Springfield Journal, First Quarter 2000
   Being The Artist
   The David Andrew Macdonald Interview: by Tim Frendak
   

David Andrew Macdonald is far from a Prince...well, that is, if you ask him. A self-described geek, David doesn't presume to understand what people think of him by simply watching "Prince Edmund" on Guiding Light. Always animated, with a contagious laugh, David is one of those rare individuals who immediately puts you at ease with his warm smile and genuine interest in understanding what you are saying. David appears to be a perceptive intellect of human behavior.
"I'm frequently the guy who makes the comment that makes everyone fall silent." He imitates the receptors of his comments with a puzzled gaze and then explodes with the awkward laughter they patronizingly exude with a "hey, that's funny!" While still charming, this class clown is more of a court jester than a prince. On the other hand, David shares a quick wit and a sharpness with his alter ego. And unlike "Edmund," he expresses sense of "fair play" in all areas of his life, a trait he credits to his parents. He pauses as he finds the words to properly express his thoughts. "They instilled in me a critical sense of fair play," he states softly and lovingly. "I think that is very important. It is what enables people to work well together. And when people work well together, in my opinion, a respect for community and craft is established that very little can break." The love David has for his parents is easily apparent as he speaks.
Growing up in Washington DC, David left home at age 16 to attend boarding school in Rhode Island. A politically active and studied family, David's older sister, Ruth, was a lawyer before leaving the profession to raise her children, and his sister, Alison, has a Masters Degree in International Relations with a concentration on Global Economics. David's father, an attorney, passed away in 1989 and his mother, who he describes as "a hoot," worked in New York during the Second World War. "Which is really just short of 10 million years ago!" he comically adds.
Hitting the quota of lawyers, David's family, unlike others, was thrilled when he stated that he wished to pursue a career in the arts, specifically in Opera. "They said, we were so sure you wanted to be a lawyer, you talk just like one! My mother grew up to believe that the great grandparents till the soil so that the grandparents can own a shop, so that the parents can be professionals, so that the children can be artists. That is the way she saw evolution."


































David attended The Juilliard School but it was in undergraduate school in Colorado where he evolved out of Opera and into theatre. He has appeared on Broadway as well as in numerous regional productions including An Inspector Calls, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolfe, Christmas Carol, The Importance of Being Earnest and a whole lot of Shakespeare. He continues to compare working on daytime television with his theatre experience. While you don't have the "luxury of a six week rehearsal process, and maybe being able to bounce ideas off a group of writers over a period of months," he feels that daytime television is the closest taped medium to the stage. "The camera's finding you, without an editor, director and producer creating your performance." The fast pace of daytime production does not allow for numerous re-shoots and allows for more creative control. He states: "What is so funny about this medium and what I've learned is that you can say, ok, I'll try this and look at it the next day and say that was really bad. But then sometimes you do it, go wow, that was right on the money!"
David certainly knows about daytime production, having previously appeared on Loving as a priest who married Laura Wright's (Cassie) character to Paul Anthony Stewart's (Danny) character and also on One Life to Live and Another World. He has been warmly welcomed at Guiding Light and explains that, in addition to the actors he works with on a regular basis, he and his wife, Nikki, have become quite friendly with Frank Dicopoulos (Frank) and his wife, Teja, after "running into them at different functions." When it is stated that Edmund's popualrity has increased dramatically in recent weeks, David states, "It has? Can you say that again please?" He then breaks out into that contagious laugh.
Had David not been an actor, he hesitantly states he would have liked to be a writer. He studied theology briefly in college and had an interest in politics. He also liked number crunching when he used to do his own taxes. "Who knows, I could have become an accountant." Wouldn't he get bored with that? "Actually, my accountant is a very funny guy. He's been on Saturday Night Live." He finally sticks with writing as an alternative occupation. "Writing is more solitary, it's more studied. It doesn't have to be, but it frequently is. It's odd how one would go from one to the other, but I think if I were a writer I'd have to balance out the public side if my personality with something else." It is clear that David is versatile in his thinking and does not stick with stereotypes. He once read a statement about an actor, which stated, "maybe it's all gone to his head, you never know with actors." His response, "Well, you never know with accountants either. Vanities are everywhere. I think that is an impression people have with actors in general, and very much so about daytime actors." He then begins impersonating the stereotype in his best sexy, leading man, daytime "stud" voice, "Hi there, how are ya?" And, as he breaks the character, states, "That is SO NOT ME!" He explains that there are some actors that are like that but, for the most part, it is a perfect mix of people. "It's like any high school class, except that they all look pretty good in tuxedos and evening wear!" Contagious laugh erupts once again.
One thing people might be surprised to learn about David is that he is dyslexic. "I was caught very, very early and was trained very early. I read more quickly than most people, so it's really hard to tell. It would probably take an expert to watch me read and hear me talking for a while to say, are you dyslexic?" It is clear that he doesn't find the handicap at all an inconvenience.
Taking the subway to work from his home in Queens, and watching David conduct this interview in jeans and a baseball cap, it is apparent that he is well adjusted to normal New York City life. "I love New York City," he states adamantly. That is a good thing for an actor, whose prime work will come there or in Los Angeles. "I have a lot of positive things to say about LA, me living there is just not one of them. I just can't imagine myself living there. And it's not that I don't like the people, it's not that I don't like the city...I can't stand the weather. I find that constant sort of dry optimistic sunshine a bit grating. I like rain. I like torrential downpours that last for a couple of days, so you know when the sun breaks through, you can appreciate it. If you don't have a cold winter, a little bleak and wet, you can't appreciate spring fever."
David does not have big dreams of fame in primetime television or films but simply believes that what will happen will happen. He does dream of having a family in New York and a continued career as an artist that can support that. "I want to be happy. I want to go to bed at night saying that was a good day. Asking myself, have I gotten rid of one more regret? Ok, good, then I'm doing better off than I was."