David R. Kuong: Becoming The Real D.K.

In the fall of 2009, I officially decided that I wanted to pursue a career in photography. During that time, I was also a student at the Community College of Philadelphia, where I declared photography as my major. While diligently attending classes, I often surrounded myself with positive and supportive like-minded individuals. I met one fellow in particular, who truly inspired me through his pure passion and ambition to follow his dream of becoming a professional stage actor. He was my colleague, and is still a great friend of mine till this day – recently, I was given the opportunity to photograph and interview him – His name is David Kuong, and this is his story:

For as long as David could remember, he was always the “quiet kid” – the one who stayed to himself and didn’t really say much at all – also known as an introvert. Due to his shy nature, starting school was quite the challenge for him. At only 8 years old in the 3rd grade, David dealt with the constant pressure of being bullied by his peers. In fact, it escalated to the point that David’s uncle decided to take matters into his own hands, and get him the help that he felt was needed. Despite how drastic it might have been, he took him to a friend’s house to train in his personal gym, where David learned self-defense. From weight training to executing pushups and pullups, David’s uncle wanted to do everything in his power to help him build up his confidence. He even enrolled David into Kenpo martial arts classes at the Amerikick Karate studio in South Philadelphia. After enduring such vigorous training at a young age, David still continued to exude his introverted personality. However, over time, his self-esteem and confidence noticeably progressed, and in return, changed his life for the better. As David moved on to middle school and high school, he really began to focus on the things that mattered to him most, one of them being, his love for art – specifically, drawing – which he initially developed at 5 years old. Creating art not only gave him an outlet to express himself freely, but it also helped him discover a different part of himself that he never knew existed.

After graduating from high school, David took his love for art to the next level, applying to the Community College of Philadelphia in the fall of 2009, where art would become his major. At this time, he already had in his mind that he wanted to be a graphic designer. But as the school semester went on, something new piqued his interest. In the process of trying to find an elective to take as a requirement for his major, David’s curiosity led him to take a course called Acting I. Prior to this, he never had any interest in acting, let alone, being front and center on someone’s stage. Never in David’s wildest dreams he even imagined that he would pursue a career in acting, or that he would be capable of accomplishing anything close to it. Yet, there was a small part of him that wanted to break out of his secluded bubble that he lived in for so long (regardless of the progress he made thus far). Furthermore, he wanted to find other ways to express himself outside of his artwork, longing to have more of a voice for himself.

On the first day of Acting I, David met his professor, Peggy Mecham. In her course, he was given an introduction to the world of theatre: learning the industry’s language, creating stage scenes and characters, practicing monologue and improvisational performance, and more. When it came time for David to perform his first monologue in front of his class, he immediately gravitated towards acting as if it was love at first sight, which caused him to change his major to theatre without any hesitation. From that day forward, he never looked back. For David, acting was therapeutic. It allowed him to release any emotions that he had bottled up inside, and manifest them through the various characters and roles that he portrayed on stage (it was almost like he could be anybody that he wanted to be). Because of this, David became more in tune with himself, giving him a greater sense of security, which made him feel good inside and out. Nonetheless, having successfully completed his first in-person monologue, David proceeded to set himself on the path to becoming a professional stage actor. He practiced day in and day out, perfecting his craft, meanwhile studying and working hard to achieve the goals that he put in place for himself. David even took things a step further and incorporated his past fitness training into his regime, in order to maintain his physique and confidence that complimented his acting so well; not to mention, obtaining his certification in longsword stage combat. All the way up until the last year of his college education, David went above and beyond his determination to be the best that he could be in his field. And with everything that he chose to involve himself in, he always had Professor Mecham in his corner, who consistently encouraged him and never stopped believing in his talents and abilities.

In 2013, David finally graduated from the Community College of Philadelphia with his Associate of Arts degree in theatre. As of today, his on-going passion for acting pushed him to launch an independent theatre company called Once More Theatre Co., alongside his business partner and now longtime friend, Peggy Mecham. Through their company, David and Mecham have written, produced and directed several live stage plays and showcased them at the Plays and Players Theatre located at 1714 Delancey Street near Rittenhouse Square.

As David continues to venture out on his own to further advance his career as an actor, he someday hopes to see himself on film and also expand his theatre company. With that in mind, he wants everyone to know that:

“As far as acting goes, people tend to fear memorizing lines the most. I’ll tell you, that is the least of your concerns, because you can say your lines word-for-word, from beginning to end, but will you perform it convincingly? Instead, have your character be genuine, and not just a person reading from a script.”