ACTOR Cassandra Dailey arrives on Close-up Culture to chat about a range of topics, including her exciting new role on TV series Thank You For Your Patients.
Q: What can you reveal about ‘Thank You For Your Patients‘?
A: THANK You For Your Patients is a super fun hospital comedy about a motley crew of talented doctors trying to survive the workplace. It’s not just your average doctor show, it highlights the ups and downs of these talented practitioners trying to keep their hospital afloat.
Q: Please tell us about your character Kim, being cast for the role and your experience playing her?
A: KIM is by far the best up-and-coming Surgeon at Redmond Medical Center but she struggles to prove her worth due to a most recent overturn of Chief of Surgery. In the pilot she sees what feels like inequality of genders in the workplace but is soon to see her hard work isn’t going unnoticed. Kim is hardworking, smart and may be the only level-headed member in the entire staff.
This show’s genesis came from an idea by creator Chae Talley. Over eighty percent of the cast/crew in Thank You For Your Patients works side-by-side at a sushi restaurant on Sunset Blvd in West Hollywood, California. Chae, and fellow co-workers, moved to Los Angeles with hopes that the right audition would come to them or an imaginary mystical door to industry success would open to them. After facing a rude awakening, and a healthy dose of reality, brought on by the ups-and-downs of the industry, he said “why wait for someone else to tell us ‘yes?’” With a talented group of friends who all wanted to make something special, he decided to started writing.
Each character in this show, and the storyline behind them, has a real purpose that is grounded in the reality of struggling in a restaurant. He pulled from what he saw every day, took that inspiration and made it into a fictional story that echoes reality. The hope is to show the world a group of nobodies who persevered in the face of adversity, refused to accept “no” and spend every day surviving the workplace.
This project is very close to my heart, it was always a dream to be able to create content that I could share with the world and working with Chae Talley, my business partner, has been just that a dream come true. We both have learned so much producing this product and this is only the beginning to many more exciting things to come.
Q: I believe director Mike Hermosa is an Air Force veteran. What was he like to work with?
A: MIKE is a fantastic director! Mike and Chae’s dads were cops together in Modesto, California when they were just kids but they didn’t get together creatively until about 2 years ago.
Mike has been working in film for a quite a while and his content speaks for itself. He is very talented, knows what he wants and knows how to get it. We are so thankful that he was a part of this project because we couldn’t see anyone else in his place. He is always lending a helping hand and is so knowledgeable about the industry. He is an essential part of the team we have built for success.
Q: What is your outlook on life in LA as an aspiring actress?
A: TO paraphrase Teddy Roosevelt, “Anything worthwhile is never easy”. I believe that with my whole heart. I also feel that if you have found something that makes your soul happy, you should continue to persevere no matter the obstacles
Q: I enjoyed watching your demo reel with a real variety of roles in ads. Can you talk about the value of these experience and maybe share some fun stories with us about them?
A: I think it’s important to get on set to see how things run. When you are first starting out, learning all you can will help you out in the long run. I was lucky to have met a group of friends in college that were producing independent feature and short films. I had the opportunity to create with them and I saw first hand the ins and outs of what it was like to put something together.
A very special memory I have was submitting to the “24 Hour Film Race Festival” in 2012. This was were you had to write a script, film the content, and edit a project all in 24 hours. We were all so exhausted and excited that we weren’t sure whether to celebrate or sleep. I ended up winning “Best Actress” at that festival and it is still to this day one of my favourite memories.
It took me a while to start creating my own content, mostly because I wasn’t sure where to start, but once I got the ball rolling things just started to keep pushing forward. I’ve heard over and over again from casting directors and producers to create your own content and at that time I didn’t get why. Then when I did, I understood. No one knows you better than you do! Plus, why wait around for someone else to help you when you can help yourself in the meantime.
Q: Can you tell us more about your background and where your passion for acting comes from?
A: I really didn’t get into acting until the end of college. I always wanted to be a Radio City Rockette. They are the beautiful dancers at Radio City Music Hall that put on the Christmas Spectacular Show every winter. I had been dancing since I was 3 years old and when time came about to audition I thought my growth spurt would have kicked in and it didn’t. I was a few inches too short, so I figured I could dance for a hobby the rest of my life but as a profession maybe it wasn’t meant to be.
I then went to college to study psychology and was very happy with my decision. I love how every person is so different, it’s what makes the world so interesting. One of my last semesters in college I had to take a fine arts class, so I opted for Acting. I figured it was like dance but with words, and it was. I fell in love with it ever since that class and have never looked back.
I love acting because it lets you explore the land of make believe. As kids we used to always play “Cops & Robbers” and other fun games where it was just about having fun. Today I feel like many adults loose a sense of what makes them happy and I think if we did something playful each day life would be a little easier.
Q: What type of projects do you hope to work on in the future?
A: I really enjoy love stories. Love is different for everyone. It can make us feel on top of the world, it can make us feel down in the dumps. Love is such a powerful thing. I hope to one day be able to take a feature film of a beautiful love story to Sundance Film Festival.
Q: Where do you want to be in five years?
A: I have specific goals and milestones I’d like to reach in 5 years with acting but most importantly I hope to be able to continue doing what makes my heart happy in any capacity.
Awesome job baby
Love the trailer .This show could replace Scrubs in my life😍