Shayne Davis talks ‘Vanderpump Rules,’ vertical dramas, and the digital age

Shayne Davis. Photo Credit: Paul Smith.

Actor Shayne Davis chatted about his career in the entertainment industry, which includes “Vanderpump Rules” and vertical dramas, as well as being a part of the digital age.

“The important thing in life is not victory but combat; it is not to have vanquished but to have fought well,” said Pierre de Coubertin, French Educator who was primarily responsible for the revival of the Olympic Games in 1894. This quote applies to actor Shayne Davis.

‘Vanderpump Rules’

On his experience being a part of the American reality TV series “Vanderpump Rules,” he remarked, “It has been a great experience. I started on there because I was really good friends with Marcus [Johnson] and I hung in the area through a bunch of 12-step meetings that I would go to because I’m sober, and I would pop in and out every here and there, and they asked me to be a part of the filming process.”

“As a result, I have made a lot of new friends,” he noted. “I would say maintaining my best behavior was much more difficult, but we survived and we had a lot of fun in the process.”

Vertical dramas

On being a part of vertical dramas, Davis stated, “In today’s world, a vertical drama is a modern soap. If you are a vertical actor, you take on many different stories in a year. We film those so quick!”

“My experience doing vertical dramas has been great,” he admitted. “It’s a lot more work than reality TV and any film sets that I’ve been on. It doesn’t have the same glam to it. There are no trailers… We shoot the scenes fast, we get on the make-up chair and we learn our lines there.”

“Once you’re out of the chair, you’re on set, we finish that scene, we learn our lines while they’re doing another camera setup,” he added.

Future goals: To merge both worlds together (reality TV and verticals)

Regarding his future goals, he shared, “One of my goals is that I’m trying to merge the two worlds of verticals and reality TV together,” he said.

“The reality world doesn’t know me as an actor, while the acting world doesn’t know me as a reality personality. They are two completely different worlds,” he admitted.

The digital age

On being a part of the digital age, at a time when streaming, technology, and social media are so prevalent, he said, “I feel that with the digital world, you need to have boundaries, or at least I need to.”

“I feel like there are a lot of conveniences that come with the digital age such as we can do an interview right now via Zoom so that’s super cool,” he noted. “Also, even though you are a content creator, you don’t even realize that you’re a consumer.”

“On the other hand, I think there’s certain traps in that world, like compare and despair. So, it’s easy to go down the rabbit hole of wanting to get more followers and likes, and just wanting more, more and more,” he elaborated.

“I think it’s a very new landscape,” he said. “I think for me, especially, I didn’t really start getting into socials until a few months ago where I started posting (5:09) regularly.”

“Once it got a bit much for me, I decided to take a breather where I would go and live some life, and touch some grass,” he added.

Mental health in the digital age

On the importance of mental health in the digital age, Davis said, “It takes a lot to keep me on the straight and narrow as far as my mental health is concerned. The base of my mental health is sobriety. So that’s key, without that, the rest of my life falls apart fast.”

“In regard to the digital age, I think to have boundaries around my socials, such as the amount of time I’m allowed to spend on them, and I try not to do any comparing at all,” he explained.

“I’m trying not to be too big of a consumer either,” he said. “As content creators, we sometimes get confused because we’re just creating but we are actually still consumers of validation.”

“If you are not careful, you can easily become addicted to validation,” he said. “I’ve fallen into that trap a few times.”

“I think it’s important to stay authentic to yourself. That is key,” he underscored.

“I would talk a little bit about my sobriety journey on social media, and I think that’s when I’m staying in the lane of things that I know about, and I feel good about posting,” he elaborated.

Future plans

On his future plans, he shared, “My future is up in the air. I would like to dig a little bit more into scripted TV and film while maintaining my vertical space and while also maintaining that space in the reality TV world as a personality because I do think I have a big personality for that space.”

“So, I just want to do it all,” he said. “I would also love screenwriting. I have a bunch of scripts that I’ve written, and I’m really hoping to get those in production within the next year or two.”

Stage of his life

On the title of the current chapter of his life, he said with a sweet laugh, “To Be Determined…”

Superpower of choice

If he were to have any superpower, it would be to “fly.” “Also, Professor X in ‘The X-Men’ is able to essentially control minds and I think that’s impressive.”

Success

On his definition of the word success, Davis said, “Living in alignment, for me, is success.”

“I think sometimes when you’re doing a lot of things like I’m doing right now such as reality TV and also trying to be an actor, sometimes you fall off of alignment and start worrying more about what is most successful,” he elaborated.

“So, I want to stay more in alignment,” he acknowledged.

Message for his fans

For his dedicated vertical fans, he expressed, “I am so grateful for my fans! Right now, my fan-base is most vertical projects and they are really good fans. A lot of them have built a sisterhood. I love to see the community that they’ve built around while they are enjoying the vertical that I am a part of.”

“I hope that my new projects allow the fans a moment to breathe and not focus on life’s challenges or difficulties. I want them to escape for a little bit. Perhaps they might get some messages from the films too but I hope they at least escape,” he elaborated.

“If they can also truly identify and have a space where they can let their emotions out safety, I would hope that they could have that as well,” he concluded.

To learn more about actor Shayne Davis, follow him on Instagram and visit his Linktree page.