Brandon J Dirden Biography
Brandon J Dirden is an American actor. He is famously known for portraying Martin Luther King in the Broadway production of Robert Schenkkan’s All the Way.
He graduated from the Morehouse and University of Illinois. Brandon made his Broadway debut in Prelude to a Kiss. Since then, he has appeared regularly both on and off Broadway. Among the plays he has appeared in include Clybourne Park, The First Breeze of Summer and Detroit 67.
He is also a recepient of many awards. In 2012, he was awarded an OBIE Award, AUDELCO VIV Award and a Theater World Award. He was also nominated for The Drama League and Lucille Lortell awards. This was for his portrayal of Boy Willie in the Signature Theatre’s revival of August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson.
Brandon directed his first film in September 2015. He directed August Wilson’s Seven Guitars at Two River Theater in Red Bank, NJ. He has appeared as a guest in a number of TV series. Among them include; The Big C, The Good Wife and most recently Ed Burns’ Public Morals.
Brandon J Dirden Photo
Brandon J Dirden Age
Brandon J Dirden was born in the United States of America. He was born in 1979. His actual date of birth is not clearly known. He is around 40 years old as of 2019.
Brandon J Dirden Net Worth
Brandon J Dirden has made a huge fortune from his career as an actor. He has appeared in Clybourne Park, The First Breeze of Summer and Detroit 67. He has also appeared in The Big C, The Good Wife and most recently Ed Burns’ Public Morals.
He is also a recepient of many awards. In 2012, he was awarded an OBIE Award, AUDELCO VIV Award and a Theater World Award. He was also nominated for The Drama League and Lucille Lortell awards. This was for his portrayal of Boy Willie in the Signature Theatre’s revival of August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson.
Brandon J Dirden net worth is currently under review. It is however approximated that he has a net worth that is somewhere around $1 million. He has accumulated his fortune from his sheer hardwork as an actor.
Brandon J Dirden Wife
Brandon J Dirden got married to actress Crystal A. Dickinson. The two tied the knot in 2006. The couple met while in graduate school at The University of Illinois. They have one son called Chase Ari Dirden. He was born on 29th March 2014. The family is happily living together.
Brandon J Dirden Movies
- 2018 Manifest (TV Series)
- 2018 Elementary (TV Series)
- 2015-2018 The Americans (TV Series)
- 2018 The Quad (TV Series)
- 2017 The Accidental Wolf (TV Series)
- 2016-2017 The Get Down (TV Series)
- 2016 BrainDead (TV Series)
- 2015 Good Friday
- 2014 The Good Wife (TV Series)
- 2008 House of Payne (TV Series)
- 2017 American Experience (TV Series documentary)
- 2017 Theater Talk (TV Series)
- 2014 The Broadway.com Show (TV Series)
Brandon J Dirden Interview
Q: What first sparked your love of theatre?
Brandon J Dirden: Seeing my father performing in plays when I was growing up in Houston, Texas. He didn’t do it for a living but it was something he had a passion for. As an African-American man in Texas in the 60s it was very difficult to make a living as an actor, and he had children he had to provide for, so he chose not to pursue it as a career. But he always said to me that I needed to do it. I grew up watching my daddy in plays, and a lot of his friends were in theater, and they were the most eccentric, wild people. I just enjoyed hanging out way past my bedtime and putting on shows for them and the storytelling of it all – and making and telling stories also gave me a chance to extend my bedtime, so that was nice!
Q: You have performed an impressive list of Shakespearian roles, on the other hand, you have made your mark through new writing. Do you have a preference between classics and new work? And what elements from both categories that stimulate or inspire you as an actor?
Brandon J Dirden: I have grown to love performing Shakespeare. I used to abhor doing Shakespeare. I resented the value that was placed on a body of work that seemingly did not include my experience. I was wrong. My experience is included in his plays, because I am a human, but as an actor of color I was made to feel like I had no place in the cannon. Once I had a teacher tell me I would never do Shakespeare because of the way I sounded.
Q: One of your most acclaimed performances on stage to date was as Martin Luther King opposite Bryan Cranston’s Lyndon B Johnson. How did you prepare for playing Dr King, and what helped you find his voice?
Brandon J Dirden: I started with his autobiography, and another book he wrote called Why We Can’t Wait that’s a reflection of the years (1963-1964) covered by the play, and their involvement in trying to break Jim Crow laws in Birmingham, Alabama. Reading the story of that time period in his own words put me into his headspace and into the type of mission he was on, after the disappointment he had just recently suffered in the summer of 1963. He saw the window closing on the opportunity to get civil rights laws passed.
Q: Yes, I noticed that your performance as Martin Luther King had his amazingly resonant, musical quality. But something else that seemed significant was his stillness, and his silence at crucial moments. How did it feel, to have to be silent in the centre of these portrayals of a struggling, quarrelling civil rights movement?
