Sam prince is joined by award winning actress, model, and voice over talent Sherryl Despres. Projects she participated in have won an Emmy and numerous film festival awards. She is best known for playing Dean Cain's wife in "Horse Camp" and Kevin Sorbo's girlfriend in "Rodeo Girl.". In this episode Sherryl also shares a few tips for aspiring actors and following your dreams. To learn more about Sherryl Despres visit: https://www.imdb.me/sherryldespres For more about your host; Sam Prince, check out his website: www.samber.productions and follow along on Instagram: www.instagram.com/samberproductions
Sam Prince 0:05 Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a great actor on stage or television? Do you wish you had an acting coach to help you get to the next level? Or maybe you just have a great idea for a movie series are played but aren't quite sure where to start? Well, you are in the right place my friend. My name is Sam Prince and I am the director of a production company here in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and have been an actor for over 30 years. I've directed and written plays, and screenplays and taught many acting classes. This podcast is your place to learn how to move forward with your career in acting, theater, film, playwriting, screenwriting, and much more. There will be inspiring conversations with special guests as well. So welcome to the creative torium podcast, and action. All right, welcome. Welcome. Welcome to the creativity Korean podcast. I'm your host. And no. I'm your host, Sam Prince. And I am here with my friend, Cheryl Duprey. Hello, are you Sherryl Despres 1:32 great to talk to you? Sam Prince 1:36 I know. I know. I know. It's been a long, long time. We've known each other for a long time. Like a lot of years. Sherryl Despres 1:48 But something like that. Yeah. Sam Prince 1:50 At least. Yeah. But the last thing that we did together was for the pastor support network. And we did that short piece. That was so fun. Sherryl Despres 2:04 Turned out really well to it did. It did? Yeah. Sam Prince 2:09 I looked at it the other day. I was like, Wow. I mean, seriously with you? And Burke, sage. And Julian directing? Like, you know, you had to bring your A game for that. Oh, yeah. Like a group of people. was a great group of people. Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. I'm just a big fan of you, Cheryl. Because you're so pretty. And you've done so many things. Sherryl Despres 2:41 Just keep plugging away. Sam Prince 2:44 knows that. Yeah, you're so talented. You know, and I've seen a bunch of your stuff. And you know, you're just great. And you've done it all, you know, stage TV film, right. Sherryl Despres 2:57 You know, my headphones will only go so big. So yeah. Right, we're gonna make it a bigger. Sam Prince 3:04 It's all right. Right? If we break them or just get some get another pair? Yeah. But totally audience about Cheryl, like, how you guys started? What you've done, you know, just talk about the life of Cheryl. Sherryl Despres 3:23 Cheryl. You know, people tell me I'm one of the busiest people they know. And I'm always like, how do they know this stuff? Oh, yeah. Social media. Yeah. But yeah, how I got started. Well, I grew up in California. And I did a play at school. And somebody to this day, I still don't know who was responsible. But somebody saw it. And they gave me a quote unquote, scholarship. By that I don't mean like a four year ride to college or anything, but they paid for me as a kid to take acting classes at the local colleges. So really, so I started taking acting classes. Sam Prince 4:02 Oh, were you Sherryl Despres 4:04 like 10? Maybe. Okay, immediately after that I was getting cast in some industrial, non industrial and educational films. And so there's a little bit of that. My mom actually was afraid of what is now become known as the casting couch and the Mewtwo movement. So she kind of tried to keep me away from that as best as she could. I guess she she told me recently, I figured if that was something you really wanted to do, you would be you'd figure that out later. How to do it. I did. Right. Um, but you know, so then I ended up coming to Michigan at some point and when I got to Michigan, I didn't know No, where do I go? What do I do and Civic Theater growing up at Civic Theater was having auditions and so I went and I got in a play alter your cast me and and were around then Oh Maureen drew who said Get me headshots, I can get your work and started to do that. Mostly industrial films, maybe a few commercials, print work, things like that did a crazy thing like you know, going to school at night getting married. So I took 12 years off. But then I credit my brother in