When the name Dylan McDermott comes up, usually flashes of tall, dark, and hunksome parading on prime time hits The Practice, American Horror Story, and Hostages, if not memories of Funny or Die’s The Douche, spring to mind.

Mentoring under one of contemporary media’s most respected war photojournalists? Not so much. Surviving the ordeal of childhood abuse and losing his birth mother to murder at the tender age of 5? Even less.

It was only later in life that he found a mom and confidante in The Vagina Monologues writer Eve Ensler. Herself a victim of childhood abuse, Ensler adopted McDermott in his teens after marrying his father when she was 23, but eight years older than her adoptive son.

And if you ask either of them, both their lives changed, enriching and self-actualizing in each other’s presence. In a March 2000 Esquire interview, McDermott says of Eve, “I didn’t even know who I was, but she got me, and we got each other. I’m totally grateful to her because I feel like I’m her Frankenstein.”

Above: Eve Ensler, creator of The Vagina Monologues and adoptive mother to Dylan McDermott (photo © Brigitte Lacombe courtesy of vday.org).

On the subject of legally adopting McDermott, Ensler said in the same interview, “it was the great moment of my life… I identified with Dylan, the degree of his suffering and his vulnerability. He needed to know there’d be somebody who wouldn’t leave him.”

Decades later, Ensler continues to spread that sense of care and safety, but this time, in the lives of women who’ve been raped, brutalized and in the worst case, abandoned by their husbands and families simply because they were victims of sexual violence. Opening safe houses in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya and Haiti courtesy of V-Day, an organization Ensler founded the former with one goal in mind: ending violence against women and girls.

And when McDermott appeared at the worldwide premiere of The Dylan Project in Montreal last May 10, 2013 in collaboration with Avenue Art Gallery, he did so with his own goal in mind: raise money to benefit these women.

In an unprecedented move for the actor, McDermott shared his longtime passion for photography with an exhibit of 27 photos of time he spent in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Kenya while visiting the Masai tribe as well as safe houses set up by V-Day as refuges for women and girls victimized by or threatened with violence.

I sat down with the Golden Globe winning thespian the day of the premiere to ask him more about the project and the photos which define it.

Video by V-Day Until the Violence Stops, “What is V-Day”

Evelyn Reid: It’s my understanding that you’ve been interested in photography for a very long time. But that this is the first time your work has been exhibited. Any reason?

Dylan McDermott: I dunno. I guess the stars didn’t really line up. I think that photography is a sort of like a, you know, I have a day job. (Smiles). But I’ve always been interested in photography, since I was a teenager. And then I went to the Philippines. I really started taking pictures when I was in my early twenties and the Philippines sort of started that off when I was doing a movie there. There was a photographer on set called Don McCullin. He was a war journalist. So I spent some time with him and he sort of taught me the ins and outs of photography and I really liked the documentarian style of photography.

Evelyn Reid: And that was circa what era?

Dylan McDermott: Oh that was 19, geez, 87.

Evelyn Reid: 1987. And do you remember what film it was?

Dylan McDermott: Hamburger Hill.

Evelyn Reid: I had read somewhere that it was difficult to find people who believed in you in New York when it came to exhibiting your work but that Marina Cutler saw you on a show and asked you if you’d be willing to come to Montreal. There was a barrier to entry for YOU? In New York?

Dylan McDermott: It wasn’t like that exactly. Mark Seliger, who’s a very famous, celebrated photographer hosts a show online called Capture and he had Platon as well as myself on the show as guests. So we appeared on this show on photography and Seliger asked me to bring some of my photographs. [Seliger and Platon] are both really amazing photographers. And Marina saw the show and contacted me.

Evelyn Reid: And here we are, all because Marina, the owner of the Montreal gallery hosting your exhibit, happened to see the show. So it wasn’t so much that New York didn’t believe in you, Marina just got to you first. Now I know The Vagina Monologues creator Eve Ensler, who’s your adoptive mother, she took you under her wing when you were in your teens.

Dylan McDermott: Yes. [Smiles].

Evelyn Reid: And from what I understand, she set up safe houses in different places in the world, including Haiti. Any reason you picked Kenya and the Democratic Republic of Congo to showcase?

Dylan McDermott: It just turned out that way. With Congo, Eve has a [safe house] called City of Joy there, which is a spectacular place. So many women are raped in Congo and they have nowhere to go. Sometimes when they’re raped, their husbands will even throw them out of the house. So Eve created this place where women can heal, have therapy and gather themselves and just sort of get on their feet again. And in Kenya, there’s a lot of young girls who don’t want to go through [female circumcision] so they have a place to go [and escape]. I went there too and it’s spectacular, again. The mutilation that happens to young girls there, genital mutilation, it’s certainly an epidemic, it’s in the tribes. As for Haiti, [parts of it are] horrible. Horrible. [Post-earthquake], things are not changing. People are living in tents, women are being raped, babies are being raped.

