Profile: Dana Stoutenburg

At a café just north of 8^th street in Calgary, a waiter announces that he has a latte made with one pump of hazelnut and almond milk. As she takes a sip of her drink, 27-year-old actress Dana Stoutenburg jokes about how with her, nothing's simple. She loves a good challenge, and it's knowing exactly what she wants that has helped her overcome the ones she's faced in the past.

   

Dana Stoutenburg. Photo by Nicole Zylstra 

She first stepped on stage at the age of eight, as a dancer. She says she was extremely shy as a child and would even hide behind her mom at family events. It wasn’t until her best friend asked her to join a summer dance camp that Stoutenburg realized how much she enjoyed performing – and all that came along with it.

 “I loved all the shoes I could wear,” she laughs. “And all the cute little outfits, and getting my hair and make-up done for shows.”  

As she grew older, she saw that playing different roles was very similar to psychology – another one of her passions – because each role requires her to look into someone else’s life and try to figure out why the characters she portrays act the way they do.

Stoutenburg came to Calgary five years ago, after graduating from a two-year intensive musical theatre program at Randolph Academy in Toronto. Before that, she earned a diploma in theatre performance from Vancouver’s Capilano University.

Unfortunately, like many new graduates, Stoutenburg’s experience in the market did not go as she’d hoped.

“I ended up finishing school in Toronto and not getting anywhere,” says Stoutenburg. “[The industry] was a big beast, and I was just not prepared for that.”

Nine months later, she found herself in Calgary. It was a move that allowed her to be closer to her mom, who had helped line up a part-time job for the actor, as well as a way to restart after her experience in Toronto. She started auditioning for all the major theatres in the city the next season, once she had familiarized herself with Calgary.

When the larger stage gigs didn’t work out, Stoutenburg went smaller, first getting a supporting role in a community theatre production, followed by the lead role in the next year’s show. It may have been a smaller stage, but that didn’t take away from what was required of the actor.

“[Community theatre] is still a full-length show. I was still on stage for the same amount of time as if I’d been on a regional theatre stage. And it was still requiring that commitment and providing that challenge and opportunity for growth.”

Stoutenburg says that actors, as much as they hate to admit it, are often looking for validation. This comes in different forms, whether it’s hearing positive feedback following an audition or earning the lead role in a play. This validation was something she struggled to achieve in theatre. She was even told to stick to a "money job" that was "safe and steady" a few times. Instead of giving up, she took her multiple rejections as learning experiences, and decided to head back to class and try to expand into film and television.

 “I took that opportunity I guess,” she says. “I thought, ‘Maybe I’ll just try [film].’ I just decided that was going to be my next go.”

This next step in her journey seems to have worked for her. Stoutenburg has appeared on different television shows, including AMC’s Hell on Wheels, as well as various web series, short films, commercials, and, most recently, an indie feature film called Empyrean.

This film is the actor’s most intense experience to date. She was cast in one of the principle roles, and spent three weeks – her longest to date – shooting on set.   

  

    Thompson & Stoutenburg on set. Photo by Arthur Lefroy

Empyrean was written and directed by Thomas Robert Lee, and tells the story of William Fischer (played by Cody Ray Thompson), who is in a life-altering accident and begins to experience unexplainable, supernatural events. He starts to lose himself and retract into his conscious, away from those around him. This causes a rift in his marriage to his wife, Ingrid (Stoutenburg), who is dealing with her own quest for meaning.

The film is currently in post-production, and will hopefully be part of different film festivals in September 2015.

For Stoutenburg, the lead role in this film was a reminder that acting is the one thing she wants to do for the rest of her life. She hopes to be in a position where she is able to work back-to-back projects, in Vancouver, Los Angeles, or wherever the work takes her. She wants to be surrounded by the people she loves, and be working regularly as an actor. And of course, she wants to be challenged.

“After this experience with Empyrean, it’s hard for me to go back to a really simple script. I want to work on pieces with challenging relationships that challenge me to go to a place to pull from challenging times in my life.”

For now, she’ll have to deal with a challenge that has nothing to do with playing a role in a film. After her five-year stint in Calgary, the actor has decided it is time for her to move on. At the end of July, she will be moving back to her hometown of Vancouver to further pursue her goals.

“I’ve grown a lot and that’s why I have stayed here for the time that I have,” Stoutenburg says. “I wanted to make sure that I had the fight and the clarity of how I want the next phase of my career and my life path to move in. I’m not going to go unless it feels right in my gut. And it really feels like I’m ready to go.”

For more information on Dana, visit her website.

To stay updated with Empyrean, like the Facebook page.