Daniel Gillies to take a metaphorical walk through fire in Africa (photo Rogue Magazine)
“What matters most is how well you walk through the fire.” — Charles Bukowski, prolific underground writer
Many of the Hollywood actors I interview are genuinely grateful for the blessing of a regular television job that lasts for several years. But Daniel Gillies, who plays Elijah on both the Vampire Diaries and its spin-off series The Originals (from 2010-2017 and counting), is not only grateful but is selflessly using his own voice to make us aware of a massive humanitarian catastrophe. One that a recent Washington Post headline exclaimed: “No one is paying attention to the worst humanitarian crisis since World War II.”
Shaken by the hunger crisis in East Africa and the civil war in the South Sudan, resulting in the external displacement of more than two million people, Gillies is personally going to visit refugee settlements in Uganda largely populated with South Sudanese refugees:
In mid-July, I’ll be posting videos and content every day on both Twitter and Instagram. I’ll also be using Facebook Live, an amazing social media tool to which I’m rather new. My fellow Originals’ castmate, Joseph Morgan, and I used it for our show and generated millions of views, by simply activating a cellphone app. So, yeah, while in Uganda, I’ll be using everything I can. We have to be as VOCAL as we can about this issue. At the top of our lungs if we have to...
And it’s not as if Gillies, 41, who’s Canadian-born and New Zealand-raised, doesn’t have enough on his plate. The Originals has just finished its fourth season, during which Daniel directed an episode “Phantomesque” (aired June 02). After filming a small role earlier this year in the Navy Seal pilot Seal Team (airing soon on CBS), Daniel then went to Vancouver, Canada in June to film the Lifetime movie, The Lost Wife of Robert Durst, in which Daniel plays the challenging role of Durst, himself. Immediately following this, Daniel flew across to Paris to appear in a fan convention, all the while tending to his young family. He and his wife, actress Rachael Leigh Cook, have a 2 and 3 year-old son and daughter, respectively.
Now he’s preparing to travel with Oxfam, the wonderful international humanitarian organization, to visit these refugee settlements in Uganda and shine a light on the massive ongoing tragedy:
I started reading about the civil war in South Sudan several months ago. This is now Africa’s largest refugee crisis — almost four million people have been forced from their homes and just less than half of that are now refugees in neighboring countries. Many are heading to Uganda, which is one of the reasons why I wanted to go there. Honestly I feel so privileged to live where we do in the States, but I also felt so helpless. Eventually, I started to get angry. I mean, there’s a type of manic distraction in our popular culture — whether it’s a Kardashian wardrobe mishap, a Trump mis-Tweet, or yet another tragic mass shooting in a club or school. The world seems so filled with violations right now, it’s almost impossible to focus on any one thing or catastrophe. And I say this without a trace of hyperbole, we’re facing one of the greatest humanitarian crises the world has ever seen in Africa. Millions of disenfranchised civilians have had to flee their homes and farms — in South Sudan, Yemen, Somalia and Nigeria. It’s as if, almost by our ignorance or distraction, we’re a silent partner in this tragedy. I had to do something.
Uganda’s National Flag
Working with Oxfam and a film crew, Gillies plans to visit the settlements in Uganda to create as much conversation as possible about what’s happening and how people are surviving day to day. He just wants to help these people have a voice::
Because I’m on a show with an ardent fan base and lovely supporters, I felt like ‘Why don’t I use that to springboard this information into the world?’ And, at least I’d be doing something. You know what else, mate... it’s also about having two young children. I want them to know that their father gave a shit, because this will be their world, and we should be fighting for it. And I do feel with great conviction, that if we allow this situation to continue with the same state of ignorance, my children will be asking, ‘Daddy, what did you do when this terrible thing took place?’ So yes, I’m going to scream this from the rooftops, I’m going to make a big sound, hopefully with as many supporters as I can drag along with me... for as long as we can. Maybe only a handful of people will truly listen. But we can’t ignore this issue any longer. This crisis is upon us. It’s up to us to make a sound and shine a light.
Cheers to Gillies’s effort and his own metaphorical walk through fire.
Мое отношение к этому весьма скептическое. Есть у меня знакомый, который работает в африканских странах в нефтяной сфере. И он говорит, что там далеко не так все просто. А то как почитаешь, так одни мученики там живут. Так вот Дамьен говорит, что люди там не хотят работать вообще, в образовании даже не видят смысла. Компании, работающие в нефтяной сфере, предлагают большие деньги и высокие зарплаты, но им приходится даже подсобных рабочих брать из иностранцев, а не коренного населения. Потому, что это самое население не хочет работать. Оно живет как в пещерные века, и их так устраивает. Войны за оставшиеся ресурсы идут в комплекте. Для нас это дикость, нас это ужасает, а для них норм. А поскольку при таком подходе они полностью зависят от каждого дождика и дуновения, то проблемы у них не кончаются. Потому все миссионерские программы сводятся к тому, чтобы привезти им еды, воды и лекарств. Но после этого ничего не меняется. Может, звучит совсем жестоко, но как можно помочь тем, кому это едва ли надо, и кто едва ли хочет что-то менять..