Mark Dacascos Interviews Himself: A Q&A

January 5th, 2010

Aloha and Happy New Year!

I’ve wanted to write a blog about my experiences on DWTS and answer some of the questions you’ve posted on my sites. I thought a Q and A would be a good way to do that. So, here it is: Mark asking questions, and Mark answering them.

(Mark is sitting at his desk)

Q: Do you interview yourself a lot?

(He smiles)

A: No, I don’t. I’ve done drills in acting classes where I’ve interrogated myself, and I’ve played different characters having a conversation with each other on stage, but this is actually the first time I’ve ever interviewed myself.

Q: How did you get involved with DWTS?

A: My wife, Julie, has been a fan of the show since it’s first season. She brought up the idea of me being a participant about 2 years ago. She said it would be nice for my fans, and good for people in the industry to see a side of me that is usually not shown; a smiling, laughing, dancing Mark.

She also thought it would be good for me to challenge myself in a completely new way; shake me up a bit, ya’ know?

Q: Was she right?

(Mark sighs, cracks a smile)

A: She was right. I knew she was right when she first brought it up, but it took me about a year to wrap my head around the idea of possibly going on one of the highest rated reality shows in the country; and then dancing.

Q: Were you afraid of dancing in public?

A: Absolutely! I mean, I don’t dance. I enjoy watching dance, I enjoy watching DWTS and SYTYCD, but me dancing, well, that’s a different story.

Q: But you have danced before, haven’t you?

A: Sure…a little…when I was in my twenties I’d go to a club every now and then.

I took a semester of ballet in college almost 26 years ago…

I played “Chino” in a production of “West-side Story” for 6 weeks in Portland, Oregon almost 25 years ago…

I took a few months of jazz classes 20 years ago…

I took 5 forty-five minute ballroom dance privates with my wife almost 7 years ago,

but that does not a dancer make. Not at all.

Q: Did you contact DWTS initially or did they make the first call?

A: We contacted them.

Julie (my wife) and I talked with my agent and manager about me being on DWTS. They both loved the idea and worked diligently to get me a meeting with the producers and casting director of the show.

That meeting happened 3 weeks before the beginning of the “training period” for Season 9. When I left the meeting, the producers and casting director had told me they’d like me to possibly be a contestant on season 10, almost six months away.

Q: So you thought you had some time before you’d start dancing?

A: That’s right. My family and I left for Hawaii a day after the meeting. We went back to Oahu to visit our relatives, do some surfing, and just relax in the fresh Hawaiian air.

I was quite surprised when I received a phone call from my agent a week before the DWTS celebrity-reveal on Good Morning America. My agent told me that DWTS may want to invite me to dance on Season 9 instead of Season 10, but that we wouldn’t find out for sure until just a few days before.

Q: How did you feel about that?

A: I was extremely nervous, happy, excited, honored, of course. But very nervous. I had thought I’d possibly be on the show in 5 months. Now it was possibly in 5 days. The whole thing was a bit overwhelming.

We got the call on Friday morning that I was “officially” invited to be on Season 9. I flew from Hawaii back to LA on Saturday night, prepped my head as much as I could on Sunday, and watched in awe on Monday morning as my picture came up on GMA as one of the celeb-contestants on DWTS. Two days later our dance rehearsals began.

Q: You didn’t get your chance to take any dance classes prior to training for DWTS.

A: Nope. None. Nada.

A: Why did they switch you from Season 10 to Season 9?

A: I have no idea.

Q: Lacey Schwimmer?

A: She’s an incredible talent and a good, kind-hearted young lady.

Q: So you got along well?

A:We like and respect each other, but like any relationship, we had our “sweet” times and our “sour” ones.

Q: Were you having a rough time during the week of your (week 3) Rumba?

A: Yes, and it obviously showed.

Q: But you were having a good time during the (week 5) Paso Doble?

A: Definitely. That was a “sweet” week. Like I said, all relationships have ups and downs, especially when they’re as intense as the ones between the pro-dancers and their celeb-partners on DWTS.

As you can see on the show, the pressure to learn really fast, and perform well in front of a huge, live, audience is tremendous. And that pressure is for the pro-dancers as well as the celebs.

Q: Was it fun?

A: When Lacey and I were in snyc, dancing was really fun.

Q: What were the “show” days like?

A: The “show” days were my favorite. It was really cool to share moments with the other contestants, and pros, and the crew. It was exhilarating. We never knew what was going to happen, or what we were going to say in the interviews. And the energy from the “live” audience was amazing, especially that premiere night.

Q: Was doing the show really as difficult as it looks on TV?

A: Yes.

Q: Did you think it would be?

A:Yes.

Q: What did you think of the judges, their comments, and the scores?

A: I think Carrie Ann, Bruno, and Len did a great job. They’re the judges and it’s their prerogative to have favorites. I wish I was one of them, but “c’est la vie.”

Q: You have no issues with the way the judges scored you; some of their comments?

A: DWTS is a “show”. And in my humble opinion a very entertaining one. Of course I wish the judges would have scored us higher, liked us (me) more, but Lacey, Anna T., and I did our very best. That’s all we could do.

Q: You and Lacey won the fan favorite contest on Ryan Seacrest’s show (Demand Your Favorite DWTS Star be Interviewed On-Air with Ryan Seacrest)

A: Yes, and that’s because our FANS are fantastic and incredibly supportive. I thank them with all of my heart. It’s obvious from that contest that we had fan support. Thank you, again, everyone who voted for us.

Q: Now that it’s over, do you like dancing and will you continue?

A: Yes, I do like dancing. If I have another opportunity to dance, I’ll definitely take it.

Q: Any last words about DWTS?

A: DWTS was an amazing and very challenging experience. I’m fortunate to have had it.

I’m extremely grateful to Deena Katz, Rob Wade, and Conrad Green for giving me the opportunity to be on DWTS. Thank you.

I thank my agent, Jim Kellem, and my manager, Mary Putnam-Greene, for making the phone calls to get me that first meeting.

Lacey Schwimmer was my teacher, was my partner, and is my friend. I thank her for the laughs, blood, sweat, smiles, bruises, and tears we shared over our 3 months together.

Anna Trebunskaya took on the daunting task of teaching me 2 routines in 2 days, and performing them with me. She and her husband, Jonathon, are the epitome of professionalism, class and grace. I thank them both.

I thank the cast and crew of DWTS for being so gracious and kind.

I thank my family, friends, and FANS for sending us so much aloha and for taking the crazy-cool ride with us.

I thank Julie and Craig for being at every show and for “representing.”