It may be hard to pull your eyes away from Beyoncé and scene-stealing newcomer Jennifer Hudson when watching the new flick “Dreamgirls” but if you look closely at who is tinkling the ivories in the background you will see Bermuda’s own Daren Herbert.

The young actor is slowly building a career for himself overseas — working as much as he can and persistently knocking on Hollywood’s door.

Mr. Herbert popped into The Royal Gazette on a recent Island visit to talk about his passion for acting.

His role in “Dreamgirls” started out as a non-speaking part as a drummer but eventually twists in the fate of filming led to him being switched to a spot at the piano and even getting to swap a few lines with Eddie Murphy.

“My first shot in the movie, Eddie Murphy was playing the piano first and I come and sit down beside him and then he gets up and I continue to play,” he said.

“It must have taken a week to collect that scene and by the time we got the audience in there, they thought that we were really playing.”

Mr. Herbert said he really threw himself into the job — pounding the keys with all his might.

“I had blood coming out of my fingers and, with every take, I hit the keys harder and harder,” he said. “I left blood on that piano — no joke!”

“Dreamgirls” actually started production last year on January 17 — his birthday — but it was not until sometime after that that the young actor learned his role would grow.

He went on to other projects including a low-budget horror film called “Curse of the Black Devil”, which can be seen on INDB, a Canadian reality show and a play called “Much ADoobie Brothers About Nothing” when the phone rang again.

“They called me back and they actually gave me some lines,” he said. “They had a picture of the piano crossing shot and they wanted to know if it was me, because they said, ‘I want that guy’. Because every shot that I was in, everyday that I was in — and yes, I went in as an extra — I trained for seven years and I know better than just to be kooking around in the background.” The speaking part means that Mr. Herbert is entitled to royalties from the film, although the amount may be negligible.

“Eddie Murphy and I have a couple of lines and now I’m entitled to royalties,” he said. It depends on how the movie does and after the first eight months you get a royalty cheque every quarter. Now it might be 0.01 dollars, but as long as you are an active member of SAG (Screen Actors Guild), you will receive it.

“In the long run, this might be very small, but at the moment I’m going to revel in it!”

In addition to his role in the star-studded film about a 60s girl group, another great acting opportunity has come Mr. Herbert’s way, but on talking to The Royal Gazette recently he was unable to say for certain whether he would be allowed to accept it.

The now LA-based actor has won the role of Harpo in a production of “The Colour Purple”, a musical based on Alice Walker’s book, which will tour the US. While he is keen to accept the role there are some hurdles for non-American actors.

He did the final call back for “The Colour Purple” on September 11, of last year.

“It took about a week for them to get back to me and I was back in LA from New York because I was doing a show there at the time,” Mr. Herbert said.

“But from September 18 on, they have been negotiating my contract. We went to this high powered immigration lawyer and he says, ‘this is no problem, I do this all the time’. Everyone has signed off on it.

“But the final (hurdle) is Actor’s Equity and they have to sign off on a letter for me, but they want to know what is this British guy doing taking an American job.

“I am a British citizen, but I don’t have a career there. My training and all my work is (in the US) and this is where I need to be and this has been the case from then until now.

“We are not giving up until the rehearsals begin in Chicago in February. There has got to be a way!”

With a Masters degree in Fine Arts, Acting from the University of California, Irvine, and a Bachelors degree in Fine Arts, Theatre from The University of the Arts, Philadelphia, Mr. Herbert is committed to his craft despite the hardships of seeking success in the competitive and often dream-crushing business.

He credits his mother, Lillette, with encouraging him every step of the way — even pushing him to pursue his studies in acting.

Local audiences may remember his work in Island productions such as Waterspout Theatre’s “Romeo and Juliet” and The Company’s “Fack Bye!”

He is also one of the co-founders of Jakoma Entertainment, an organisation that mainly provides and trains models for the local market and fashion shows.

During his studies, Mr. Herbert returned to the Island and hustled during his summer and winter vacations.

He did some drama and dance performances in Bermuda, but most of his work was in Philadelphia.

“Once I got there and started, I thought, ‘I could do this for a living’, he said.

“I’m good enough and I actually like it. I thought, ‘this is not beyond my capabilities’. I can pull this off and I decided to make an honest stab at it.

“From then I’ve been going full-throttle. It has been exciting, but also scary because you never know what is going to happen, and even now it is tense.

“But I try to maintain a sense of personal harmony going through. I am engaged to get married next year — and she (Joanne Darrell) is so understanding because she has been on the journey with me.”

But the challenges of never knowing where your next job — and therefore next paycheque — is coming from can be draining he admits.

“Someone told me that worrying is praying for what you don’t want,” he quipped.

Mr. Herbert’s manager Margrit Polak, takes a lot of the worry on for him, he added.

“She is the kind of person that if there is a field full of rocks, she will go through it before I come, because she knows I’m going there,” he said. “I love her to death because I know she is fighting for me.”

He works whenever he can and has received help from his mother, friends, supporters and the Bermuda Arts Council.

But with all of this, he admits that sometimes he has been forced to get creative about meal times. “Sometimes if I see saltines sitting on top of the microwave, then that’s dinner and if there is a fortune cookie that is left over — not my fortune cookie, just someone in the apartment — that’s dinner.

“And tea bag recycling, just boil some water, whatever it takes to get this feeling out of my stomach and for my headache to go away. Go to bed, wake up the next morning and keep on trucking. Still he refuses to quit and pursue and easier if less fulfilling path.

“Sometimes the money comes at the very last minute, but I’m not going home — so if you (Supreme Being) want me to live on the streets, I’ll do that too.

“I’ve heard the stories and I know Sheryl Crow used to eat out of the trash and Hilary Swank lived out of a car with her mother — I know the stories. I don’t have any money right now, but I have a place to lay my head. But I’m not going back to Bermuda! I’m not turning back!”