Dara Woo Opens Career with Smash Broadway Hit

(Photo credit: Michaelah Reynolds)

By Colleen Bement, Editor

Code in the morning, audition at night. How Dara Woo made it to Broadway

Fresh off her Broadway premiere, Dara Woo is proving that it’s never too late — or too unconventional — to follow your passion. Originally from Cupertino, California, Woo is making waves with her breakout role in the Broadway production The Picture of Dorian Gray, starring Succession’s Sarah Snook. Before stepping into the spotlight full-time, she was leading major tech initiatives at Lyft, where she helped build a platform now used by over 200,000 drivers across the country. Woo quietly nurtured her love for acting while climbing the ranks in Silicon Valley. Her path has taken her from the sets of Blue Bloods and Sins of the Bride to the iconic Broadway stage! She is passionate about uplifting Asian American voices and portraying strong, complicated women who don’t fit the mold. Nerd Alert News was lucky to catch up with Woo just one day after the closing of Dorian Gray to get to know this amazing talent.

Colleen Bement: I can’t wait to hear all about your Broadway show, “The Picture of Dorian Gray.” Congratulations! We have to start out with that!

Dara Woo: It was such a unique experience. I had such a great time. I was thrown into the deep end. Even with TV and film, I’d never been on a set for 5 months, and that’s what this was. It was literally like 6 days a week, 12 hours a day for 5 months. It was so intense. I was so fortunate that my first time on Broadway was honestly in a role where I didn’t have lines, because I felt like I was able to really enjoy the experience and get to take in what it was like working with Sarah (Snook) and witnessing her amazing talent every night. And learning what it’s like to do 111 shows. Learning what it’s like to do 8 shows a week.That was a really steep learning curve for me. It was very physical. I left exhausted but inspired at the end of every day. It was literally a dream come true. Especially because while I don’t have the most theater experience, I am a HUGE theater-musical theater nerd, so this was so surreal for me. 

CB: It must have been exhausting. You sound so refreshed, but you must be so tired.

DW: You know, my body was definitely breaking down the last week of the show. I feel like everybody in the show, like the body, was finally able to relax. It’s sort of like when you do finals for school, you get sick right after. Hopefully, I don’t get sick this week. My back hurts. My knees hurt. My neck hurts. I’m excited to get some relaxation in.

DW: I got an air mattress and put it in my dressing room with a pillow and a sleeping bag, because it was getting to the point where I wasn’t horizontal in the dark for like 10 minutes, I was literally going to cry. I needed some introvert-like recharge time on this air mattress.

CB: Oh my gosh, that sounds intense. Maybe that could be a good tip for other people doing shows like that.

DW: I would definitely recommend it.

CB: What was it like to be on Broadway? I mean, you started out ON BROADWAY!

DW: I guess there were multiple feelings in terms of like stages. When I first got the role, I was so shocked, I didn’t tell anyone because it felt like a prank that was going to be pulled out from underneath me. I didn’t even tell my job until the day I had started because I needed to get into that rehearsal space and make sure this was legit before I quit my job at the time. It felt like such a wild dream. It’s sort of like dreaming of becoming the next president. It was such a crazy dream, like, you don’t even dream like that! It felt really surreal. I did not believe it. I think when I first got there I was very nervous because I had to learn basically 2 hours of very fast, very specific, very technical blocking. As an actor I am used to walking across the stage, saying the line, grabbing a cup, drinking from it, and then saying another line. This was literally 2 hours straight of choreography. It felt like a ballet dance more than anything else. I was nervous because I’ve never done 2 hours of choreography before. I think things got real, honestly, on opening night. That was probably the best night of my life, where it was like OH MY GOSH, I’ve achieved this amazing dream. I was crying, I was celebrating, I bought a champagne bottle. It was really fun. 

CB: Can I ask about that absolutely gorgeous gold flower dress that you wore for the opening of “The Picture of Dorian Gray?” Tell me about the inspiration behind it and who designed it.

