Years ago, Tim and Salley Vahle fell in love with the theater and each other. The starry-eyed lovers moved to Hollywood, where Tim landed the lead role in “Christmas in the Clouds” — an Oprah- and Roger Ebert-endorsed movie. The couple recently returned to Lakewood to raise a family and begin new careers, but the love of performing still plays a supporting role in their lives.
The theater sort of brought you two together. Can you tell us more about that?
Sally: At the time we met, I had been out of graduate school working with Kitchen Dog Theater (a company I founded here in Dallas) and other regional theaters for about five years. We were cast opposite each other as Rosalind and Orlando, young lovers, in a production of Shakespeare’s romantic comedy “As You Like It”. We became really good friends during the process of working on the show. A few months later when our paths crossed, things totally clicked.
Tim: I had gone to school in Chicago, and started a couple of theater companies, and came back home to Texas with the plan to move to L.A. later that year. Needless to say, I found something better that kept me in town for a while.
Whose idea was it to go to Hollywood?
T: Mine. I still felt like it was a good idea, and fortunately, she was all for it.
S: He was very passionate about moving to Los Angeles and giving that market a shot. I was already in my early 30s, and at the time we moved, the market there was very young. I knew going in that there would likely not be many media opportunities for me, [but still] going there was a no-brainer, whatever the risks might be, because I knew how strongly he felt about giving it a shot. That old saying, a ship in the harbor is safe, but that’s not what a ship was designed to do.
How did the experience with “Christmas in the Clouds” change the way you looked at life and work?
T: The film had been written off several times, even after being a big hit at Sundance, so when I got the call that the film was being released nationwide, was on Oprah’s top list, and was being reviewed by Ebert, I had to laugh at the timing. I was in my junior level of [nursing] school at that point, and had decided to make acting more of a paying hobby, so to speak. When the film opened, I was in the middle of finals, and would fly to different cities, study on the plane, do the opening, and usually fly back that night on a redeye. I would study while the film was playing in the different theaters, and then come out when it was done to sign autographs. I am more proud of the fact that I passed that semester and maintained honors level status in the middle of that whirlwind.
S: He took our older daughter Kala to see it when it was at the Angelika [she was 3 months old when it was shot]. That was a cool experience for both of them. But, I observed that he never looked back. He felt that his choice to shift gears and go back to school was the absolute right one for him.
You have two daughters. Do you think they will show an interest in the thespian arts?
T: I will support them in whatever endeavor they show an interest in, but if it’s acting, they have to get a minor in something that they can fall back on. The acting profession has an unemployment rate of 96 percent. That is not a made up number!
Tell us a little about what you’ve done since returning to Dallas and what you plan to do in the future.
S: I have continued to work as an actress doing theater, and I work in all forms of media arts — film, TV commercials, corporate industrial films, live shows and in voice over. Not long after arriving in Dallas I began to work as and adjunct professor teaching theater courses at a number of colleges in the Metroplex.
T: Mostly commercials, now. I’m in a Ford spot, and just finished shooting a host spot for a medical supply company. I also will do the odd film or TV show that comes through town. I feel like the path my life has taken has made me the luckiest guy I know. Most importantly, my path has given me the last 8 years with my two gorgeous daughters and the last 11 years with the greatest woman ever made. Sorry guys, the mold was broken!