law for actually bringing me back into the theater. He was on the board of directors for Heritage theatre group. And he was directing his first production. And he knew I used to accept the estimate audition for him. And I did and I got the bug again, so I had to come back. All right. And the rest is when I did a lot of theater. And some people do like, just back to back shows. Most of the time, I didn't really do that. As far as theater goes, I think most I didn't one year was four or five because I was much I didn't get that much. But initially, I started with you know, like shows were a whole I was the Grand Duchess Olga, Katrina, and you can't take it with you. And she didn't come on till x three, so I could feed my kids put them to bed and then go to the theater. And then it just kind of evolved from there. And then you know, as they did more and more commercials, and I've always really wanted to do film. So for for college, film schools to do their student films, and you started doing those so that I could get a reel and just kind of went from there. And then once I had I had a reel and I was getting like real films. And that's kind of how I got here. Sam Prince 6:46 Okay. See, but you've been so modest. Sure. You are Man so much. Okay. I'm just gonna put you on blast. All right. You just Superman. have kissed with Hercules. Wasn't Hercules? Sherryl Despres 7:09 The joke? Yeah. Kevin. Kevin. At home. Yep. Game. Superheroes, but I come home to my husband. Sam Prince 7:26 Right, right. Yeah. I mean, Sherryl Despres 7:29 my husband said, You're gonna kiss next. Sam Prince 7:33 Right? Exactly. Yeah. Well, I mean, seriously, that is awesome. You know, and I mean, you even talk about that. The fact that you were these films with Dean Cain and Kevin Sorbo. Sherryl Despres 7:50 So part of the process, but it was a lot of fun. And I hope to do it again. Sam Prince 7:56 Yeah, more of it. Right, exactly. That's so cool. I am looking for two types of creative cats looking for people who want to learn how to act, or want to improve their acting skills. I provide acting, audition coaching for every level. But I'm also looking for all those creative cats out there who have a play or screenplay idea. Or maybe you're just stuck and need help writing your masterpiece. I can help you with that too. Just go to Sambre dot productions. That's sa m b e r dot productions, and click coaching. All your options are right there. And we will achieve your goals together. It's never too late. Alright, let's go. So, you've done stage. You've done film. You done TV commercials. If you had to pick your favorite, and they're all are great, we know that Sherryl Despres 9:04 everyone's favorite role. What are you? What are you asking? Sam Prince 9:07 Like, favorite medium, like favorite? One you enjoy doing the most? Sherryl Despres 9:13 Let's see, you know one of those people that can't just pick one thing. I'm so indecisive, but because I prefer doing film. Because it takes when I say it takes less time I'm referring to as opposed to six weeks of rehearsal for a play and then three or four week run up a show. Right? Right. You're not spending that much time on a film plus, right you know, if you do if you do screw something up or if you want to try things a few different ways you can do that. You just You just reshoot it. Sam Prince 9:47 And pay and it pays well usually Sherryl Despres 9:49 actually pays. A theater on the other hand does not. But I can't say that I would never do theater again. I mean there's just something so rewarding about theater. And even about that whole process, I met some of the best people in my life through the weeks with them, and you don't have to trust each other, you know, so they're your family, some of them are even more family than my own family. I mean, it's slightly different. Acting is acting, but there's slightly different. It's a different approach. As far as you know, on a stage, everything has to be kind of bigger and more physical, because you're projecting this emotion to the however, many the theater where it might seem bigger if you did that. So you kinda have to just cut it down and be right here. When you do film. You also give doing theater, you get the immediate gratification immediate reward of hearing the audience, gasp or laugh or applaud, right? And film. So I can't say that, Oh, I only want to do film or I only want to do theater. I will say that I probably would prefer to do film more regularly. But theater again. Sam Prince 11:10 Right. Right. All right. I'll take that answer. That's a good one. Well, I always like to have, especially with season just says like yourself, to give some tips to those out there who, you know, are looking for