What’s in a name?
When I decided to throw off the shackles of ‘working for the man’ and become an actor, I looked into Spotlight and Equity membership here in the UK. I quickly found that in order to be registered with Equity, you had to have a unique name (your ”stage name”) so you don’t get confused with another actor. Imagine the problems if there were a few Judi Dench’s walking about “No, I’m not that one, I’m the other one.” Not ideal.
So after finding out that there was already an actor with my real name, I set about thinking of another surname. It came to me quite easily, I decided to use my middle name of ‘Gerard’, after all it is one of my actual names and something I respond to, so why not? I could have chosen something slightly more memorable but I consider that an actor’s name is a very personal thing and as I already respond quite well to my real first name of ‘Damien’ I thought it would be silly to change that. Anyway, it’s a slightly more unusual name so it might help me stand out.
The thing is though that for me being Damien Gerard is a wonderful thing. The ‘other’ pre-actor me was a lot more negative than I am now and I am just not in that place anymore. I feel that Damien Gerard is rising from the ashes of his old life, ready to take on the challenges the world will throw at him, without any of the baggage. I truly think it was one of the best decisions I have ever made and now I look back on it, even if my original name hadn’t been taken, taking a new name just felt right.
The other day I had to sign a cheque and of course my cheque book is in my real name. I signed it ‘Damien Gerard.’ I feel like I am Damien Gerard far more than my ‘other’ me. I feel at home in this skin, the real me, open and willing to explore the things that the old me would never contemplate. I am more willing to take chances, to jump into the unknown and see where it takes me and to not give a hoot what other people think. It’s a glorious, it’s exhilarating and it’s a terrifying place to be.
Changing my name has changed my life.
I am Batman
(OK, maybe not, but the analogy isn’t lost on me)
Damien Gerard 