I was able to sit down with singer/songwriter and actress of the film Merry & Gay, Dia Frampton, as she discussed her break out in acting and singing.
Richard: How did you start in the business of acting?
Dia: I started in music, first, when I was pretty young and then I started auditioning for musical roles like Glee and Pitch Perfect and things like that and I just really loved the process, so I stuck with it and started studying more to be an actor.
Richard: What attracted you to the project Merry & Gay?
Dia: I love the director and writer Christin Baker. I think she is amazing. We’re really good friends now. I did a movie with her–one of her movies–a couple years ago called I Hate New Year’s. We worked on that together and then I worked on Christmas at the Ranch with her. So, she’s just been a good friend and, in a weird way, one of my mentors and just somebody that I really look up to. So, when she called me about being a part of Merry & Gay, it was just an instant, “Yes!”. I love working with her. She always hires the best crew, the best cast. It’s really great, genuinely good people that you want to be around for two weeks. It was a no-brainer for me and two weeks in Tennessee–I love it out there.
Richard: Principal Photography was only two weeks?
Dia: Yeah, we shot for, like, twelve days, maybe fourteen days.
Richard: How did Covid-19 affect your work as an actress?
Dia: There wasn’t a lot of work for a really long time and it affected it in so many different ways. Obviously, negative ways, but [ultimately] in a positive way, I was home a lot and started writing my own projects and I don’t think I would have written as many scripts for short films as I did had COVID not happened and had there been more work, not saying there was anything good about COVID, but it did inspire me to use the time I had at home to find a different outlet for my creativity.
Richard: So, what do you enjoy most about your work?
Dia: I would say mostly the people I get to work with. I learn so much from every director, every actor from the written material, from every script I read. I definitely love that acting is such a collaborative art form and even with my co-star, Andi, I learned so much from working with them. It was just a really great experience.
Richard: What is your dream acting role that you always wanted to acquire?
Dia: I would love to be in a dark show like The White Lotus. I love that tv show. It’s just so wonderfully written and I love the comedy of it but also the darkness, the mystery. I’m also drawn to weird, quirky films. One of my favorite films was The Killing of a Sacred Deer. I love that movie so much.
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