DANIELA SEA

Daniela

Most of us were introduced to Daniela Sea in season 3 of the L Word as the sexy, androgynous character Moira soon to transition to Max. Most of us also know that she is in a relationship with Bitch. What is not common knowledge is that Daniela is an avid surfer, a musician, has traveled the world and can make a mean macrobiotic meal.

Adventure Out Women had the opportunity to chat with Daniela....

INTERVIEW WITH DANIELA SEA

Q – I read that you moved to San Francisco as a teenager and shortly after you played in a few punk bands. I did some poking around and found your stage name: Danyella Dyslexica, what is that all about?

DS: Well the funny thing about life, being involved in a punk band, you can make up your own name. I have a friend named Spider, I wanted to keep my own name, so I spelled it different, and Danyella is, you know to yell. Dyslexicia, I had a form of it that was not discovered until I was 15, and it felt like I could not read fast enough, once it was discovered, I did three months of therapy and I was fine. I thought that was interesting that you could go through school for so many years and it is overlooked. You think you would do much better if you would just apply yourself. There I was giving my all and I was not doing all my homework because it would take forever and it was just not fun. It is cool that they are starting to get a handle of it now and catch it when people are younger and help you out.

Q – Who or what bands would you compare the music to that you did with The Gr'ups

DS: Uhm, well we had former members of Blatz of Berkeley, let's see, I guess we had a member of Rancid and then I guess uhm like a really wild X. They are an LA rock band from the 70's. We always admired them.

Q – I also read that you will be doing a reunion with your band, when can we expect this to happen and will you tour?

DS: Yeah, we have been throwing that idea around; one of our singers is a professor the other is in public service so it is hard to get our schedules together. But I am hoping it happens in the next year.

Daniela's first band, guess which one she is.

Q – You starred in a movie called “Shortbus” the tagline is “Voyeurism is Participation” How would you describe this movie?

DS: Uhm, wow, I could go into a whole thing about my experience. For me it was a great first film to be in. It was kind of collectively made; we participated in the writing of the story, based on improvisations. That is pretty ideal for an actor like me, living in New York. John Cameron Mitchell also calls the film his love letter to New York, a lot of the people in the film were friends of mine before and of course after. It felt like collaboration. The film itself is really sweet and revolutionary at the same time. All in all I am just so proud to have been a part of something like that. It is controversial, as in all the sex in the film was not simulated. Everyone, since we all created it, did not feel exploited. I think it will change the way films are made in a real sense.

Q – You seem to be a world traveler, where is the one place you would like to return to?

DS: Well I guess just on whatever given day you would ask me that question I would answer differently. I am really interested in returning to Poland . I have a lot of friends there; actually any where I have ever been I would go back.

Q – You said in an interview that you loved Poland because it is so simple and beautiful there and that people were self sustaining. Tell us what your house and life is like in New York with Bitch.

DS: Uhm I guess we kind of treat where ever we are living a little bit like villagers, which I should clarify, we live on a busy street in Manhattan . I know all the people around here and my neighbors, we cook a lot, buy whole grains, I can't say we live in New York in the typical way, I feel like I could spend days in my apartment walking in the park meeting with friends, playing music in the median in the street. I try to inhabit life a little bit in that way.

I think that quote above was paraphrased a little bit, what I meant was that in Poland things are different.

Q – I read about you living in India , passing as a man for eight months. What was your favorite thing about living there?

DS: I don't think I had a favorite thing, I loved it, really loved being there. I guess I loved the sense that I felt at home like I do everywhere, it proves to me that in an extreme way that I belong in the world. I can't say that I always felt that I belonged. I guess in my travels in general I felt as I belonged. It was the furthest I have ever been from home; I felt like I was safe and could sleep outside. It meant that the people were great.

I think being here it is easy to feel that you don't belong in the world or trust truck drivers.

Q – What made you decide to go to India ?

DS: There were five of us, three of whom I had lived with and traveled with for some time. We had our way of traveling together and working with villagers for food. We knew how to make money while traveling.

Q – How did you do that (make money while traveling)?

DS: There were four different passports, two from Poland , one from Mexico and one from the U.S. If you think of it most of us were from the western capitalist culture. I have to tell you my friends that were from Poland were really good at making the best of situations. To make money we did circus things, I would play music and we would juggle fire. Like street music, I guess it doesn't matter what the exchange rate is, anywhere you go people will appreciate artist. They will give you things in exchange, some food or kindness, you kind of just trust people in a way. You can't trust everyone; I guess you can trust yourself.

Q – I hear your entire family lives in Malibu , how many siblings do you have?

Malibu is where I grew up, my family is everywhere.

Q – Where do you surf when you are on the west coast?

DS: I like to surf at “my beach” at the north part of Malibu , even though it is not the perfect beach it is my beach.

Q - What beach is that?

DS: (Laughs) you know "my beach", you have to have some secrets. Especially secret spots, even in surf magazines you don't know where they all are.

Q- Tell us the truth: Are you afraid of sharks?

DS: Yes

Q – Have you seen a shark?

DS: Yes

Q – Had any close calls?

