Who is Mark Diaco?
An Actor, an illustrator, a writer, a director, a producer… a sucker for punishment in the form of Art.
What would you do differently to what you do now?
I’d say be a musician… It’s easier to find your audience. With film you need x -mount of $$$, a crew, a great script, cameras, editing suites, distribution etc, etc… If your a musician all you need really is a mic and a guitar.
Who inspires you and why?
I’d say funny enough they’re musicians. I like actors like Sam Rockwell, Sean Penn, David Field, Ben Mendelsohn… But I’d have to say people in Jack White (White Stripes), Jay Z, Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age) and even Dave Grohl all inspire me artistically with there work and view on the world.
What would you do to make a difference in the world?
I’ll leave that one up to the grown up thanks!
Favourite holiday destination and why?
New York… Hands down. I trained as an actor in Manhattan, I remember one of my teachers saying in a class “Your the black cat in family… You’ll find your way to New York”. Just walking in the streets has a pulse to it, could pound the pavement for hours.
When friends come to town, what attraction would you take then to, and why?
A bit of Smith Street, then a good drive down to Mornington.
What are you currently reading?
Melbourne by Sophie Cunningham
What are you currently listening to?
At the moment: the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion and Earl Sweatshirt
Happiness is?
It’s working on a play or a film and learning about new stuff about yourself, the world, the people in front of you and behind you… These little moments of discovery.
What does the future hold for you?
Well I feel like I’m just getting started… So hopefully more breathing… Yeah breathing is good!
Mark Diaco trained in New York at Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute and The William Esper Studio. Performing off boadway in Sam Shepard’s classic satire True West. Mark returned to Melbourne, co-founding the theatre company Human Sacrifice Theatre (HST).
Among his stage credits include performances in critically acclaimed plays such as David Mamet’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Glengarry Glen Ross, Speed the plow, the Rock-&-Roll black comedy Mojo by Jez Butterworth, Stephen Belber’s TAPE, Stephen Aldy Guirgis’ courtroom classic The Last Days of Judas Iscariot and the Australian premiere of Sam Shepard‘s The Late Henry Moss. Mark also played the iconic character Randle P. McMurphy in One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest.
In 2012 Mark co-founded yet another theatre company The KIN Collective premiering their first production Glimpse to a packed fortyfivedownstairs. His feature film credits in 2013 include Vessel and Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment, as well as writing/directing/acting his first short film Half Way.
Mark will be seen in the short film Avoiding Brando and feature film The Bronze, then back on stage for Black Water’s theatre productions of Killer Joe by Pulitzer Prize playwright Tracy Letts. He is currently appearing in The Lonesome West presented as part of The Leenane Trilogy at fortyfivedownstairs. For more information, visit: www.kintheatrecollective.com for details.
Image: Mark Diaco – photo by Leanne Hanley