Skyler Davenport
Interviewed by: Meg Morman, CSA
1) Has there been a Casting Director that has encouraged and/or supported you in your career?
Yes, you. Meg Morman put me in my first film and I don’t know how you can be more supportive than that. In addition, Jason Stamey and Thomas Sullivan. April Webster: right when I moved to LA I read for her and she was a little nugget. She was so sweet and serene and gave me some wonderful feedback that will stick with me. Jason Kennedy gave me my first co-star in LA on NCIS. That was very exciting, and he was very jolly. Probably the most inspirational, aside from you, was Seth Caskey. I was in a workshop with him and I love his style of communication! I was last and everyone had pretty normal scenes and he had given me this scene about an immortal. I went up to him after the fact and said, “You gave me kind of a weird scene. What was that all about?” He said, “After watching you in the first week, I was having trouble casting you as a human because you feel so otherworldly.” To me that’s the kind of stuff I want to do, Sci-Fi and Fantasy. That was the most encouraging casting director experience. Seth is there for it, for all the moments.
2) What work are you most proud of?
See For Me. My first lead, first feature, first out of country experience while legally blind. We got it done through COVID and three shutdowns. Three. God bless the producers. I know it wound up costing more than they had planned. I’m proud of that and proud of everybody involved. The fact that we were able to come back and coordinate after a 4 month break and another break.
3) What or who inspired you to pursue acting as a career?
I used to say I always wanted to do film and television because you reach a very wide audience and most of the time it’s not taken in the same one on one interaction, so people don’t get quite as offended or logical about films. So, you have an opportunity to reach a really big audience and change a lot of people’s perceptions and their minds and how they think the world works for the better. And that is true.I also want to be in films that introduce extraterrestrials as very friendly and benevolent and here to help. Most of what we’ve seen is literally the movie Alien, where aliens are here to take over the Earth. I mean we’ve got E.T., but I want to work on films that introduce those beings as friendly.
4) What was your first IMDBPro credit and how did you feel when you saw it?
Oh my gosh, I think it was an extras credit for something before I had the stroke. My actual first intentional acting credit was probably voice over for anime. I found it by accident one day and I was like “Oh! I’m on IMDb.” It’s exciting to first see your name pop up.
5) How has IMDBPro helped you market yourself to filmmakers?
I feel like it’s helpful because if you do Google me, my IMDb page is the first thing that pops up so you can see my credits and contact info. People in the industry can just find everything in one place. That’s the biggest benefit.
I feel like in any correspondence in the industry, IMDbPro is always mentioned- it’s like a signature. I’ve been asked for interviews for See For Me where I know they found me through IMDbPro.
6) Any funny casting room stories?
I moved to LA and wasn’t in that many casting rooms before COVID happened. Now it’s only self-tapes- so, funny things happen, but no one knows because I edit it out!
7) Tell us a fun fact about you outside of acting:
I love really weird plants! I have a plethora on my windowsill. I know all their scientific names. My favorite is my little UFO plant, he’s a Pilea.