NEW YORK CITY– New York born and bred Daniel Velasco couldn’t be a lot happier these days. He earned his degree last May from Fordham University where he majored in theatre, turned 22 in June, and best of all, he landed the lead role in the comedy-drama play “Year Zero,” his first professional gig since graduating.

“Year Zero,” a Merrimack Repertory Theatre (MRT) production, premiered on September 11 and will run until October 5 at the Nancy L. Donahue Theatre in downtown Lowell, Massachusetts. The play is about finding a direction and a home, very relevant to immigrant communities.

Velasco plays the role of Vuthy Vichea, a 16-year-old Cambodian-American living in Long Beach, California, in the 2000’s, whose mother fled the Khmer Rouge in the 1980s and has recently died. He is a high school outcast who is divided between two worlds: “I’m too Cambodian for the black and Latin kids, and I’m not Cambodian enough for the Cambodian kids.”

In the role of Vuthy, Velasco identifies himself with the character as a weird kid and wears thick glasses. Ever since his best friend moved away and his mother died, the only person he can talk to is a human skull he keeps hidden in a cookie jar on top of the refrigerator. Vuthy periodically asks it for a blessing – in one instance, to guide his mother’s soul to a place of eternal rest.

“Year Zero” revolves around four characters: Ra (Juliette Hing-Lee), Vuthy’s older sister; Glenn (Arthur Keng), Ra’s well-meaning boyfriend; and Han (Michael Rosete), the muscled bad boy who grew up next door and knows more about their mother’s past than Ra or Vuthy. All actors are having their debut performances in this MRT production.

“I love the heart of the play,” Velasco said in an exclusive interview. “It is a familiar story that a lot of people can relate to, but it still has the truth of not only Cambodian life in America, but also immigrant life as a whole. It gets to explore how we feel about our identity and where we fit in the world.”

Opening night on September 11, Velasco said, was an “incredible” evening with a full house and everyone in the audience seemed to love the play. “They were very responsive and gave us a standing ovation. It was just a great feeling to bring this show to life,” Velasco remarked.

Started early

Velasco started acting when he was very young. His godfather, who was in the original cast of “Miss Saigon” that ran in Broadway, suggested to his mother that he would be a good actor.

“He is also an actor-performer, and I would definitely say that he inspired me to pursue acting,” Velasco said, remembering how he started and had set a goal for himself.

As a young boy, he has had several TV show appearances and print and TV commercial credits for various major brands. He has been a member of the Screen Actors Guild (now known as SAF-AFTRA) since he was 10 years old. Velasco ventured into martial arts, which he enjoys doing, including kickboxing and jiu-jitsu.

Velasco was a college sophomore when he made his main stage debut at Fordham as the lead actor in “Swooney Planet” and as a supporting actor in “Eurydice.” He had acted in numerous plays while in high school at Loyola School NYC.

Auditions for ‘Year Zero’

His agent got him to audition for the part of Vuthy in “Year Zero” two days after his graduation. He had to do the first two scenes that included a part with him beat-boxing and rapping in the room. “I think I brought an energy and honesty to the role because I relate to a lot to the character,” Velasco said when asked how he thought he was selected for the role.

“Year Zero” was written by Michael Golamco, an LA-based playwright and TV/film writer, who is of Filipino and Chinese-American lineage. The play had critically acclaimed runs at Second Stage in New York City, Victory Gardens Theatre in Chicago, and at the Colony Theatre in Los Angeles. Golamco also wrote “The Law of Sacrifice” (Season 3, episode 18) of NBC’s TV series “Grimm” where he is a staff writer.

Velasco has not met Michael yet and hopes to see the talented guy someday and talk to him about his work. Before the premier night of “Year Zero,” had rehearsals from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Tuesday to Sunday. They now do eight shows a week (Wednesday to Sunday) and have days off on Mondays and Tuesdays. “Other than that I just hang out around Lowell or take trips with my castmates out of town,” Velasco said.

He had to leave his restaurant job in New York to work full time in the play. MRT provides the cast with its own studio apartments near the theatre.

What the future holds

“I’d love to move into more TV and film in the future, but I love doing theatre so I’m hoping that I can achieve some sort of balance between them,” Velasco said of his future plans. He says that as long as the role is well written he does not have any problems with playing specifically Asian characters.

“There seems to be a few more Asian actors on television right now, so I’m hoping it continues so I can get my shot as well,” he said.

Velasco received a Denzel Washington scholarship during his senior year at Fordham. He believes the faculty recommended him, and he is grateful for it. Washington studied at Fordham and has since set up a grant for industry professionals to teach classes in the theater program. Velasco met Washington this summer after a performance of “A Raisin in the Sun.”

“Denzel is an incredible person and an actor who inspires me every day,” he said.

Velasco’s mother, Vivian, a longtime community leader, is quite happy to see her son performing on a professional level. During her early years she, too, was performing for the Folklorico Filipino Dance Company of New York. After nurturing her son, guiding his progress and finally seeing him in the limelight, she says her labor and love were not in vain.

Everyone who knows Vivian is so proud of how Daniel is moving up in his career. They remember him as a quiet, obedient and unassuming boy who used to tag along with his mother to every community cause she was a part of.

“My mom is the most supportive mother I could ever ask for. She loves to see me perform and tells everyone what I’m doing in my professional life. I owe her for everything I am today.”