Keep working on your craft. I know that sounds kind of obvious. But when you’re a young actor and you’re talented and you’re in a smaller town and people see that you’re talented, it’s really easy to think to yourself, I’m good at this. I know I can do it, so I don’t necessarily need any help. It’s a good idea to get training and to learn wherever you can. Build your own style from that. I always used to be afraid to take classes. I was like, “Man, if I take classes, it’s gonna mess with my natural style. It’s gonna screw me up and really mess up my thought process.” But I ended up learning that you can learn a lot from someone else. You’re not a perfect actor when you just start out. You’re just not. You’re never gonna be a perfect actor. There’s no such thing. You’re always learning, no matter what. I don’t care how old you are. Take that time and learn.
Also, I think, taking improv classes and learning how to do that well is probably the best skill an actor can have. I mean, first of all, having that on your resume is great. Second of all, just being able to think quickly on your feet in that situation is amazing. Directors and casting directors and producers love that stuff! It’s a lot of fun, too. It’s like my favorite hobby now. If I didn’t do improv every week, I don’t know what I’d do with myself.
I’m currently working on a web-show called “Awesomeness TV” and it’s all online content. It’s going to be YouTube based. It’s gonna have a lot of different stuff. I think there’s going to be a sports show on it and some news stuff, but there’s also going to be a little bit of sketch comedy there, too. So we just started filming stuff for that. I can’t necessarily say too much about it, but it launches in April. I think it will be a fun experiment and we’ll see what happens with it.
If So Random! is picked up for a second season, Damien would love to see Olaf Glutella, Fake Foreign Exchange Student return, although he’s not sure how the writers could make it work.
Sonny with a Chance was originally going to be called Sketch Pad. We all know that Demi Lovato played Sonny and Sterling Knight played Chad Dylan Cooper to make the beloved Disney couple “Channy” But what you may not know is that Damien Haas (a regular performer on the SWAC spin-off, So Random!) originally auditioned for the role of Chad and Grace Bannon (also a regular on So Random!) originally auditioned for the role of Sonny back when Disney was still playing with the idea of Sketch Pad.
How different would Sonny with a Chance have been with this different casting?
Originally, I thought I was totally wrong for the part because I didn’t know exactly what they were looking for and during my audition time-slot, it was me and maybe like half a dozen ten year old girls. I was like, “Aw, man! If they’re looking for ten year old girls, I’m pretty much not that type. So, they’re outta luck and I’m outta luck.
Never give up on what you want, work hard and do not let what others say stop you. Nothing really worth having comes easy, but once you get there, you will know all of the hard work was worth it!