David La Haye was gifted in communications, sociology, politics and philosophy but had a passion for the humanities and had no intention of becoming an actor. When he was encouraged to audition, he was accepted and decided to leave for a different future. Even today, 35 years after graduating from theater school, the actor is still in demand and capable of reinventing himself.
• Also read: David La Haye portrays an eccentric character in Luc Picard’s new film
David, what professional projects allow us to see you at work?
I completed the genre film Frame, the first feature film by two young directors. It denounces sexual assault and violence against women through the portrait of a photographer, a role I play. I also completed the film Charlie Tango, in which I am a charmer, a manipulator climbing a pyramid of investments that is holding on to nothing. And I have another project planned for this summer. Currently you can watch the movies Arlette and Confessions on Crave and the Portrait Robot series (coming in season 2) on Club illico. I’m a real chameleon! I have the opportunity to fill a variety of roles.
You’re celebrating 35 years of career this year. Allows you to see how far you’ve come?
Yes, and it allows me to affirm that I’ve managed to stay true to who I am. I played compositional roles, changing energy and mind each time. When I got out of school I was introduced to “In the Belly of the Dragon” and immediately I was asked to change my appearance. Since then I have not stopped composing roles and changing my attitude towards the different roles that have been entrusted to me.
Did you dream of a career like yours after you left school?
My dream came true, because in the theater school I was already playing composition roles. My goal was to compose characters. I did it instinctively. It was reflected over 35 years. All projects are different. I went from eccentric characters to other, fragile, aggressive, violent and manipulative characters. 95% of the time I got my roles through auditions. That’s what I’m most proud of.
Photo: Bertrand Calmeau / RADI
When did you know you were going to be an actor?
I wanted to do journalism, study communication. I hadn’t told my parents I was auditioning to be an actor because I didn’t want to upset them. If I hadn’t been an actor, they would never have known. When I was received in Saint-Hyacinthe, they were very surprised. It worried them a little, but they were very proud to see that it worked. When I was younger I was more into sports. At CEGEP I improvised and was encouraged to audition, for which I was accepted.
Photo: /CBC
What else would you have done?
I liked sociology, politics and changes in society. I still love local and international politics. At school, sociology and philosophy were my favorite subjects, as was French. We are four children. The eldest two are more Cartesian and the last two, my younger sister and I, are more creative. My father was a notary, my mother a humanitarian worker. She helped people in need. It is probably thanks to her that I became a composition actress. She had a center, La Bouée, that helped people in trouble. From childhood I have been confronted with human pain. I saw mentally handicapped people, physically handicapped people, homeless people. I was touched by them: they were larger than life characters. And I had a very generous role model mother who taught me compassion.
Photo: /VAT
Did you have role models who inspired you in your career?
Yes, actors were idols for me when I left school: Guy Nadon, whom I had seen in the TV theater “Lorenzaccio”, Gabriel Arcand, whom I had seen in “Les Plouffe”, and Lothaire Bluteau, who appeared in “Les fous de Bassan” and “Jesus” had played from Montreal. I often meet Lothaire in a café. As much as he’s the most intense actor I’ve ever seen, he’s also the funniest man I know. They are my top three favorite actors in Quebec. On the international stage, I really liked Daniel Day-Lewis, Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Jack Nicholson. They were role models and inspiration for me.
Photo: /
Are you still working in the United States?
It’s more difficult there because I’m less well known and I have a slight French accent. That’s why I play French-speaking people in American series and films. The most important series I’ve been in has never seen the light of day: Lewis and Clark for HBO, produced by Brad Pitt and Tom Hanks. It was 2015. I was playing a mixed-race settler. The series ended after three months of filming. I was involved in two American projects that brought me so close to a career on a show there. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, I directed a pilot for the television series The Allies, in which I played a German Gestapo captain. CBS, hesitating between projects, didn’t keep it. My career could have been different if any of these projects had been accepted. She would have taken a different tangent. But I’m at peace. I have great plans…
• Also read: Peter Miller almost starred in a Brad Pitt and Tom Hanks project
The movie frame should be out in the fall.
The thriller Charlie Tango has no release date yet.
You can see David Arlette And confessions on Crave and in the series Portrait Robot (Season 2) on Club illico.