“I Is Another”: A Conversation with Dave Maldonado
The quote, “I Is Another,” from French Symbolist poet Arthur Rimbaud’s “Lettre du voyant,” is Rimbaud’s declaration of the poet as seer or visionary. This concept aligns with Ralph Waldo Emerson’s 1848 essay “The Poet” in which Emerson not only argues for a poet of the American voice, but also one who is a namer – a visionary who connects the concrete with the abstract. As the “voice of a generation,” Dylan did just that. He captured the zeitgeist of the early sixties and became the poet of popular music. For more than sixty years, he’s been a singular creative force. The labels ascribed to Dylan in the early days of his career have followed him through the genre blending and identity shifts his creative development have engendered. Since then, Dylan consistently reaches into spaces suspended between his lived experiences and his imagination to give voice to people, events, and situations that breed empathy through his presentation of them. Any artist who is committed to live a creative life goes through a similar process. In this episode, actor Dave Maldonado talks about his career and his own creative process. The way Maldonado finds backstory and historical and cultural foundations in each of the characters he plays parallels the way Dylan brings those things into his songs, art, and writing. Thus, we can see creative process is similar across all media – the artist relinquishes the self or ego in service of something greater, in service of art. This episode is more Dylan-adjacent than Dylan-centered, but focuses on the intersection of creative processes across the arts. I hope you enjoy it.
Bio:
Dave Maldonado has forged a diverse and expansive, 20-year career. His resume includes the role of Curt Kuchta, the Transocean drill ship captain, alongside Mark Wahlberg, Kurt Russell, and John Malkovich in the critically acclaimed Deepwater Horizon (2016). Other well-known feature films he has appeared in include Free State of Jones (2016) with Matthew McConaughey, The 5th Wave (2016) with Chloe Grace Moretz, Trumbo (2015) with Bryan Cranston and Trespass (2011) with Nicholas Cage and Nicole Kidman. He also appeared alongside Chris Pratt in the Tomorrow War. Most recently, Dave had the opportunity to work with director Ryan Coogler (Creed, Black Panther) in the much-anticipated film SINNERS starring Michael B. Jordan
In addition to his work in feature films, he has performed extensively in numerous television series. He can be seen in NCIS: New Orleans, Dynasty, Homeland, From Dusk Till Dawn, Queen Sugar, Queen of the South, and American Crime. He’s also appeared in Fox’s Sleepy Hollow, NBC’s Revolution, the HBO drama series Treme opposite Melissa Leo and HBO’s critically acclaimed True Detective alongside Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson. Most recently, Dave appeared in the groundbreaking, Emmy nominated Showtime series, Your Honor with Bryan Cranston. Next up, Dave will be sharing the screen with Jon Bernthal and Tessa Thompson in the limited series His & Hers for Netflix.
Links:
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1296223/?ref_=fn_t_1
Reel: REEL Dave Maldonado
