The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
St. Joseph grad making it on TV
Dani Foster’s passion for acting surfaced when they were just 10 years old.
Foster, 26, who is from Seymour, saw there was a contest that people could enter if they wanted to be an extra in the fourth film in the “Harry Potter” franchise.
“I really wanted to win that contest,” said Foster, who uses he/she/they pronouns and asked to be referred to as they in print. “But I’m not sure I wanted it enough to actually enter the contest.”
So Foster’s dream remained just that, until they were in middle school, and scored some roles in their older sister’s high school plays. By the time Foster was a student at St. Joseph High School in Trumbull, they started getting bigger roles in school plays.
That’s when the kid who once dreamed of winning a stint in a Harry Potter film really began considering acting as a career.
“I thought to myself ‘I would like to do this professionally,’ ” Foster said. “My mom always said to me ‘Work at a job you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life.’ ”
Though Foster, who now lives in Brooklyn, N.Y., still considers themselves a “part-time actor and fulltime bartender,” they’ve scored a few choice roles. On Nov. 17, Foster appeared in an episode of NBC’s “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” playing (spoiler) a character who meets a tragic fate fairly early in the episode.
Foster has also appeared in two national ad campaigns — one for Intel, in which they appeared with “The Big Bang Theory” star Jim Parsons, and one for Dunkin’ Donuts. They also recently completed a major role in the film “Rocky’s Deli,” which is in post-production.
The “Law & Order” gig was something of a big break for Foster, because it offers wide exposure.
Though the character, Aidan McDaniels, dies early, they are alive just long enough to deliver a few lines.
“I told the writers I got to live best of both worlds,” Foster said. “I got to live and talk and I got to be a dead body.”
The role also had some personal significance to Foster. Aidan is someone who is struggling with their gender identity, which is something Foster has also faced.
“Since I was a little kid, I have been thinking about my own gender identity and pushed it down,” Foster said.
But during the COVID-19 pandemic, Foster decided to do some soul searching. They said they still are trying to figure out their own gender identity, and haven’t fully committed to identifying as anything.
“I’m still figuring everything out along the way,” they said. “Some days, I love my big beard. Some days I want to cut it off. Sometimes I want to wear a dress and some days I want to wear baggy jeans.”
Figuring it all out could take a long time, Foster said.
“Maybe it’s going to take the rest of my life,” they said.
But one thing Foster knows is that acting is what they want to be doing. For that, Foster credits the support they received at St. Joseph High School. Shortly after Foster’s “Law & Order” episode aired, St. Joe’s posted a message on its alumni Facebook page touting the gig.
“Congratulations to #SJAlum Dan Foster ‘14 who has launched a successful career as an actor & voiceover artist!” the message read.
Foster said they’re grateful to St. Joe’s for putting them on the right path. “When you get someone who tells you ‘You are good at this,’ it will shape the rest of what you do,” Foster said.