Tuesday, October 10, 2017

Interview: Tanya Clarke of Driver X The Movie: From Soaps to the Big Screen and Now as Queen Rynda on Marvel's Inhumans

Interview by Suzanne Ordas Curry

Tanya Clarke is a busy actress. Her latest movie, Driver X, premieres this week. She plays Dawn, the wife of a middle-aged man, played by Patrick Fabian (Better Call Saul) who becomes a driver of a ride-sharing service. It's mainly a comedy, based on actual people the writer met while being a driver for a real ride-share service. So of course, think funny, peppered with a dose of reality as it chronicles the challenges of a  near-baby boomer driving around millenials.

Driver X is Tanya's fifth movie in two years. Prior to this, she's been a familiar face all over TV, starting out in soaps. She's been on 5 daytime dramas, most notably Guiding Light, As The World Turns, Another World and One Life to Live. From there she's been on Grey's Anatomy, Banshee, Those Damn Canadians, Glee, Hawaii Five-O and many others. Now, she can be seen on the hit ABC TV show Marvel's Inhumans as Queen Rynda.

Suzee: Tell me about your role in Driver X. Who is Dawn Moore?

Tanya Clarke:  I am the sole income provider living with my 2 children and my unemployed husband in a house we can no longer afford and a lifestyle in need of major adjustments if things don't change sooner than soon.




Suzee:  You have done so many types of acting. What is your favorite: theatre, TV, movies?

Tanya Clarke:  A combination of the 3 is really the best of all worlds.. I love the infectious audience/actor exchange that happens in theatre, I love the subtlety of the screen & I love the family you create on a TV show that runs for years.

Suzee:  You have also worked with so many different people. Is there someone along the way, either in front or behind the camera, or in your personal life that you learned a special lesson from?



Tanya Clarke:  I think I have learned more from my challenges and my pitfalls along the way-especially in the  theater, than any one person.

Doing theater taught me a toughness and a resilience that I don't know if i'd have had the opportunity to develop had I come straight to LA as a young actor. I really admire the young actors that  do come directly to LA and can manage to navigate themselves in a healthy way in this town. I don't think that would have been me. I needed NY when I was young. I think I would have drowned here early on.

Tanya Clarke as Queen Rynda                                                                                         Photo from Twitter Courtesy ABC

Here's more on Tanya:

Her Favorite Quote

"'The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones that are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones that never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn, like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars'. -Jack Kerouac

Canadian at Heart but what she Likes About the USA

"I grew up in Canada so I will  always have a longing for my family, for the smell of fall, for the lake at my parents cottage.

I'm always reminded that I'm Canadian at heart when I see a photo of something bursting & tropical and think 'huh' and then I'll see a photo of a silent snowy bitter cold frozen lake and feel nothing but warmth and nostalgia.. It's where I was raised for 20 years. It will always be where I feel the most protected and the most myself.

I love the US for its diverse topography and the lack of red tape around creative entrepreneurship. If you want to make something happen, this country is a great testing ground. If embraced, skies the limit and I love that."



She's an Artist. Her Liquid Light Artwork Can be Viewed Around the World.

"My father is a leading political and environmental activist in Canada, as well as the author of many books on the topic of water and our need to protect this resource. He is definitely main inspiration behind light sculptures called 'Liquid Light' (www.LiquidLightSite.Com) which are composed of solid hand-sculpted glass drops, plumbing and LED's. A percentage of all proceeds go towards the education and action on global water issues. My pieces have been featured in galleries, museums and private collections in the U.S. and around the world. I'm currently repped by the AFA Gallery in NYC."

"I create these pieces when I'm not acting. It serves as a great balance for me because I hide in my workshop and aside from my fiance, I often don't see or talk to anyone for days. And I really need that."
Liquid Light by Tanya Clarke

How She Describes Herself (in three words or less)

Resilient, creative, introvert w extroverted tendencies.

Tanya's Favorite Movies and Shows

 I just finished watching 'The Killing' and sobbed so much when it ended I couldn't see the screen.
Recently I've loved 'Ozark', 'The Fall', 'House of Cards'. Delicious. All of them.

And Her New Movies are...

I've had a busy past few months. I just wrapped two films: 'Sidelined' and 'The Boarder' and I'm currently in a small town in Georgia shooting a film called 'Legal Action'.

Follow Tanya on Twitter: 

Driver X is the fifth feature film collaboration between award-winning writer/director Henry Barrial and producer Mark Stolaroff. 

For more on Driver X visit: http://www.Driverxmovie.com 













  



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