The name Donna Desideri translates from Italian into English this way:

Donna = Lady or Woman or Girl or Female

Desideri = Desires or Wishes or Wants

It’s a nice name. Melodic. Memorable. Harmonized. Difficult to pronounce? For some. But whitewashing? Never. All-American? Absolutely!

I’m revisiting my first headshot that, after my first mailing, landed me an Under 5 on ABC TV’s One Life to Live where I was given under five lines to speak when I showed up on set that morning. And because I had already joined AFTRA before even doing my mailing, the U/5 enabled me to join SAG and EQUITY once I hit my one-year AFTRA anniversary. This was one of the fastest ways into all the unions, and I was very fortunate to have things fall into place so easily for me. That luck continued with callbacks for Broadway and off-Broadway shows, in addition to on-camera and voice-over work in national commercials. As a young leading lady (I’m 26 in that photo), I was off to a good start.  

My new Real ID driver’s license photo was taken in black and white recently. Surprising, because I would have thought my coloring would have aided in providing a more accurate depiction of who I am for identification purposes. Yet the NYS Department of Motor Vehicles, which had been closed for an unusually long period of time during the pandemic, opted for black and white photographic images to best represent its applicants. This prompted me to look back at some of my old black and white photos and to return to a simpler time in my past. The pandemic has somehow inspired a sense of nostalgia in me.

In February of 2021, I received my master’s degree in liberal studies with a concentration in film studies from the CUNY Graduate Center where they have a terrific program. Previously, I earned my bachelor’s degree in music education and my bachelor’s degree in theatre from SUNY Fredonia. CUNY’s expanding film studies curriculum, however, allowed me to continue my pursuit of the arts, and I studied with some of the most talented and extraordinary professors in the country because the CUNY Graduate Center, with all it has to offer, attracts the best and the brightest. I highly regard the people and the work performed at the Graduate Center and hope to one day give back to CUNY.

But for now, I am figuring out what life will look like post-pandemic. And as a lifetime member of Mensa, how hard could that be to figure out?!!