Nicole Dambro [Interview]

Hello Folks! And a happy Friday to you all! We have an incredible new interview to share with you all today. It’s the brilliant star Nicole Dambro! Nicole appeared in the newly released and critically acclaimed film Groupers that is being hailed as one of the best films of the year, with great cause. She is an absolutely brilliant performer with a range as wide as the Wyoming plains, only far more interesting consisting of far less bored out of their mind cops. Whoops, little inside baseball there, Folks, my apologies. What I mean to say is that Nicole is wonderful, and we are so excited to have her join the TWS family.

So without further rambling from me, please enjoy some wonderful words from the brilliant Nicole Dambro!

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What inspired you to get into the world of entertainment? Was it something you have always dreamt of doing as a youth, or did you happen to find yourself in this world one day?

I suppose I had always dreamed that I would be an actress someday, but I had no idea how to go about making that happen. So I got very involved in dance, got a scholarship to a great university, and I tried to get a normal job… but I still had the bug. I just knew I wouldn’t be happy and reach my full potential unless I was in the entertainment business. 

What was your very first paid gig as a performer? And where there any sort of lessons learned from this experience that you still utilize in your work today?

Before I made the Miami Heat Dancers, I worked for an entertainment company on South Beach, putting on day shows. We would get together on a Friday evening and choreograph an entire number to perform on Sunday… it was a quick turnaround. It was a lot of pressure! And yes, sometimes we would goof. But you had to KEEP GOING! I think that was the best lesson, that no matter what, you have to keep going.

I really dug your work in the recently released film Groupers. Could you tell our readers a bit about this film, and what drew to the project?

Thank you so much! Yes, Groupers was a very special project for me. Our producer, Max Landwirth, is the one that connected me with Anderson to audition. We had worked on another film, The Axiom, the season before that, so I got to work with a lot of the same crew, which is great. I was also drawn to this project because Anderson had written a very intelligent, strong female character who got to kidnap and abuse bullies to prove a point in defense of the LGBTQ community… uh, I’m in. 

So the film centers around the question, “Is homosexuality a choice?” My character, Meg, seduces and kidnaps her little brother’s high school bullies and ties them up at the end of an empty swimming pool, where she informs them that they can only escape by “choosing to be gay for each other.” Even though it seems like a sadistic kidnapping story, actually has several layers that start to peel back in surprisingly hilarious fashion. In fact, when I first read the script, I thought it was going to be a thriller – until I read the entire thing and realized, OOOOH this is a comedy!  

One genre of film that you have done some amazing work in is the world of horror, including the hit film The Axiom from Nicholas Woods. We are huge fans of the world of horror around here. With that, I am curious to know what you enjoy the most about working in the world of horror? And what sets it apart from the several other genres you have worked on?

I never planned on specifically seeking out horror scripts, I was just lucky enough to be cast in some pretty awesome ones. The genre itself has grown to become THE most popular genre in the past few years, with horror flicks being some of the year’s biggest surprise blockbusters. What’s fun about horror is that has its own rules and expectations, so it’s fun to either follow those rules or break them completely. And the GORE. Ooooh the gore! Seeing the behind-the-scenes of what goes into making those bloody special effects happen is SO COOL.

You have done so much incredible work in the world of television, film, stage, and more. So with that, I am curious to know what your favorite medium is to work in? If you were only allotted the chance to work in one field for the remainder of your career, which would it be?

 I really feel like I have only scratched the surface in my career, so it’s difficult for me to answer this one. I really love film, but I think there’s something really special about getting to work on a series as the same character for many seasons/years. I would love to have the opportunity to work on the same character with the same people for many years and create something iconic, like Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad, the Sopranos, etc. 

If you were handed the opportunity to portray any legendary figure in American history in their biopic, who would it be?

 Ooh this is a GREAT question! Since the Ruth Bader Ginsburg biopic has already been done, I think I would go with Alice Stokes Paul. She was a fierce feminist and activist for women’s rights, credited with being one of the primary organizers of the Woman Suffrage Procession of 1913 (the first large, organized march for political reasons.) Eventually, she became one of the lead strategists of the campaign to implement the 19th amendment, which allowed women the right to vote. Plus, the woman has wicked eyebrows (just like me!)

What does the future hold for you? Anything you would like to plug to our readers?

Sure! Besides keeping an eye out for Groupers to be released on digital soon, my Christian film fans should be on the lookout for my next film, A Walk With Grace, which will be released on digital platforms on November 5th! 

What was the last thing that made you smile?

Puppies? Always puppies. 

Oh, and Jodie Cromer in the show Killing Eve. Phoebe Waller-Bridge is my new hero.