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FAUSTINO DI BAUDA

Sleepy/Walter

A few days ago I had the chance to interview Faustino Di Bauda on Zoom and it's finally available for you!
A Youtube video of our conversation is available as well as a transcription of everything that was said :)

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A huge thank you to @fabinafan, @tinyfaniston, @lpsteamhope, @fairyouat, @bluedahliass, @ajewishpirate and @hookersarmy for your amazing questions and to Faustino for his kindness and time!

Faustino Di Bauda's interview: Text
Faustino Di Bauda's interview: Video

Transcription

Question: The first question is by @fabinafan, she asked: "How did you hear about the role of Sleepy?" and I was also wondering how you got the part.

Answer: Good question. Well, I asked for it in a way. But I didn't ask for it directly. What I did is that at the time I was with my agent and he was sending me up for commercial auditions. And, I went up for almost three years doing commercial auditions. And one day, I just said to him:

"Is there any reason why you're not sending me offers for TV or film?"

He says: "Well, you haven't booked anything as far as commercials."

"Yeah I understand but, I mean, what I've been trained in is TV and film, you know?"

And he says: "Well I understand that alright. But, I need something to substantiate the reason for putting your name forward."

I say: "Well, put my name forward, please."

And about three weeks to a month went by, and he called me. And I was told to go to an audition for this project called "Once Upon a Time" and this character named Sleepy. And that was the first step. Then, the second step was, ok, now I have to go through the audition and everything. The audition scene was the scene from the pilot where I fall asleep, and then Grumpy wakes me up and says "Sleepy, wake up!" and I say "What is it?" you know, and then we start the scene off, and that was that. And it was just a simple scene, alright? But we did it, and the first time I did it they seemed to like it. It was just the casting directors at the time, right? And then they said: "Ok, well, can you do it now but at the very end when you're looking at the dragon and the curse coming, look in this direction." Ok, ok, ok, you're just basically, make-believe, you know? I did that. And then, they went:

"Ahh! Ok, great. Do you mind waiting outside for a little bit?"

"Yeah sure, no problem."

I didn't know how long that was gonna be. But I was sitting there in I guess the hallway area where everybody else was waiting for various different auditions with other cast directors. And I'm sitting there, and sitting there, and sitting there and 20 minutes go by and, finally, they call me back in. And they had the director of the pilot and the producers of the series. They showed up, and they said:

"Can you do that again, you know, what you did?"

"Sure, sure."

So I did that, and then, the first time, he's like "Ah, ok." And then, I guess, Mark Mylod was the director and Steve Perlman was the producer at the time and Mark says in his British accent:

"Not that it could be done funny, but what would it look like if it was funny?"

I say: "Well, I think it could be done funny."

So I just did it bigger, and you know, like you kind of explode, right? And then, he kinda went "Hmm…" And that was that. I didn't know what that meant, it was my very first TV and film audition, so I don't know. I just leave it to the gods to decide what it is. But I remember that day I showed up, everything went wrong as far as an actor's concern: I didn't show up with my resume nor my headshot. So I came into it just knowing the address, where I had to be, what time and what the project was. But outside of that, I didn't bring all my little stuff. It was done, a week later they called me up, and I thought it was for a callback but, in actuality, it was for meeting the rest of my dwarfs. So I met Michael (editorial note: Happy) for the first time. I met Gabe (Sneezy) for the first time. And the only person I knew on the group was Mig Macario (Bashful). And I was told that Grumpy is an actor in LA. We didn't know who he was at the time. Ok, interesting. Ok, that sounds cool. And we just had a little meeting, and they had us on camera, and we're just saying hello to Grumpy. But he looked at me, and he said:

"Faustino, you stay quiet."

And I said, "Ok, I can be quiet."

I had no idea what that was about, right? But, it was interesting because we worked quite a bit together, me and Lee (Grumpy), so I guess there was a contrast they were looking at possibly, I don't know. And that was how I heard about it and how I got it.


Q: That's amazing, it's a really fun story. @tinyfaniston and @lpsteamhope asked similar questions about what your best memory on Once Upon a Time was.

A: Oh, there was so many, so many, so, so many. My funniest time was the wedding scene, that was amazing. Because you know, it's like a make-believe wedding, you're just drunk with joy, it was a lot of fun. Dancing is one thing, the movements help a lot. There's the, in the pilot, the first day working with Lee, that was an amazing time, you know? Working on this little stage they made like a tower and realizing what the whole green screen is and how it works, it's like wow, it's interesting. So this is how it's done. The thing was wobbly so much, it was moving, right? So you had the cameraman wearing his little harness, and he's coming with us. He's moving with us so that it doesn't get choppy. And then, they had that big camera that kinda swooped in, it was neat. There was a scene I remember doing with Josh and Ginny and all the rest of the dwarfs. And we're on a riverbank, and I remember there was a little deer that came into the picture while we were working. And it was so cool because it wasn't scared of us at all, just walked by while we were doing our scenes and filming and everything, and just looked over and kept going, you know? I think they showed it a little bit in the episode, just a quick little glimpse of it. Some people caught it, some people didn't, you know? I don't remember what season, probably three, season three or four. Wow! Just too many memories, a lot of memories, to give one, to give raise one more than the other would be kind of disingenuous because it was great all way through.