DS: I don't think so; the fact is you never know. You don't know if the shark was eyeing you and realized you are not a seal. I think the unknown abyss of the ocean is horrifying.

Q – Can you tell us about the movie script you and Bitch are working on?

Bitch & Daniela

DS: Uhm I can tell you it is really good and really magical. We are still in the incubating period of creating it, so I don't really want to describe it. I can tell you it is a great process of making it, it is very satisfying. And we love collaborating together, in many ways actually.

Q – I think Bitch was out here in Sacramento recently….

DS: Yeah, she met my best friend Nick for the first time. It was really great. You should go check her out; I think she is going out that way again.

AOW – I will for sure this time, I think we were out of town when she was here.

Q – I read that you make macrobiotic meals, tell us what breakfast, lunch and dinner consist of on a macrobiotic diet.

DS: Okay, let me think I want to make it simple, Well we all have our own versions, but basically it is a diet of whole grains, no sugar, no white flour, no dairy. I mostly eat three meals a day myself. So okay for breakfast, I eat miso soup with steamed greens, if it is cold outside I like oatmeal, but if I am in LA I like grains or something.

For lunch I like buck wheat, they eat it all over Eastern Europe , I cook it with seaweed with kelp for minerals. I like to make a vegetable soup and some kind of bean and tofu. It is actually pretty quick to make. It is like fast food but much better. It takes about a half hour and I feel good. You are living in tune with how our ancestors lived. You probably know this but it is for profit that people are eating refined food. What I always like to say is that I don't like to eat someone else's profit margin. And my friends that don't eat like that say that that like my food. It is not like gross food it is really tasty.

What a healthy diet can do for you.

Q- Interesting how long have you been eating like that.

DS: My mom kind of raised me like that.

Q – So, no junk for you?

DS: Not really, I grew up on icky food, once in a while we went to McDonalds. But that was just to appease us.

Q – Your parents are described as intellectual hippies; tell us what a typical day was growing up.

DS: Well you know I went to regular school and everything. I had four parents, my dad and his boyfriend, he came out when I was three and they were together for 23 years and my mom and her boyfriend and they were all really artists. So growing up for the holidays we played music and made things for each other. My mother was a Girl Scout leader.

I guess it was the typical middle class experience, my parents are eccentric. I would say that it was a pretty happy experience overall. I would say that the hardest experience was with kids in school.

Q – Why do you say that?

DS: I would say that kids can be rough in school, I didn't have a lot of friends but the friends I had were good friends, but I made my way. I think it is true for a lot of us.

Q – Do you have pets?

DS: Uhm, well Bitch has a dog, whether he is mine or not he definitely feels like family, he definitely is a one woman dog, but vicariously I have a pet.

Q – Do you want kids one day?

DS: Maybe, there are a lot of kids in the world that need love, so maybe one day I would help a kid out. I don't know if I would birth my own child, but maybe.

Q - If you had to choose acting or music, which would, you choose?

DS: Hmm I guess I wouldn't because I have been doing both, I would not be able to choose, it seems to go hand in hand.

Q - You play the guitar right?

DS: I play a lot of instruments accordion, guitar, persian (tar) flutes, keyboard, bass and a little of viola. I can't say I am a maestro but I like to create like that.

Q - What is the one thing you cannot live without?

DS: Do you mean physically or in general?

Q - How about either or both?

DS: Well love, it would kind of suck to live without love, I don't mean just romantic love I mean love in general. Wow what I could not live without, I think you would adapt, I would say without a voice but you would just figure it out. It would not be very fun to live without…. Wow, I have to think about it. Sometime when I travel I don't have much with me and I like that feeling. I can't imagine living without my mom, I love my mom, she is really cool.

Q - How many siblings do you have?

DS: A brother and a sister.

Q - Where do you fall in the order?

DS: I am the middle but my sister is my step sister and she is 8 days younger, so I pride myself as being older. But to me she is my sister, I just point out that she is step because we are days apart.

Q - What is the single most important thing you have ever learned?

DS: Wow, see all the absolute questions are hard because I never know, I guess it would be how to breathe, can we change the question to lately?

Q - Okay, so what is the single most important thing you have learned lately?

DS: I guess lately I have been learning how powerful it can be to image, let yourself imagine the craziest thing you can dream. Let yourself live out your dreams and it happens in real life, imagine the crazy thing that brings you joy, I know it sounds crazy, I guess the most important thing is to let myself live my dreams and to go for it no matter what even if it is totally hard or crazy.

Q - In what way are you most self disciplined?

DS: I guess I put most of my attention on how I treat others, it sounds cheesy but really that is what I try and I am not saying I do it perfectly but I try to be nice to everyone until I am proved that I shouldn't be. I really look at kindness. I guess that is what I am most disciplined about, and it is hard. If someone calls you names, how do you keep your dignity and find that space in your heart to be kind. It is not that it does not happen to me, I get mad but I try to be disciplined.

Q - What experience do you have the greatest fear of?

DS: What? I don't want to answer. It is a good question; I just don't want to answer it because someone might want to do it.

Q - Fair enough, complete the sentence: No matter what....

DS: Wow I don't know, No matter what.

For more information on Daniela visit her official web site.

Interview by: Belinda Ramirez