In episode six, Daniella and Mordechai are joined by Reese Sebastian Diaz, a New York City based actor and singer, who has toured in the theater performances of Dear Evan Hansen and Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and also had roles in Netflix’s You and American Horror Story” If you’ve ever wanted a podcast to learn from the stars and get the best masterclass tips and tricks for launching your own career, you’ve come to the right place!
Reese found his love for performing when he was just eight years old after performing at his local community theater. He performed as Evan, Jared and Connor in the Dear Evan Hansen National Tour and has also starred as Scorpius Malfoy in the Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Tour. Reese is also incredibly passionate about creating new and original theatre and even founded a club called “First Act”, the first organization at NYU to produce shows with a creative team made up entirely of students.
“Especially as young performers, there’s a lot of first times and as much practice and reps you can get in any form of acting is helpful.”
While Reese first fell in love with theatre, even booking his first theatre roles without an agent through open call auditions, Reese soon discovered the world of TV and film and played Sawyer, working alongside Penn Badgley, in season five of You and even worked under director Ryan Murphy in an episode of American Horror Story. Talk about some pretty great company!
“I really have fell in love with [film and tv],”
Reese talked to us about being an understudy in theatre, covering five roles for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and three roles for Dear Evan Hansen. He said all this practice prepared him super well as he had to stay organized and memorize multiple roles for when he was called up to perform. The lifestyle is much different being on tour compared to Broadway, but Reese said every opportunity has been such great practice.
While in theatre, Reese found his confidence and ways to access emotions that prepared him well to take on the role of Sawyer in You. Reese worked closely alongside Gossip Girl star Penn Badgley who plays the title role of Joe Goldberg in the show and said Penn really took the time to chat with Reese and ask him about his career, which made Reese feel special and inspired.
“There are jobs that you just get this feeling in your gut.”
He said Penn often adlibbed some of his lines which kept Reese on his toes but gave him such a wealth of experience for future roles.
“[You] was the biggest role I had on TV yet and to be a part of such a culturally relevant show is so cool.”
We also did our favorite rapid fire round of firsts with Reese, who told us Mary Poppins first inspired him to want to perform, ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’ from Queen is his go-to pump up song and he would love to work alongside Tom Hanks someday!
Again, this podcast is for you, the fans! We want to know who you want to hear and learn from and have many exciting guests and stories coming up in future episodes! We’ll be releasing episodes each week so don’t forget to subscribe and stay tuned!
Consider this:
- An open call audition is an audition that’s open to any performer who ahs interest in trying out for a role. These auditions are especially great for those who don’t have an agent yet.
- An Equity card is a proof of membership in the Actors’ Equity Association. To get an equity card, you can gain employment under Equity Contract, apply to Equity online then transfer to a full membership upon graduation from a drama school or going through a sister union like SAG or AFTRA.
