Daniel Pelissier
The story of Daniel Pelissier's entry into the acting world is one part Cinderella, and one part Frankenstein. While working at a liquor store in Sarasota, he made the acquaintance of one of his customers, a retired stage actor named John Roberson. Roberson suggested that Daniel had a good look for the stage and that he ought to audition at the Golden Apple Dinner Theatre. Daniel routinely dismissed John's encouragements, feeling that there wasn't much of a future for him in acting, as his only experience in performing in front of audiences took place on karaoke night in the bar next door. Roberson was not deterred, and persisted in repeatedly greeting Daniel in his store with "Are you still here?!" Finally, Daniel relented late in the summer of 2011, and auditioned for "Kiss Me, Kate" at the Sarasota Players Theatre with the intention of proving his unreadiness. He walked out with egg on his face, and the role of Hortensio. The role ultimately did prove his unreadiness, but left him wanting more in spite of it, and in spite of the time taken away from work and earning money. He resolved to do no more than one stage show per year and embarked on a pursuit of necessary training in both singing and dancing. Downtime between shows, however, gave him withdrawals, and so he took to Craigslist in search of acting opportunities more apt to fit around his work schedule and possibly more likely to pay. In a short span of time during the summer of 2013, via Craigslist he found his first film role, that of the black market trader in No Real Than You Are, as well as another more off-beat gig; wearing a karate uniform and being trounced by lady wrestlers on grapplinggirls.com. The following Spring in 2014, as No Real Than You Are was making its way from the Sarasota Film Festival to the Cannes, Daniel took once more to the Sarasota Players stage as a member of the ensemble in "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels." Shortly after the show closed, one again via Craigslist, Daniel found his way into "Heading Nowhere." Later that summer he commandeered the second male lead from "-Scoundrels," Scott Vitale, to join him in his film pursuits whereupon they worked together in three unreleased short films for One Race Global. The summer of 2015 rained opportunity for Daniel. While attending a callback at the Players for the lead in "I Hate Hamlet"(which he subsequently landed), Daniel was contacted by John Lagerholm and StudioKRP seeking him out for the role of Satan in "Hell's Hitman." Simultaneously, Daniel was also approached a la Craigslist once more by a small ambitious production company called Gaines Entertainment, through which he acquired a role in a music video (Mystikjipsy's "Snake Conscience") and a lead villain role as evil inter-dimensional warlock Sil in the up-and-coming web series "A World of Worlds." It was between the closing of "I Hate Hamlet" and his very next stage appearance as the Child Catcher in the Players production of "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang"(a role which brought him his first critical acclaim) that Daniel felt he had found his niche; nothing was more fun than playing freaks, monsters and villains. Most recently, he took on the role of Karl the giant in the Players production of "Big FIsh" during the early spring of 2017. Episode two of "A World of Worlds" is set for release by the end of the year. Only time will tell what other freakish forms Daniel may take between now, then, and ever after.