him. So if you could give some tips to somebody aspiring actors, you know, and actresses who want to be the next Cheryl, what would you tell? Sherryl Despres 11:45 My biggest tip is just believe in yourself and keep plugging away at it. I know, all actors, I think have that little bit of self doubt. Or, you know what they don't believe in themselves, or I'm just not good enough for whatever it is. We've all been there at some point. But don't let people talk you out of it. I mean, when I graduated from high school, people said, I always thought I was gonna go to college and study theater. And I didn't, because I at the time, I was in Michigan, and everybody hears that. You're never going to make money at the Michigan do something. You're actually studying ecology, which is not a bad backup plan for an actor because it's, you know, study of people which can enacting. Yeah. Sam Prince 12:27 Same thing happened to me, though, Cheryl, sweeping over to me, you know, he told me, Sherryl Despres 12:33 Don't listen to them, If you love your heart and do it, because look, life brought me back to doing that anyway. And I wish I had had the degree because sometimes I question myself and think I'd like to teach actually. And I do I've coached. But I don't I feel like Oh, well. I don't have that piece of paper that says I know. Right? Yeah. I know. My biggest tip, yeah, believe in yourself and keep plugging away at it. Obviously, there are other tips. There's lots of steps to be things you have to do. You know, finding your type and getting good headshots and finding the right agent. And before you even do all that you need to have classes and learning and even even award winning actors. Keep studying, keep learning, keep practicing, keep going, even if you're not that great at it right now. But Shinjo keep auditioning, keep doing it keep studying, and you'll just get better at it. Anybody can start off Sam Prince 13:39 love it. You know, do you have an agent? Sherryl Despres 13:44 I do. And what's funny is I didn't really have one in Grand Rapids until maybe almost two years ago. But I had two in Chicago and two in Detroit may also have one who wasn't worried about she's out right now. So and then I do have an app. It's just 20 years. Pretty. I've been around Sam Prince 14:09 a while and they're great. I love all four of them. Especially one of them, but we'll talk about that in a minute. So first bracket, we put them in together Tom Hanks versus Robin Williams. Who's your favorite? Sherryl Despres 14:27 Yeah, that's probably not fair because Robins not around anymore. US I always said oh, I would love to see. Like say just put Robin Williams and Jim Carrey in something together because the improv that they will Sam Prince 14:42 do more goodness. Oh my goodness. Yeah, they're both Sherryl Despres 14:50 Jim Carrey but they're just the way their brain works. You know, like, I look at them and my job would just freeze my job was just so creative. Yeah, so Tom Hanks Tom, but, you know, Robin was known for his comedy, and yet he did an excellent job with when he was getting dramatic roles too. So I wish we could see more of what he could have done. Sam Prince 15:15 No, no, no, no. So who would you pick? Sherryl Despres 15:20 Are you giving me a look, or did you just read? Yeah, Sam Prince 15:23 I think we did just raise up. Yeah, I'm sorry. Say it one more time. Sherryl Despres 15:26 I said probably Robin Williams. And then I said, Look, or did it freeze. Sam Prince 15:32 They freeze up. Okay. Robin Williams. All right, cool. Then another bracket. We got Meryl Streep. And Carol Burnett. Sherryl Despres 15:40 I know again, so diverse. so diverse. My whole life growing up. It was like probably Carol Burnett was probably one of the inspiration. Even though I'm not known for my comedy, but I think she's just mesmerized again, as creative as Robin Williams was, you know, she could just do so much. Sam Prince 16:01 She was amazing. Sherryl Despres 16:04 And Meryl Streep has a broader body of work. But yeah. Huh, hmm. I guess tonight. I'm feeling comedic and probably gone. I'm leaning towards Terrell. Sam Prince 16:19 Yeah, yeah. I would do for fun. Yeah. She was great. I mean, I was I was mesmerized by her too. And I watch every episode of the show. Sherryl Despres 16:34 I have the whole set. You Do? Do. Sam Prince 16:38 Oh my gosh. I Sherryl Despres 16:40 have everything Meryl Streep said. Well, I don't have everything Carol's done. But I have her whole that whole show. Yeah. Sam Prince 16:45 Wow. That's awesome. That's awesome. I gotta get that. Alright, so now here's the final. Robin Williams is a toughy. Robin Williams versus Carol Burnett. Sherryl Despres 16:56 No. See, why couldn't we put