DW: That was the heaviest dress I’ve ever even held in my entire life. I literally picked it up and holy cow, how am I going to wear this? It’s literally pure jewels. It’s extremely heavy and extremely delicate. I was very nervous about wearing it. It felt like the perfect thing to wear. It took me a month to find it. The creative team of Dorian Gray–Sarah, but also Kip Williams, Tait, a lot of the creative team came from Australia. The show originated in Australia, and so it’s an Australian designer named Rachel Gilbert. I actually bought three other dresses for opening night. I was like, I don’t know if I’ll ever get another opening night again. I want to go all out! I bought all these dresses, and I found this dress literally last-minute, and I was like oh, I think this is going to be it. I wanted it to be floral but also felt very sheek and extravagant and over the top in a way that Oscar Wilde would have enjoyed. I was really happy, and it took me three months to buy the dress.

CB: Switching gears, you started out as a Silicon Valley girl and worked as a Software Engineer. So obviously you’re brilliant…and creative, so what was it like becoming an actor and giving up something more secure?

DW: I’m very lucky because I had a really great 9-5. I was working West Coast hours while living in New York City. I could audition in the morning, audition at night, and code during the day. I didn’t quit this job until I had booked Broadway. By the time I had quit, I had known that it was already a success on the West End. I knew that Sarah had already won an Olivier Award and I knew it was going to be a success. Honestly, it wasn’t scary because I was so excited to be a part of this team. I will say, now it’s getting to the point that now I’m a little bit curious to see what’s going to happen next. I don’t have an acting or tech job lined up as of right now. The show ended a day ago. I’ll be curious to see where I end up navigating to.

CB: Do you want to navigate to film and television or stay on the stage?

DW: I have a new-found love for the stage, so I think acting, and I don’t care what the medium is, would be amazing.  TV and film is where I started, so I would probably lean toward that direction, but New York has a really great theater scene, and I would love to continue building upon the skills that I learned at Dorian.

CB: I’m sure plenty of opportunities will come your way, but now it’s all about re-cooperating and relaxing. 

CB: I read that you’re a 3rd generation Japanese/Chinese American. I’ve been kind of obsessed with Japanese culture since I was a little kid. Have you visited often and do you have a favorite part of visiting the country?

DW: I’ve been to Japan twice. In 2017 and 2023. That was interesting because the first time I went was during the Cherry Blossom season during the spring. The second time was in the middle of winter. The second time I went was incredible because there were no tourists there. So you really can just immerse yourself in the culture. Getting to be around people who don’t speak English, versus when I went during Cherry Blossom season. That was peak tourism. I actually ran into some family friends of ours. It’s a lot more crowded. Super hot and humid. In terms of things to do, this is going to sound so bad, but the first thing that came to me was 7-11. I watch all those 7-11 eating videos in Japan, because all the food there is like one dollar and you can get all my favorite foods like Nigri and it’s all high quality. In New York City in the middle of work, people go to Chipotle, Cava, fast bowl spots, but over there, the quality is very, very high. Everything’s made fresh every day.

CB: One more random question, I’m asking for selfish reasons, if you’re having a tough day, what inspires you and picks you back up?

DW: Great question. I think something that has been difficult for me with acting. Some people are perfectionists. Some people get really nervous. Some are overthinkers. I’m have the opposite issue where I’m just so action-oriented and that’s almost a problem because I don’t double-think anything. I have an idea, and I do it right then and there. I know that the number one advice people always give actors is to create things yourself, so that could be short films. For me, I did TikTok, which ended up being really great because basically what had happened was when I first started my career, my friends don’t even know I’m an actor, and if they do, they’ve never even seen me act. How is Christopher Nolan going to know I’m an actor if even my closest friends haven’t seen me act or know I’m an actor. So, I started self-creating acting scenes on TikTok, and a lot of them went viral and I garnered multiple millions of views. I feel like that was great because anything you can do to help yourself feel proactive is going to give yourself some feelings of having control over something. I think making sure that you have a life outside of acting and stay proactive within acting such that you’re not letting years pass you by. That’s going to be important for any aspiring artist. 

CB: What’s next for you?

DW: In terms of my next steps, I’m looking forward to doing next, I would like to be doing roles that portray strong female characters and strong Asian American characters. I feel like Hollywood is trending in a better direction in terms of having more diversity on the screen. I’d like to take that even further. Not play into any offensive stereotypes or not play women that I don’t meet in real life. Really dive deep into a script and portray a female character I feel I’m rooting for is what I’m looking forward to.

CB: Well thank you very much for taking the time out, and I wish you all the best in your future!

Keep up with Dara Woo on her Instagram and website

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