Demore Barnes' journey in the entertainment industry began when he was a shy student at Sir Oliver Mowat High School in Toronto, where he was persuaded by friends to host the school's Christmas assembly, which turned out to be a huge success and gave him the confidence to try out for Squawk Box, a sketch comedy show on YTV, at the age of eighteen.
This marked the beginning of his professional acting career, which lasted for one season, after which he realized that he wanted to pursue acting as a career. He applied to Ryerson University's theatre program but was sidetracked by a successful audition for the CBC kids show "Street Cents", where he spent the next three seasons honing his comedic talents.
However, he felt the need to expand his range and challenge himself, which led to a series of roles in television and movies, including appearances in "Relic Hunter", "White Lies", "Second String", and "Blackout". In less than a year, he was cast as Benjamin Hardaway on "The Associates", earning him two consecutive nominations for the Gemini award as Best Lead Actor in a drama series and winning the BFV and Black Film Award for best performance in a dramatic series.
The show lasted for two seasons, after which Demore decided to make the big change of moving to Los Angeles, recognizing that the roles he was seeking were often cast long before they came to Canada. He arrived in Los Angeles in January 2003, expecting to start working immediately, but instead, he found himself waiting for the right project and the right role.
It was during this time that he had the opportunity to work with acting coach Larry Moss, for whom there was always a one-year waiting list, and he studied and waited and believed in himself. As a Canadian with no working papers, he had to wait for the right project and the right role.
And then came The Unit, where Demore's first audition for David Mamet impressed him so much that Mamet looked up at him and said, "What you just did there is what they call demanding the part. You just demanded that part". Demore's response was decidedly Demore, "Well, I do want the part, David", and the rest, as they say, was history.