Q: Yeah and six seasons, that's a long time, so obviously there are many many scenes and everything so yeah. The next question, I actually really like that one, is by @bluedahliass. She asked: "What do you think Sleepy is doing now?" And especially with the whole like pandemic thing, even though I'm not sure Storybrooke is affected by the pandemic, but who knows?

A: What's Sleepy doing now? The character Sleepy right now?

Q: He's probably sleeping.

A: Yeah, I would think he's probably just sleeping in, you know? Because there's really not much for him to do. But then again, knowing how Sleepy is, I mean, he's always been like a hard-working guy that just, you know, gets tired lots. Probably doing something and falls asleep, you know? He does something again, works on his garden maybe and falls asleep. Yeah, I can speak for myself, I've been spending a lot of time in the garden just watching things grow, and you know, giving them a little TLC (Tender Loving Care). This year has been, I would say that we got everything that we harvested but, just it took longer than normal, that's all. It was just one of those, long, sweat springs and then when finally, when summer finally arrived, it was nice, you know? It was warm, it was hot, so yeah. I don't know how it was in your neck of woods, how it was in Paris.

Q: Well, we got some hot days, yeah!

A: Good!


Q: The next question is: "Is there anything you would have liked to add or change to Sleepy?" If you could be Adam and Eddy for a day, what would you do?

A: Just more, I enjoyed it so much, just a little bit more, you know? That's all. There's not much you can really add. I mean it was theirs to make, you know, and I was just there as a servant to work with them as far as getting this character, the best possible Sleepy I could put together, that's all, you know? It was fun, yeah.


Q: Yeah, I have two questions about fairytales. @bluedahliass asked what was your favourite fairy tale when you were a kid and @ajewishpirate wondered what fairy tale character you would have liked to play beside Sleepy.

A: Hm… My favourite fairy tale as a kid was Pinocchio. And then, growing up, to see the various Disney productions that came up, the Beauty and the Beast was my favourite, by far, right? It was, I guess, I was always a wrestler, always rough kind of guy, so it was always the story that the rough guys kinda take part in. It was an interesting dynamic so my favourite character, of course, on Once Upon a Time, was Rumple/Gold, you know? Bobby's work was excellent, just the whole character and the way he rolled it for him, it was amazing, amazing scenes.


Q: Yes, he's amazing. @fabinafan asked: "What made you want to become an actor, and what would you do if you weren't an actor?"

A: Well, What made me want to become an actor? I had no acting aspirations as a kid, which is the truth. Sure, I mean, I would sometimes fantasize on what would it be like? But it was never a thing. When I was a kid, I was extremely shy, in fact, bullied a lot when I was younger because I came to Canada. I didn't speak English, so I was speaking Italian and people made fun of me, you know? It was just a very troubled time, right? And that's when I got involved with combative sports like boxing, wrestling, that's when I kind of took care of my own things, you know? If somebody would bother me, I would let them know that I wasn't happy about that, in my way, which wasn't, I mean I don't ever advocate violence. I don't think it's the way. But that was what at the time something that was offered to me, and that's what I used. Time went on, I changed. So acting, I remember in, I got into a series of automobile accidents around 2000, something like that. And, I was doing yoga, to help with my body, getting back in shape and everything. And I didn't think I would ever do yoga at the time, because I was always more of a rough kind of guy, not the soft yoga kind of stuff. But anyway, I liked it and I liked what it did for me. And I remember there was a Swami that came into town, just after 9/11 and at the time, you needed to have your airplane tickets with your name spelt correctly on the tickets. And anyways, the travel agent spelt it wrong, and he couldn't fly so he was stuck in Vancouver, where I live. And I basically befriended him and took him out and sort of talk, and he invited me to come to his yoga retreat in India at Christmas time. And I thought: "Oh ok, maybe, we'll see." And at the time, the business I owned, I was steel mason by trade, right? I had a couple of jobs going, but it was very difficult collecting money at the time, so I was really kind of hot hit and miss as far as whether I could go on this trip or not. Well, long behold, I went to the doctor's office, I didn't come up in time, and it was just, when I was getting to my car, I looked at it, and there's a motorist, somebody gran under my car. A motorcycle hit my car, don't know why! But the insurance bought my car and then, that was the money that got me to India. From India, I remember one day, I was joking around with Swamis, and one of the Swami says:

"Are you an actor?"

