Deborah Maxwell Dion is a force in the world of film and television with over 30 years of experience in the casting industry. Now, Dion is utilizing her knowledge of the industry as she shifts her career focus to teaching the next generation. “I have been teaching and coaching for a very long time, about 25 years, but just when I had time,” says Dion, now coaching actors 1-on-1 and in small groups at the Dion Acting Studio in LA full-time with her daughter and long-time collaborator, Hadley.
“My daughter, Hadley, has been teaching with me since she was twelve. She helped me form the kids’ class structure because I wanted a kid to do it. I needed to see it through the minds and the eyes of the kids – she changed everything. Now she is a co-owner of the business, and that’s the Dion Acting Studio,” says Deb. As they built their teaching style together over the years, Deb and Hadley Dion directed their first short film, Visiting Birdie, and began accumulating a roster of their own clients who sought coaching sessions. As Dion now transitions into a full-time coach alongside Hadley at the Dion Acting Studio, she remarks, “we’re still feeding and coaching our actors into film but we’re starting to do it in a different way.”
At the heart of her career is a love that Deb has carried with her through the years – the need for connection. She explains, “that is my joy, connecting actors with people who will elevate them and help them make their dreams come true. So I’m still doing a little bit of the same thing, but from a different point of view. And also feeding my own creative needs by directing, and working with clients so they can be at their best creatively.”
“This is my job,” Dion says, “to dig this out of actors, and find what’s there. Even with teaching, I still get to connect clients with agents or roles.”
Having worked on countless projects across her career, including films directed by Wes Anderson and Tim Burton, Dion has developed a set of standards higher than most. With a passion for sharing her knowledge with the upcoming actors in today’s industry pool, Dion has worked at training facilities across the country, and has been a long-time collaborator with Actors Training Center, offering a rigorous and realistic look through the ins and outs of the casting process for high-profile projects. Dion has a keen eye for talent, noting, “even at ATC, I have recommended actors to agents in LA.”
Dion takes pride in valuing actors as more than a commodity of the industry, but as artists and individuals. “My passion is working with the actor, helping the actor,” she says. Those values extend to her business practice, even if it threatens the bottom line. Dion says, “We only take clients by referral. It’s to keep our actors safe and non-competitive. Those who come in with an energy that is judgy or an attitude that does not embrace the community, they don’t get a second invitation. In lean times it’s almost killed us, but I’d rather have this beautiful community of actors who support one another than getting people in the door.”
In a world where the idea of community is dwindling, Dion shines a light on the importance of lifting one another up, even in hard times. She remarks, “In this industry, there is this pervasive feeling that there’s not enough for everybody, and that’s not true. We need to help each other and connect together for the good of all of us – to recommend each other. Having a community is what it’s all about, and that’s how we all switch roles in the industry.”
Dion remembers a time when she was a struggling actor herself, when suddenly a colleague pulled her into the casting industry. At the time, it seemed like any other steady gig, but became a life-long love affair with the industry. She says, “as soon as I had the idea to get into casting, it was seamless. Then, that turned into a love and joy I found in teaching, and in learning how to teach.”
The decision to devote her time to teaching over being in the casting room was not an easy one for Dion, but one large factor contributed to her choice – the Covid-19 pandemic. “In the casting industry, things changed so much,” she says, “Suddenly everything shifted to self-tapes. Watching tapes from 8 in the morning to 8 at night, I was thinking: I can’t do this anymore. Once the pandemic was over, the industry stayed with self-tapes and Zooms, and it’s not what I wanted to do. And I lost my passion.”
“I’m still casting, in a way,” Dion remarks, having continued to connect actors with projects for the last several years, despite the gradual change in title. The industry had changed, and so had her passion, reflecting, “I was just ready to do things differently. A lot of it is because the state of casting is different. Casting is not the same as when I started, and the changes are not ones I love. I respect those who have been able to change with the business and who love the way it works now, but it doesn’t fulfill me like it used to.”
“All I’m doing is adjusting so I can still be in the room with the actor, and that’s what I was doing in the beginning with casting,” Dion adds, feeling the full-circle moment in her career come to fruition as she focuses her energy on training today’s top talent. She keeps her community tight, warning, “Don’t come to us because we work in casting. Yes, we have that background, we know what casting wants, and we’re well-educated as casting directors. But if you go in for connections, you’re not going in to learn what I know. I just want you to come in with the openness to learn, and to let me and Hadley take your creativity to the next level.”
For Deborah Dion, the biggest change of late has been in perspective. Continuing to find herself in similar circles as the beginning of her career, now with the ability to see the industry from nearly every angle, Dion cannot help but reflect on the connections she has made and maintained. Working with her daughter since Hadley was twelve and seeing her blossom into a co-owner for the Dion Acting Studio has also affected the way Deb sees her own growth, and the two continue to feed each other’s creativity and drive. Dion remarks, “It has been a beautiful journey so far, and that’s all I ever wanted.”
