You can make it if you try
By Gillian Swart
Seacoast Scene, Vol 34 No. 12.

Donald C. Foley describes himself as “a character guy.” And by that he does not mean he is a “character” in the colloquial sense – he means he is a character actor. Foley, a self-employed computer programmer living in Newbury, one day decided to become an actor. “I just sort of did it,” he says. “And I’ve got to the point where I’m being paid now.”

His mission is to earn $50,000 as an actor by 2010 – and he will donate 10 percent of his income to charity – and/or become a recurring character on a situation comedy. Inspired to literally get off his butt by the events of September 11, 2001, Foley started with roles in films by students and independent films. After about four years of that, he took a class taught by a big-time casting director based in New England. He got to know the man and the man got to know Don Foley.

In the last four years, the 46-year-old has appeared in movies alongside comedian Ricky Gervais, the late David Carradine and had a part in one episode of the Showtime series “Brotherhood.” He is only in one scene of the latter and most of it is him getting “beat up,” but the camera opens on Foley’s face. Although Foley’s character did not interact with his, Jason Isaacs (better known perhaps as Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter movies) was also in the scene. He gets punched around a lot. “That’s the first time I ever worked with a stunt coordinator,” he says. “I was sore for a couple of days.”

They had to do the take 16 times; the first eight times were camera rehearsals since the camera pans around a lot in the scene. “It was all one take,” he explains. The series takes place in Providence but he is also in the yet-to-be-released “The Invention of Lying” with Gervais, which was filmed in Lowell. He doesn’t even have to leave the region. “It’s a really great script; really funny,” he says. The movie is about a world where lying “hasn’t been invented yet.” Gervais plays the character who invents it. Notables in the cast include Jennifer Garner, Rob Lowe, Christopher Guest and Tina Fey.

“It’s a great time to be an actor in the Boston area,” Foley says, adding that the addition next year of Plymouth Rock Studios, things will really be rocking. Plymouth Rock Studios™ is a film and television digital studio complex in Plymouth, which is slated to open in 2010. According to its website, the state-of-the-art and user-friendly development will include 14 sound stages and a 10-acre back lot, plus production offices, post production facilities, a theater, offices and an amenity village. The project will create over 2,000 high income jobs and provide the infrastructure for sustained growth of the entertainment industry in New England.

“I’m not going to New York or L.A. unless I’m invited,” he declares. Two years ago Foley was in “The Golden Boys” with Carradine (“Caine” in the Kung Fu television series), who passed away on June 3. The movie is now available for pre-order on DVD through Amazon.com. “I’m in a scene that’s aforeshadow of things to come, so I know I won’t be cut,” Foley said. He was disappointed that he was cut from the independent film “Tricks of a Woman,” which was filmed in Chelsea, when it was released in the U.S. but says that is part of the business. He was in the version that screened at the Monaco Film Festival and won the best picture award.

Also part of the movie business is being cut from a role when he was almost to the set on Cape Cod last month. The good news is, the director had asked for him by name. The movie is “The Lightkeepers,” starring Academy Award winner Richard Dreyfuss. Foley would have had five or six minutes on screen as the character “Boy” – his biggest role yet. Being a member of the Screen Actors Guild, he still gets paid, but he does consider it a little step backwards in his mission. “Richard Dreyfuss wanted his son to play the role,” he said. “I don’t take it personally; it’s just a setback.”

Donald Foley was born in Amesbury and attended Triton Regional High School. He hung around a lot with his cousins in Newburyport and he has quite a local following.

When he needed to get off his butt in 2001? He was (and still is) into role-playing games, which may or may not have helped his acting career. “In a way, you could say I’m from the Dungeons and Dragons school of acting,” he quips. He left the area and stayed away for years before returning to Newbury, where his parents live. His father David Foley is the chief of the Newbury Fire Protection Company Number 2, which is on the Newbury green.

There are no other actors in his family, as far as he knows. So to sum it up: Donald C. Foley, at five-feet-four-inches and 195 pounds according to his website, got up off his butt and became an actor. He has a page on the Independent Movie Data Base (www.imdb.com) and a page on Wikipedia (www.wikipedia.com). He has a fan club on Facebook. He lists his special skills as “Driving Auto/Stick, Horse Riding, Firearms, Snowboarding, Mandolin, Fiddle, Guitar, Fife, Bamboo Flute, Drums, Dialects (Irish, British, Cockney, Southern, convincing gibberish).”

He made it because he tried.

‘Tis all for now!

‘Tis all for now!

‘Tis all for now!

‘Tis all for Now!

‘Tis all for now!

p.s. Here is the IMDB link for the film: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1156067/

‘Tis all for Now!

I am getting excited for my audition tomorrow!

‘Tis all for now!

‘Tis all for now!

‘Tis all for Now!

‘Tis all for now!