Brandon J Dirden: It takes a lot of trust in the director. I had to suppress that urge to want to be in there. As a matter of fact, we were rehearsing some scenes which were just not working, and I discovered it was because I just had too much dialogue. I would ask the writer from time to time “Can you take this line away, we don’t need him to respond in this moment.” Because Dr King said what he meant and he meant what he said, always.
Q: The relationship on stage between you and Bryan Cranston as LBJ wasn’t always the smoothest, but how were things offstage? How did you get on?
Brandon J Dirden: Aw, it’s terrible! I tell you man, they had to break us apart every day because we’re almost at each other’s throats… No, but seriously , people ask me a lot what’s like to work with Bryan, and my favourite answer is that it’s pleasantly routine. He’s at the height of his popularity. Certainly he’s an incredible talent and he got all his much- deserved praise but he didn’t let that affect his work.
Q: With colour-blind casting becoming quite a norm these days, are there any other great roles that you would like to see yourself tackling one day?
Brandon J Dirden: Interesting question. I honestly don’t spend much time considering great roles that I want to tackle, traditional casting or otherwise. I have been very fortunate, and some would say spoiled, with the roles I have been able to take on so far. I have always prided myself on embracing the uncertainty of whatever the theater gods blow my way and finding the value in each role.
Q: Which other plays inspire you? Are there works you’d love to see come to Broadway?
Brandon J Dirden: I’m a huge fan of August Wilson, and one of his ten play cycle hasn’t been produced on Broadway and that’s Jitney – I’d love to be part of that. And the other thing is a fantastic play called Trouble in Mind, by the great Alice Childress. This play was supposed to be the first play on Broadway written by a black female writer. It was a huge hit when it ran off Broadway in 1955, and the producers were ready to bring it to Broadway, but they wanted to change the ending so much that Alice pulled it off the table.
Q: Your brother Jason was in Raisin in the Sun on Broadway at the same time as when you were performing in All the Way. Raisin also looks closely at civil rights in the same time period. Do you think Broadway has entered a period of looking at race relations and social issues more closely?
Brandon J Dirden: I don’t see a lot of new writing on the topic, with the exception of a play my wife was in called Clybourne Park. That was probably a play which touched on race a racial issues in America in a way that hadn’t been touched on before in Broadway, and it actually comes out of the events that take place at the end of Raisin in the Sun – so it’s all very closely linked together.
Q: You have been doing a lot of TV work lately, from The Americans, Ed Burns’ Public Morals to the upcoming Baz Luhrmann’s new Netflix show The Get Down. What adjustments you felt were needed for a theatre actor going into television?
Brandon J Dirden: The main adjustment that I made working in television is adjusting my performance to the size of the audience. We naturally do this as stage actors anyway. My performance in a 99 seat theater will not work in a 2000 seat theater and vice versa. In television, there is only one audience member, the camera. Sometimes you hear actors or filmmakers talk about playing it “smaller” for the camera. Thinking that way can sometimes take the texture away from your portrayal. I much rather think of it in terms of what is necessary to be in communication with my audience.
Q: You are just about to make your directorial debut. Since August Wilson’s work has played a crucial part in your career, it came as no surprise that you would pick one of his plays to direct. But why Seven Guitars?
Brandon J Dirden: It actually picked me. The Artistic Director, John Dias, is committed to presenting all 10 of Mr. Wilson’s plays at Two River Theater. Seven Guitars was next on his list and he asked if I would direct. He could have asked me to direct any one of the 10 and I would have agreed. I find Seven Guitars to be particularly gratifying. I have never acted in this play and had only seen one other production, so I did not have too many ideas of the way it “should” go. I have been able to discover the genius of this play alongside the actors and designers. It has been a terrific communal experience.
Q: You have shared the stage with both your brother and your wife several times and the stage partnerships seemed to have paid off brilliantly every time. How is it going with Seven Guitars now that you are in the director’s chair and they are both your cast members?
Brandon J Dirden: Very well! When Crystal, Jason and I first moved to New York, we would help each other prepare for every single audition. We were essentially directing each other then, and this experience has been an extension of that. What is especially great about having them as a part of this cast is that they became the example for other cast members. Crystal and Jason set the bar really high for their mates. They come in everyday very prepared and focused. But they also teach others that there is a freedom and ease in working with me as a director.
Q: Your brother Jason said in an interview with us last year that one day he would love to direct Fences. Are you guys going to have to throw a dice on how to split which Wilson’s plays each one of you are going to get to direct?
Brandon J Dirden: Haha! Fortunately for us, there are many theaters around the country and globally that will be doing August Wilson for many years. I think we will both have plenty of chances. He just better cast me when he is directing!
Q: A profound subtlety and a sonorous musical quality to your delivery are two of many qualities one has come to expect from your performance. Now, what can we expect from Brandon Dirden as a director.
Brandon J Dirden: My hope is that you don’t see the director. I want Mr. Wilson’s language to sing out unobstructed. I want you to meet these seven people and love them all as much as I do. I want you to have a singular experience in the theater with out my interference.
SOURCE: www.auditoriummag.com