 Damala had begun playing small parts as an amateur actor with the stage name of "Daria", and used to frequent the green rooms of theatres, along with fellow actors who shared a similar passion for morphine.He also frequented these places out of his desire to socialize with people from the theatre world and thus promoting his ambitions of becoming a great actor.Jeanne spoke to Bernhardt of Damala, and Bernhardt felt simultaneously repelled and fascinated by the perspective of meeting the most notorious man in Paris.