Did anyone see the Legally Blonde prequel Elle that came out recently? I hear it was highly anticipated and therefore I had to talk to one of the actresses. What luck it was that I got to speak to a local actress right here in Vancouver. It’s not often I get an opportunity like this so I took this. Now, before you take yourself back to the 90’s period where Elle takes place, let me take you further in even more information about Danielle. She started acting when she was very young, and did a lot of improv in high school, which is similar to my own origin story in acting. Unlike me and some others, she also had a case of scoliosis which greatly affected her, but luckily a surgical success cured it for the most part, and now Danielle Chand spends lots of time both outside on and in acting courses where she uses her energy in positive methods to increase it by the moment.
It seems to have brought her luck as she’s already booked her first role rather soon. Let’s get into that right away as well.
HNMAG: So you’ve gotten the role of Shannon. Have you ever acted a role like that before?
Danielle Chand: No, no. This is my first booking.
HNMAG: It already sounds like you’re making it big
Danielle Chand: Thanks so much, it was definitely unexpected. When I was imagining my first role or booking I was not imagining anything like this.
HNMAG: What inspiration did you take to portray this popular but big-hearted teen girl?
Danielle Chand: I would say, Shannon is just a really kind and genuine person. I honestly believe those are the types of people that should be popular in high school, she accepts everyone and so everyone really likes her. I just think that needs to be more present in school environments, honestly. I would say it just inspired me to be a character like that.
HNMAG: Speaking of school, that’s where you started doing acting. Why did you get into it in the first place?
Danielle Chand: I started improv when I was 12 years old in grade 8, and did that all throughout 8-12. In grade 10 I joined the theatre company, I then got to know what it was like to be on stage. After that in grade 12 I was looking into universities, seeing what I wanted to do. I was thinking of the Fine Arts program at SFU, my family were kind of like, “We love that you want to do this, but we also want to make sure that you’re taken care of, maybe do something a little bit more academic just to fall back on. “ I decided that’s fair, I feel like every single family is like that with their child that wants to pursue the arts. I decided to go to University, get a bachelor in Communications at SFU, and I did a part-time acting class. I just absolutely fell in love with it, learning the lines, doing all the fun games, and it was the highlight of my week. After I graduated, that’s when I decided to enrol in acting, actually do it full time and see where I could go.
HNMAG: And how has that been going? Has the fallback helped seeing how acting classes are super expensive. What did you do between acting classes and working to become an actor?
Danielle Chand: Between acting classes and that, I worked at a restaurant, I still work at a restaurant currently to pay the bills.
HNMAG: And are there other activities or things you do?
Danielle Chand: Yeah, of course. I love going to the gym, working out, going on walks. I live in Downtown Vancouver, so I like to walk around the seawall. Now I just like being outdoors as much as possible, and I like to sing too. Singing’s always been fun for me too, have a good karaoke moment.
Danielle continued on to say she also liked the idea of joining a dance class. As an actress, she’s open to trying new things and building up that skill set.
HNMAG: So you do a lot of exploring and trying new things? Does this help you prepare for future roles that might spark your interest?
Danielle Chand: Yeah, I think that’s just the way my body stays grounded. That’s how I feel most comfortable with my body, I’m just a very energetic person, I love being out and about doing stuff. When I’m even just running errands, I just love feeling productive.
HNMAG: Regarding roles, what was one you really enjoyed doing in childhood?
Danielle Chand: In high school, I acted in a few plays. I remember doing a play called Blueberry Hill Accord which was really fun. There was also another one I did called Dark on the Moon. Blueberry Hill Accord was just two friends sitting in a burger and fry shop and just talking about something really stupid. It was definitely more comedy, then for Dark on the Moon, I was a witch so I had fun diving into the animalistic characteristics that came with being a witch.
HNMAG: You mentioned doing improv in high school. Was there anything in those sessions that really caught you off-guard?
Danielle Chand: Everything in improv is just so unexpected, and the important thing to do is just go ‘Yes, and” especially when you are on stage. Of course, there were some ideas that would be ‘accepted’ or you’d think a scene is just going one way and then someone brings in a whole new idea and then “Okay, now we’re going to go and do this” I wouldn’t say anything major, but that’s also part of the fun of it too because we then figure out how to work the scene to make sense.
HNMAG: You’re currently studying scenes at Deb Podowski Acting Studio. What is some of the most interesting info you learned there recently?