V-Day does incredible work. I’ve seen the work they do. Very few people make a difference but Eve obviously makes a big difference in the world.

Evelyn Reid: What was the most difficult part of taking pictures these women, the people you encountered, shooting in these very scary places [at least from the point of view of an inexperienced first worlder]?

Dylan McDermott: I guess it’s really not to exploit them. Not to manipulate them. Make them feel safe. Because I think a lot of times these women probably don’t feel safe.

Evelyn Reid: How do you do that? I mean, here’s this six-foot tall man trying to take photos of women who’ve experienced [horrors] that [chances are] we’re never going to experience in our lifetimes.

Dylan McDermott: Yeah. I mean, I approach them, I talk to them, and I try to make them feel as safe as I can and make them feel that I’m not using them. I’m not trying to exploit them. I’m just trying to show the world that they exist. I want to give them a voice.

Evelyn Reid: Did it take a long time to gain trust … I worked in documentary film and [it can take months to get film subjects comfortable around you] so I’m wondering, did it take weeks to acclimatize, to get closer to the women Eve is helping? Did it take a while or did it happen very quickly?

Dylan McDermott: I was there for a very short amount of time so I had to hit the ground running. And sometimes it is hard to take a picture of a person. I went to India and did the same thing and people get shy. People don’t want to have their picture taken. I understand that. Me, myself, when paparazzi are taking my picture or following me, it’s annoying. I can fully understand it, that’s why when I’m on the other side of [the camera], I make people understand that I’m taking it for a good reason.

Evelyn Reid: What marked you the most about shooting in places which can arguably be considered some of the most horrific places to live in the world?

Dylan McDermott: It wasn’t so much about the horror as it was the beauty. The people in Congo are some of the most beautiful people I’ve ever met. And the people in Kenya… I was actually taken aback. One day, I ordered a coffee and this kid just came up to me and he was just so pure, so open, so present, that [the way he was] just took me by surprise. We’re just so guarded in everything we do in the western world. I was just, I was shocked by it. So it’s really not so much the horror as it is how beautiful these people are.

Evelyn Reid: It almost sounds as if they have no shields up.

Dylan McDermott: Yeah.

Evelyn Reid: Completely vulnerable.

Dylan McDermott: That’s what it felt like.

Evelyn Reid: And my next question, coming from someone, me, who like you, lost her mother at age 5 [under different albeit comparable circumstances], how much has [that loss] impacted you in terms of the work you’re doing now? With V-Day? With photography? With everything?

Dylan McDermott: I think anytime you try to take whatever suffering—everybody has suffering in their life—I think you always try to take that suffering and translate it as an artist. You try to put it into your art. I try to do that and I’m sure there’s been many many people before me who’ve tried to do that. I think that’s the job of an artist, to take whatever happens to you—I don’t think it matters what happens—and take that and use it for a greater good.

Evelyn Reid: Are we doing enough to help these women?

Dylan McDermott: No. We get so involved and lost in our worlds and we live in our own little bubbles. But these people are suffering. Six million have been killed in Congo [since 1998] and [the toll] is rising every day.

Evelyn Reid: But what can we do?

Dylan McDermott: Well, I think you can definitely contact V-Day and they will help. I know for a fact that the money you give them goes to these safe houses. You know, with a lot of these charities, you just don’t know where the money goes and it’s not used for a good cause. But with this charity, it’s definitely being used. I’ve seen it. I’ve been a witness to it and I know that it makes a difference.

Evelyn Reid: And what about administration costs? That’s the first thing everybody—cynics—ask.

Dylan McDermott: Exactly. There’s not many people who work for V-Day. That’s why it works. I think there’s maybe ten people [on core staff] so the money is really streamed right into where it needs to go.

Evelyn Reid: Only ten people? For all of V-Day?

Dylan McDermott: Yeah! It’s really small.

Evelyn Reid: Even with the safe houses and everything?

Dylan McDermott: Well, no no, that’s separate.

Evelyn Reid: But still. Any plans on sticking around Montreal for a bit?

Dylan McDermott: I hope so. Montreal is beautiful. The people are very nice and I love the architecture.

Evelyn Reid: Not a lot of paparazzi here either.

Dylan McDermott: No?

Evelyn Reid:Noooo.

Dylan McDermott: But I met one here when I was coming off the plane! [Laughter].

Evelyn Reid: Oh. [Laughter]. Wellllllll, they’re nicer here! A pretty relaxed bunch. Even Olivia Wilde said so!

Dylan McDermott: Did she? [Laughter].

Evelyn Reid: It’s been great talking to you! Thanks Dylan.

Dylan McDermott: You’re welcome! Great chatting with you too.