Halloween is coming early this year, at least for one Detroit actress who’s taking her first stab at horror in a new film fittingly set to hit the Emagine Rochester Hills theater on Friday the 13th.
In the horror-comedy “Crust,” Shawntay Dalon plays Lindsey Haim, an over-the-top talent agent who exploits her client, Vegas (Sean Whalen), a depressed and often-bullied former child actor now managing a run-down laundromat. One night, his collection of laundry socks magically comes to life and exacts revenge on Vegas’ tormentors.
The film was written and directed by Whalen, known for various TV and film roles, including the character Roach in Wes Craven’s 1991 horror film “The People Under the Stairs” and starring in the first “Got Milk?” commercial in 1993.
Dalon – known for her pure comedy roles (e.g. Chrissy Cramblin in Comedy Central’s “Detroiters”) – wonders how fans will react to her veering into uncharted, spooky territory.
“I’ve never done anything like this, so people haven’t seen me in this light as a character,” Dalon told BridgeDetroit. “I like trying things that are different, within reason, because to grow as a performer, I need to take chances.”
From the leap of faith that landed her in Los Angeles to pursue an acting career more than a decade ago to the decision to build her own production company right here at home, Dalon has shown that she is no stranger to taking chances.
From the backyard to the big screen
Dalon grew up on the east side of Detroit, off Mack Ave. and Conner Street. She, along with her twin sister, JaNay Rahaman, is the youngest of nine children, though Dalon is quick to joke that she is technically two minutes older than JaNay.
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Her mom, Annie Marie, was a stay-at-home wife and mother, and, at one point, worked at a church daycare around the corner from their home. Her father, Elijah, an assembly line worker for Chrysler, moved to the city from Mississippi during the Great Migration and was retired when Dalon was born. The family lived off his pension.
At George S. Hosmer Elementary, Dalon and Rahaman joined the drama club. Their teacher, Ms. Dzodian, took the club on tour to schools across metro Detroit where members performed Virginia Hamilton’s “The People Could Fly: American Black Folktales.”
“That’s when I first saw that spark in Shawntay,” Dalon’s sister, Rahaman, said. “She was dope, and you could just tell she was going to be something special.”
At home, Dalon and Rahaman formed “The Skating Party Club,” with their siblings. They produced backyard shows for neighbors, performing musicals, skits, and plays – all while rolling on skates.
Seeing the profit potential, they turned those shows into a family enterprise, setting admission prices; a quarter for kids and $1 for adults.
“We had a broken-down car in the backyard, and that was like a seating area – kids were sitting on top of the car watching us perform,” Dalon remembers. “My mama would be selling pops and dinners. She created a sign and everything. She made it look professional.”
Though Dalon didn’t realize it then, the cash they collected helped cover bills and groceries. Those backyard performances also prepped her for the Detroit School of Arts, where she studied before graduating from Finney High School.
She enrolled at Wayne State University to study speech communications and theater. But around 2009, before completing her program, Dalon opted to pack her bags and move to Los Angeles – one of the first big chances she took on herself.
“I stay prayed up,” Dalon said.
She grew up Christian, but her relationship with Christ strengthened after her 16th birthday, during a time when she was depressed and unhappy. Her mom and older sister, Kajuana, invited her to church.
“During a rough time in my life, I began to seek God,” Dalon said. “I continue to see how simply incredible God is. Even when I don’t understand, I have peace.”
In Los Angeles, Dalon leaned heavily on her faith, even when she struggled to land gigs and had to scrape up just enough coins to use the public transit.
She tried to brand herself as a “dramatic actress,” someone who could make tears fall from her eyes on command like two running faucets. Comedy was the furthest thing from her mind. That’s until 2015 when she volunteered at the Pan African Film Festival in Baldwin Hills, where she received life-changing advice from Denzel Washington.
Dalon and the other volunteers were instructed not to mingle with or try to pitch themselves to Washington, one of the festival’s marquee guests. Then one day the volunteer supervisor, who recognized that Dalon was always the first to show up for work and the last to leave, needed someone to escort Washington to the green room.
“I was like, ‘Oh my gosh,’” Dalon said. “So, I take Mr. Washington to the green room, and I’m just standing there quiet, not saying nothing, and Mr. Washington was like, ‘Don’t you talk?’”
From there, a natural conversation developed.
Washington joked about her being from the east side of Detroit. Her quip back made him laugh and ask if she did comedy. Dalon dropped the “dramatic actress” line on him.
“What is that?” Washington asked.
Dalon didn’t have an answer.
“And it was the way he asked it. It was like how a father or big brother would ask,” Dalon recalled. “Then, he said, ‘Don’t put yourself in a box. You made me laugh.’”
With that, Dalon enrolled in comedy acting classes, and she credits those classes – and Washington’s advice – for helping her land the role of Chrissy, an automotive assembly worker on the sitcom “Detroiters,” which aired on Comedy Central for two seasons from 2017-2018.
The cherry on top for Dalon was that, unlike several shows set in the Motor City, “Detroiters” was actually filmed in Detroit. Dalon enjoyed the luxury of driving to the set from her Midtown home.
What was not lost on her was the connection between her first big role and her father, who died at 82 in 2010 before she booked “Detroiters.”