I say: "No, I'm not an actor. What makes you think I'm an actor?"

"Well, he says, You're funny."

"Oh ok."

"So you should become an actor."

"No, I shouldn't become an actor. No, I don't like big crowds, and you know, no I'm very shy."

"Shy? He says, no, you're not shy. Look at you, you're talking and everything so you mustn't be shy."

And I say: "Well, I guess I'm not so much now, but normally I am."

Anyways, nothing came from it, a year went by and never thought of it again. And then, I went back to India, a second time, except this time it wasn't for yoga, it was for meditation. And one day, I was meditating, and this thought of me being an actor kept coming into my head, and it wouldn't leave me alone, which was really bothering me. Have you ever meditated?

Q: Yeah, I did, a little bit.

A: Ok, so this is kind of the meditation where you just try to you know, blank the mind, you know if there's a thought that comes by don't pay too much attention to it, let it be fluid, let it go and that stuff. I couldn't let it go, so what I did is that I looked at me straight in the eye, and, I said: "Ok." I've made a promise to myself at the time, I said: "Ok, I understand you, speaking to myself, of course, if ever acting is offered to me when I come back to Canada, I will say yes." That's all I said, it was a statement that I've made to myself, there was no voice added to it, it was just all in my head, but I did it. And then, when I did that statement, I had no clue what that meant, but I said it to myself. And then, went back to meditating and it was no big deal and forgot about it altogether, literally forgot altogether after that. I was like "Ok, great, that was good. I can get back to my meditation." And then, when I get back to Canada, I remember at the gym where I was training at, there was a girl that was an actress. And I said:

"So, you're a trainer, and what else do you do?"

And she says: "Well, I'm also an actress."

"So you're an actress! How does one become an actor?"

And she says: "Well, you could study, take classes."

"Oh, so there are classes!"

"Yes, of course!"

"Ok, so what school would you recommend?"

And so she recommends me a school in town, right? And, I went there, and I read for them, and got in and just started taking some, I guess, night classes, so to speak. And seeing studies and doing mice, doing the technique and eventually started making it more full time than part-time and still running my business at the time, right? So, I was doing that, and then, all of the sudden just gave up on acting altogether. And then I moved off and went on a travelling trip to Europe at the time and ended up living in the country of Moldova, travelling to my relatives in Italy and just having a great old time and just forgot about acting altogether again. And then, when I got back, that's when it all kinda started again. But anyway, that's how I got into acting, and, it wasn't just that alone, it was little things. When I came back to Canada, meeting a gentleman named Larry Moss, who again gave me some wonderful, positive feedbacks and, to keep me going, doing what I was doing at the time because I didn't know what that meant if I was ever gonna get a job or anything, right? But I kept going.


Q: That's great. The next question is by @hookersarmy: "What is the best advice you were ever been given?"

A: Hm…I'm gonna say it and then, I want people really to take it to heart. Never give up. Never give up, anytime you think that you're just not that person or that you're not good enough, stop yourself there and just put it in the opposite direction. Tell yourself that you are and then you will be if you're not. Yeah.


Q: Yes, that's good advice. It's already the last question. What would you like to say to the fans who have supported the show for so many years, even though it has ended for a couple of years, now? Yeah, what would you say to them, the fans?

A: Oh, it was the fans that were everything to me. Just every time we went to Stevenson (Storybrooke's shooting location) and just watching the crowds, you know? Sometimes it was just a few right? But, it got more and more and more and eventually, I remember, one time we were just, there were so many fans who were there. And it was during summertime, I think, yeah near august or something like that and we were in Stevenson at the time. We got to a point where it was so busy, we just finished wrapping. So Gabe, myself and Michael, we just sort of said: "Let's go, hang out with the fans out there, in the crowd." And we just said: "What's going on? What this is all about?" So we kind of went up with the fans, tap them on the shoulder because we were not in costumes at this point, and we were like:

"Hey, what's going on here?"

"Oh there's a show being shot here, Once Upon a Time."

"Oh a show, Once Upon a Time, interesting…And what was happening?"

And some of them caught us and were like "Oh my God!!!". They just get excited, just the excitement of the fans that would give us, the love...They're very special people, the show was very special. It touched most people's hearts, it touched my heart. The story was amazing. I remember reading the pilot when I first read it, and, I was just in tears in the end and was just like "Wow, this is powerful, this is really something." I've never seen anything like that before, right? So it was really great, and getting to meet the people that paid hommage to us, that watched it, and that was just enthralled by it. Thank you, cause that was it, that was the beauty of the show.


Q: Yeah, I agree, the show is really magical and unique, and it's very powerful. Well, I don't have any more questions for you, so thank you so much for your time and your great answers. I had a really, really great time and I hope you had too.

A: I did. Thank you, Lisa.

Q: Thank you so much, have a nice day!

Faustino Di Bauda's interview: Text
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