Daisah Kaney is a freshman at MCHS. She is in the fall play, Radium Girls, which is being performed this Thursday and Saturday, Oct. 26 and 28. She loves acting and would like to do it in the future. This interview for Nook News has been edited for length and clarity.
Q: What is your favorite food?
A: I really love Asian food. My favorite dish is japchae.
Q: What is japchae?
A: It is Korean glass noodle, which is a stir fry of different things. You can add kimchi that is spicy fermented cabbage. I like sweet and sour sauce on everything, even on Mexican foods.
Q: Where do you get japchae?
A: You can get it at this place called Gumii. It is pretty close by. But it is like an authentic Korean food so you can’t get it at Panda Express.
Q: How do you prepare for the audition?
A: So Ms. (Christina) Duris she told us we don’t have to have it memorized but encouraged us to have it memorized.
Q: So it was saying you should have it memorized?
A: Yes, and four days before, I realized I haven’t read through it. I memorized it on the second day, so I was very happy because I thought I wouldn’t be able to memorize it. I put emotion to it. A lot of time they don’t have notes for the emotions you want, so you really read it and put yourself in the shoes of the character and like read the play and research what the play is about so you can get an understanding of what the character would be feeling so you can get the right emotions. And a lot of the times people will come up with different emotions. So the fun thing about it is like there isn’t one set.
Q: What was your emotion for the audition?
A: So I chose the monologue of Grace, and it was the part where she was talking to people she was going to court with. I think she was talking to a lawyer, and she was mad that the radium was poisoning her. And she knew about and was telling her mom about it, and her mom doesn’t think she should go to court about it, but she was like, “This a big deal people are dying.”
Q: So the play is about how the factory girls are being poisoned?
A: Yes, so I know Ms. Duris explained it to us, and I did a little bit of research. There were three different factories I think and one of them (Ottawa) is actually a half hour from where we live. … They were dial painters, so they painted watches and things for the men in the war, so they can see because they would glow up. But then they were told to lick the brushes to have a tip that was fine so they can paint the dials. But radium is really bad for you, and it was like deteriorating the bones in their jaws. And the people who are in charge of the factories knew about it, but didn’t tell them, and they just let them die.
Q: Why did they lick the paint brush, why not give them water?
A: They were at first using cloth and things, but then had them lick the brushes, which is even worse.
Q: How will you make your character interesting?
A: So my character is a reporter to interview Marie Curie, and she is talking about giving her some space. It reminds me of Effie Trinket in The Hunger Games, how she presents the tributes. Not that Marie Curie is a tribute, but like she presents her. So I would not give like necessary a reporter feel. Maybe a nosy person or like fun and enthusiastic. Basically Effie Trinket.
Q: Do you get stage fright?
A: Most of the time I feel like I don’t get stage fright. When I get on stage, my hand starts getting shaky or my voice will get shaky. Only the people who notice are the people who know me. Like when I do speech club my mom can tell, but otherwise I feel like most people can’t tell. I can tell, and it kind of scares me because I don’t want to mess up.
Q: I understand. Do you have any ways to combat or fight against your stage fright?
A: Usually it is so hard and scary because you can think about what you would do in the moment, but once you’re in the moment it’s panic. What I like to do is take deep breaths and start saying in my mind slower and thinking about it more even if my voice is shaky. So I can be more present and thoughtful of what I am saying so that maybe it would bring that away. Be like, “Hey, I am in this moment, I am this character, I’m not ‘scared Daisah,’ I’m this character.”
Q: So you take yourself out of it because you’re a different person?
A: Yeah.
Q: What have your other parts in the past been for other plays?
A: In fifth grade, I was going to be an inspector. I was pretty excited about that so basically I needed to say numbers and stuff about saying someone’s rent wasn’t being paid. That was pretty funny. And then in seventh grade, I was Teresa. I was the best friend of the main character Emma Mortin, and that was super fun because I love Emma so much and I’m so happy that I get to be with her in high school now. That was super fun. Then in eighth grade, I think that was the best play I’ve ever done. I was one of the leads. I was the mom from Back to the Future, but it was like a Back to the Future spinoff. I was so excited. It was awesome. I loved it so much. All the allusions and just the people in it, and the teachers who taught it. It was one of the best things I’ll ever do in my life.
Q: Do you think you’re going to do acting in the future?
A: Yes. I want to be an actress as my main job so I’m definitely going to try to get as much experience now. I’m actually going to try to see if I can take the modeling route first so that I can get an agent, and then I can get like an a smaller parts and then work up to the big leagues.
Q: If you could act in any TV show or movie what would it be?
A: There are so many good ones. I love the drama This Is Us. It is kind of more of an adult show. … You know there’s so many things that happen you feel each one in the cuts close to home, and so I just love how they put emotion to it like that. … You can see the growth of all the characters, and it doesn’t feel like it’s taking forever. … I really love the part about Deja, his daughter comes into play. My name is Daisah (pronounced the same as Deja), and I was in foster care, so I was, “Oh my gosh this is so cool.”