Danielle Chand: Honestly, Deb is very to the point, very blunt, she is just a wealth of knowledge. She really makes me work really hard and will call someone out if something doesn’t make sense. I think honestly my analysis with scenes and looking at a script with asking questions and wondering what Deb is going to ask about the scene. So if she offers something, I know I already thought it over and be ready to answer this question.
HNMAG: I understand that you also attended Vancouver Acting School, was there anything that happened over there which you really enjoyed?
Danielle Chand: It was great, every single class was just acting related and the instructors were amazing. They were really supportive and helpful, in the beginning part of my journey. I still talk to a lot of the instructors today, and I really am so happy that I had that experience. I felt really prepared when leaving that school.
HNMAG: What do you feel the greatest thing about Vancouver’s film industry is?
Danielle Chand: I feel like I only have one experience which is Elle, so what I did love about working was I was able to just step out of my apartment and come back. I didn’t have to pack up and move somewhere else. If I get the opportunity to do that, it would be incredible.
Danielle enjoyed the experience as it felt more personal, do work, go home, make dinner or hang out with her boyfriend. She thought it was also nice being a local and working with crew which were also locals. Talk about a comfortable setting for a workspace.
HNMAG: What would your dream role be?
Danielle Chand: Something more dark, a little bit more mature-themed. A darker coming-of-age story would be really nice to portray because I do really love deep meaningful things. The tear-jerker types or something like the show “Maid” on Netflix. It follows a woman and her child, she’s leaving a relationship that isn’t healthy and you seeing her navigate that whole journey, there’s something really beautiful about creating a story like that. Those stories are made for something, the purpose of touching viewers and I want to do something like that.
HNMAG: Did you find it surreal to be playing a high school student since you’re an adult now?
Danielle Chand: Not really, but only because I’m really short and often when I got out to a bar, and if I want to get a cocktail, everyone always ID’s me. Also I wasn’t really shocked because all my auditions I do and/or all of them I receive are within that range, of 16 to later 20’s. Being short works for more of being a youthful character.
HNMAG: I also understand you went through an operation for scoliosis. Was it a frightening experience?
Danielle Chand: When we found out I got my first x-ray, It kind of looked like I was going to be needing surgery. It wasn’t nearly as crazy as I thought, but I told myself ‘This is probably going to end up in surgery’ My mom didn’t think that, and then what happened was that the orthopaedic clinic at Children’s Hospital never got my x-rays. So while my mom was waiting for an answer and never got it, she took my x-rays from the clinic to Children’s Hospital because she was so worried. She got the appointment scheduled for me and they redid the x-rays. The scoliosis had gotten way worse, the curvature in my spine increased so much, so we met the surgeon right away. It was pretty fast, when the surgeon saw my new x-rays, he put me on the cancellation list, said they would get everything figured out, the one moment I was scared was when we did an MRI exam. They did find a little bit of fluid in my spinal cord, called a syrinx. In the procedure where they stretch the spine, it applies pressure on the spinal cord, and they found the syrinx. They told my mom about how they wouldn’t pull my spine completely straight because they didn’t want to apply too much pressure on the syrinx or more catastrophic things could happen during the surgery. That’s when I was truly scared because the entire time I was also 14. I had no doubt about the team, but that one little sneaky fluid. Then I was really scared about not being able to walk again. But then I got over it because the surgery had to be done, and I put a lot of trust into the medical professionals that took care of me that day, and I’m perfectly fine, my back is almost perfectly straight and I can do any activities I want.
HNMAG: Once you’ve gotten a lot of acting experience, do you think you’ll make and direct content of your own?
Danielle Chand: Yeah, of course! That would be so fun, me and my friend are writing comedy skits right now based in restaurants. It’s a little nod to people who work in the food industry, and I love people who make that kind of content because it’s so funny and relatable. Then eventually we’ll write skits about other things but the skits we have so far are set in a restaurant featuring funny little quirky things that happen. Once we get that on its feet, and in front of a camera, we’ll be co-directing that and larger-scale, I’d love to be on the director’s side, I think that would be so much fun.
If Danielle already got a big role, who knows what she’ll get within a few weeks or a few months. It was amazing what I learnt from this. In fact as an actor myself, I hope I get a chance to work with her on a future set.
Oh, and watch Elle on Amazon Prime Video now.