Damien DeShaun Smith found the stage before he found much else. He was the kid soloing in church choir before he could really carry a tune on purpose, and by elementary school he’d landed his first role — Baby Bear in a school production of The Trial of Goldilocks — a star turn he still considers his toughest critics’ notice, being judged by an audience of second graders. Talent shows came next, where he built a reputation doing his best (and most sincere) Michael Jackson, moonwalk included, ironic distance nowhere in sight.

That early, unshakeable pull toward performing led him to Virginia’s Governor’s School for the Arts — the training ground behind no small number of working Broadway actors — where he sharpened raw instinct into real craft, before heading off for his formal training.

What started as a kid who couldn’t stay off a stage has become an actor built for the road and the room: international and national tours, New York houses, and television and film work that trades on the same thing that got him cast as Baby Bear — total commitment to whoever he’s playing.