence of the aspiring actress’ work – a current play, a reel…anything.  However, having only school play credits to her name, Dajani could only offer to prepare a scene and come back – and they agreed.

But rather than cull a scene from a published work – as most actors would do – Dajani set to work creating her own showcase piece…actually, a mini-play…20 minutes long!  “When I think about it now – the nerve,” Dajani said.  “This was like the biggest opportunity anyone could ever have and I just shunned all of the normal scenes that actual talented people have written for actors and I just decided I needed to showcase me.”

Fortunately for Dajani, her naïveté paid off, and after performing the full twenty-minute variety show, complete with announcer segments and scene changes, Dajani landed her first agent!

…check back soon for Part 2 of On The Line with Nadia Dajani:  "Playing" around with pals Ethan Hawke, Josh Hamilton, Frank Whaley & more, plus landing that first game-changing role on "Ned & Stacey!"

Tiny Coffee Shops; Long Days in Class; and Conan, Avatar & Miramax in the News......

Sunday was a heat wave!  Well, comparing to the “feels like” near-zero temperatures of the preceding days, Sunday was darn near balmy.  And it was a good thing, since I was venturing out of the warm comfort of regulated central air to interview Nadia Dajani.

I will say here that I am a creature of habit.  For example, if I order in, it’s always from the same Chinese restaurant and it’s always steamed chicken with broccoli, black bean sauce on the side and brown rice.  (And they know it too – it’s practically at my door before I complete my phone order).

I have my places in the city I like to go, and I rarely try a new meet-up spot, especially if the person I am meeting up with is not someone I know very well:  There are always hits and misses from bars to restaurants to coffee shops.  So, when Ms. Dajani suggested that I pick out a place in the West Village for our Sunday interview, I panicked – I don’t have a “usual spot” in the West Village.

So I literally Googled “coffee shops in the West Village,” and the often-trusty New York Magazine was the first to pop up with their “Guide to West Village Coffee Shops.”  Perfect.  I settled on the first option, Mojo, thanks to several user reviews that commented on the relative ease of finding a place to sit, and it’s easy-going atmosphere.

When I walked in at 1:15pm on Sunday afternoon (hoping I’d found the right place since the only visible sign over the door said, simply, “coffee,” with no mention of Mojo from what I could tell), I did in fact see a few available seats, but the place was so small, it was impossible to imagine conducting an interview with the neighboring patron nearly sitting on our laps.

Fortunately, a very kind customer offered his relatively spacious choice window-flanked corner table in exchange for my itty two-top (Thank you again kind sir!).  Shortly after the swap, Ms. Dajani arrived, and the interview was under way (she was just lovely and has a great story which will be posted in the coming days, so check back!)

Monday and Tuesday were filled mostly with classes, however I did receive word back from actor Frank Whaley that he is happy to chat with me and found a few moments for additional phone calls – so I’m certainly encouraged with this feeling of momentum!

And now for some News Nuggets from the past few days:

• Chairman and CEO of News Corp. (and parent of Fox) Rupert Murdoch responded to questions regarding whether or not Fox will move into negotiations to bring Conan O’Brien to the network during their Tuesday earnings call.  According to Murdoch there have been “conversations” but no real negotiations.  He added that Fox affiliate stations currently run profitable syndicated programming from 11:00-11:30, but “If the program people can show us that we could do it and be fairly confident about making a profit, we’d do it in a flash.”

• Murdoch also commented on the possibility of an Avatar sequel…but although he confirmed that both sides are interested in moving forward with the idea, Murdoch said (and I love this), “Being Jim Cameron I wouldn’t hold your breath for an early one.”

• Now that Miramax is up for grabs, it looks like the Weinstein brothers might seek to reclaim the indie studio that bears the combined names of their beloved parents (and holds the library to their stock of films made at what was unarguably the height of independent filmmaking…and of their careers to date).  The Wrap’s Sharon Waxman reported that two hedge funds approached the brothers about a team effort to buy back the studio, which the Weinsteins’ sold to Disney in 1993.  Read more about it HERE.