“During the “Lois” episode (Season 2, Episode 7), we filmed at Chrissy’s job, and I kept thinking of my dad and his stories of working in the plant,” Dalon said.
While working on “Detroiters,” she was also the primary caregiver for her mother, who became ill and suffered from dementia. Her mom died during the summer of 2016. Just months later, Dalon was tapped to audition for the role of Averie in the Detroit Public Theatre’s stage production of Colman Domingo’s “Dot,” a play about adult children caring for their mother who suffers from dementia.
The role hit too close to home for Dalon. She intentionally missed her first audition but rescheduled and landed the role. During production, her performance was too much for her twin sister to watch; Rahaman excused herself from the theatre mid-show.
“I don’t know how she did it,” Rahaman said. “After what we just lived through with our mom, and for her to go up on stage and play the daughter of a woman with dementia. That just goes to show you the talent that’s within her.”
Then there were professional disappointments. She auditioned for but didn’t land roles in the legal-drama series “Reasonable Doubt,” and “Beverly Hills Cop IV.”
“I really wanted that one,” Dalon said of the most recent installment of the popular cop action-comedy franchise starring Eddie Murphy.
“I try not to get connected to a role until I get it, but sometimes when it’s connected to Detroit, I’m like ‘I want it.’ Sometimes we’re just not right for the part. But Eddie Murphy told me I did a great job,” she said.
Lindsey Haim, on the other hand, is a role Dalon was handpicked to play.
Dalon and Whalen met on the set of the feature film “Finding Nicole.” They played opposing courtroom lawyers in the film shot in metro Detroit and bonded over their shared passion for acting and filmmaking.
Whalen wrote “Crust” to help him deal with depression triggered by a divorce. He originally thought of the concept for a sock monster movie about 10 years ago when he half-jokingly pitched it to a friend.
“Then when I was depressed, people were like, ‘Oh, you should have gotten a pet.’ And I go, ‘It would be fun to have a pet that got rid of all my enemies.’ I laughed, and then I thought, ‘Oh, that’s the sock monster movie right there.’”
Whalen said he likes to have fun with actors by forcing them to play roles they don’t normally play and thought Dalon as Lindsey Haim would be the perfect casting.
Because the movie was shot on a small budget, the absence of a make-up and wardrobe department gave Dalon the freedom to make the role her own and do what she’s always been doing – take chances.
“She would send me hairstyles she thought would be good for the part, and they were always right on point,” Whalen said. “And on the day of shooting, she came up with fashion choices and accessory choices that were just hysterical. She just nailed it.”
“Crust” was filmed in Los Angeles last spring right before the Hollywood actors and writers went on strike. It is set for a limited release in select theaters across the U.S. Whalen said the movie will eventually find its way to a free streaming service.
Building an empire in Detroit
Dalon continues to plant her foot in Hollywood while watering her roots back home in Detroit.
In addition to starring in the Detroit Public Theatre’s production of ‘Dot,’ she played Shanita in the company’s production of Dominique Morisseau’s “Skeleton Crew.”
Dalon teaches acting classes in Detroit and in 2010 she founded CalienTay Productions to produce projects with an all-Detroit cast and crew. The next movie slated for release under the production company is “Depart From It,” a drama-suspense Dalon wrote, directed and starred in.
The movie, inspired by the Bible scripture Proverbs 22:6, tells the story of a church woman who returns home to Detroit for a funeral and becomes tempted to seek revenge on those who have wronged her.
Two people in Los Angeles were prepared to cover the film’s entire budget, under the condition she shoot the film there. Dalon declined, doing so would’ve gone against her mission statement, she said.
Instead, she raised money for the film through a GoFundMe campaign. Initially, crowdsourcing was a route she was hesitant to take.
“I’m like, ‘Please do not send me any money,’” Dalon said. “I’m not about to be one of those people where people talking about, ‘Shawntay’s online stealing people’s money.’”
So far, she has raised just short of $37,000. That was enough to shoot the film (production wrapped in August), but Dalon needs more funding to cover post-production costs, marketing rollout and film festival submission fees.
She is partnering with Taylor-based insurance agent Ty Metzger, who has invested about $9,000 into the film. As an investor, Metzger will earn a percentage on the backend, but he said it’s not just about the money.
“I could buy stocks, but I feel like when you invest in a movie, you’re putting something into something that can really help people in a real way,” Metzger said. “I’m talking about putting actors to work, crew members to work, Shawntay to work.”
To help Dalon further cut costs, Metzger offered his home as a filming site during production and as a venue for the wrap party. He’s planning to invest in the next two CalienTay Productions as well.
Dalon is exploring distribution options to release “Depart From It” next year and has gotten Detroit gospel musicians Marcus Cole, Keith Staten, and Grammy Award winner Fred Hammond to sign on to compose the movie’s soundtrack. It’s all part of her agenda to showcase Detroit talent and unity across all film production departments.
“And that was the conversation I was having with one of the investors in LA. This man’s thing was Detroit was just bad Tubi movies. And I said, ‘That is an absolute lie,’” she said. “ “There are some amazing movies on Tubi from great filmmakers from Detroit.”