them together? That would have been great. Sam Prince 16:59 Round. My goodness gracious. I agree would I be? Sherryl Despres 17:06 I'm just gonna, like I said, I'm bad at making decisions. But I'm probably gonna go with Robin Williams. Just because Oh, wow. And more diverse. Yeah. Because she's still around. She could do more. Sam Prince 17:20 Yes, right, right. Yeah. No, I know, Robin Rose was great. I mean, even his comedy. I mean, I was crying, laughing watching his comedy. I mean, he is just, and I'm sure all of us improv too. Right. Sherryl Despres 17:37 You see a lot of guests on someone's show. And he just goes off on this. You don't interrupt him. You just let him go. Sam Prince 17:47 Yeah, yeah. Cool. All right. Well, finally, last question is, what are you planning to next to creatively affect the world positively with Cheryl? Oh, wow. Sherryl Despres 18:02 Monday, I am working on something for Fox 17. I can't tell you what, but so you may. Sometimes you see. Um, okay. But that's probably not what you meant. Um, Sam Prince 18:16 well, no. That's exciting. Sherryl Despres 18:20 I do have I shot a horror film a month or two ago. And that should come out this spring. Sam Prince 18:26 Oh, all right. Let's call it three. Did you die? Sherryl Despres 18:29 I can't tell you that. Sam Prince 18:31 Ah. Sherryl Despres 18:35 sign NDAs. You know, Sam Prince 18:38 there's blood and guts and gore. And Sherryl Despres 18:41 in the film, there may be blood. I'm not gonna tell you. Okay. That's the name of another film, isn't it? There may be blood. Sam Prince 18:52 Oh, yeah. Yeah. But now, Sherryl Despres 18:55 eventually, I think I would like to do some more coaching teaching. I keep going back and forth about whether or not I should or need to go back to school. But you know, I've talked myself out of it for this long. In the end, I think I would like to, I know, I would like to leave a mark in the acting world. And I'm not sure what that means. But I will keep working until I can figure out what that is or what I've done. I'd like to leave some legacy after I'm gone. All right. I mean, whether that's something in the theater, or whether that's on film, or both. I'm not sure what that involves, I would probably would want to do some writing. I used to write and I enjoyed it, until I took a writing class. And they made us write every day and then it was no fun anymore. So I quit taking an acting class and occasionally they make us write monologues for ourselves or for each other. And I've been told you're pretty good at this. You should do more of this. So, I took do some directing to. I did, I had been asked to direct theatre over 20 years ago, but I told them, I didn't think that was fair to the actors or the audience to have me do that. Given that I had never done it, I mean, I know there's always a first time, but I felt like I needed more experienced with someone else who had more experience before I did that to them. And I have I'm assistant directors, and at some time, and that just my musical for many years, I wouldn't sing. And now, I mean, I've always enjoyed it, but I wasn't confident enough in my singing abilities. And so now I believe in facing my fears. So Sam Prince 20:44 there you go. All right. All right. Oh, all those things are awesome. And you put them out there in the world. So they're gonna Sherryl Despres 20:54 happen. It's on record, I'm gonna have to at least a template. Right. Sam Prince 20:57 That's right. That's right. That's right. And I mean, it will take you know, but that is there is no timeline. There's no timeline. And you know, it doesn't matter how we are. Right. It doesn't matter. Yay. Well, thank you so much for joining me. Sherryl Despres 21:18 Thank you very much. Thank you for good to see you and talk to you again. Sam Prince 21:22 Good to see you too. Good to see to my friends. Sherryl Despres 21:26 But hearing us but Right. Exactly. Nice to see you're handsome. Sam Prince 21:30 You're beautiful face as well. Yep. And so yeah, so that's the end of this episode everybody. And as I like to end every single one on the world stage. Hey, thank you for listening to the creativity Korean podcast. Again, my name is Sam Prince. And it is my honor to be your host and thank you so much for listening. I would also be honored if you could leave a review on Apple podcasts and say some nice things about what you just heard. And definitely please listen every week. We come out every Tuesday. Also, for more information about coaching classes, workshops, and upcoming productions, please check out our website Sambre dot productions, that's sh m b e r dot productions. And you can also subscribe to our newsletter. And remember all the worlds a stage"