First off, how did you get interested in acting? Where did it start for you?
It’s crazy – my path has been different than most. I was a good athlete as a kid. I was a 6’0 white dude that happened to be captain of my basketball and baseball teams!
I was real good as a pitcher. In fact Dejan Kovacevic interviewed me when I was a Senior in high school – I was one of the top 10 prospects in 1990.
After high school I went to Mount St. Mary’s – they had a great basketball program – they are always in the NCAA Tournament. I played baseball there – playing college baseball was always my dream. My dad and I used to watch the College World Series on ESPN together.
Pitching took me to college. In high school we won a lot of games and were in the WPIAL playoffs.
Where theater came in – well, I loved theater as a kid. I’d go to Heinz Hall with my mom as a kid. I also played in a metal band as a kid – I loved to perform. The shows at school though were always during baseball season so I couldn’t do them – but I could do the stage crew work so I did that.
My Senior year at Bishop Canevin I broke my ankle. My friend told me then that I should audition for the musical. I did and, much to the chagrin of the kids who did theater every year, I got the lead. I thought “That was easy!” I loved it but felt I scratched that itch then.
So what happened after that?
I took theater as an elective in college at Mount St. Mary’s. When you do that you have to audition for the musical and I got one of the two leads. I was two for two!
I also realized then that I had just enough talent as a pitcher to play against smaller D1 schools. But my fastball was getting ripped. My arm strength was good for high school but I wasn’t able to get my speed up to 95 mph! It was eye-opening – I knew then that that was it. At least I was self-aware enough to realize it.
I decided then to go into acting. My dad passed away when I was 16 – my mom supported me but told me if I did it I had to put everything I had into it. I auditioned at Point Park, CDMA in New York and then at Carnegie Mellon. Being new to the whole acting world I had no idea how hard it was to get into Carnegie Mellon which probably helped me, and I got in.
You’ve done a lot of theater/Broadway work but have also been on TV shows like the Sopranos, Law & Order, 30 Rock and the Americans, to name a few. Is there a preference for either for you?
It’s so funny because I’m asked that a lot and I never have a great answer for it. My dream would have been a regular on a show like West Wing but I was always doing shows, so I never had a chance to audition for it.
I love doing TV – but theater was always it for me. Nothing compares to Broadway shows – they are a more challenging and rewarding venue. Doing eight shows a week is harder than many think. It’s demanding. I’ve done lots of runs of shows – some have run for years where I’ve done 1,200 performances.
When I was at Carnegie Mellon my dream was to be part of the Broadway community – thousands of people come to New York to perform on Broadway. To have been able to do it for over 30 years now is incredibly humbling. TV and film pay a lot more and I enjoy them – but that immediacy and personal aspect of Broadway I love over doing TV and film.
I’m doing what I love. It’s humbling – I don’t take it lightly.
I know you started GhostLite Media as well – a media training company – and are also a photographer – how did you get caught up in those passions?
Ghostlite – I haven’t done a lot with that. A business friend of mine asked me to come in and train employees on how to do interviews and speeches. I’ve been teaching acting for years to acting students so this was similar. It has been incredibly rewarding teaching these titans of industry who are great at their jobs but often terrified to speak in front of people. To see them improve is rewarding – it’s really like teaching Acting 101.
Photography – I started that 15 years ago. A lot of headshots for actors and business people for their LinkedIn profiles. It’s been a really good side hustle!
How did you learn to be so comfortable performing in front of crowds?
My mom said that when I decided to do this she wasn’t surprised. As a kid I was a ham – I’d invite people into my room and play the drums on coffee cans.
And there’s a correlation to sports. Is there anyone in sports who has to perform more than a pitcher? Toeing the rubber, staring down batters…you pitch from the mound, which is like a stage! And nothing happens until you throw the ball.
My dad used to say that the two craziest people in sports are pitchers and goaltenders. You have to want to be that guy. A lot of athletes that go into acting understand its about success and failure. Sports teaches you how to fail. The only difference is in sports there’s a scoreboard – you know why you win and lose. In acting, when you audition you may do well and not get a callback and you have no idea why. Or you may do poorly but get a callback. That resiliency you need to have in both is big. To handle failure. To handle rejection. The biggest kick in the nuts is when you get a call from your agent who tells you they passed on you.
How did growing up in Pittsburgh influence you as a performer?
It did at every level. My brother still lives in Wilkinsburg and my cousin is in Point Breeze. I’ve lived in New York for over 30 years now, but I go home two-to-three times a year – it’s always home to me. It was a great place to grow up. I grew up in Greentree – 10 minutes from Three Rivers Stadium. The Pittsburgh Symphony and Ballet…the city is world class in so many things besides sports. It’s not just the Steelers! It’s a great big small town.
When I was growing up there in the 70’s, it was a different place. My dad worked at U.S. Steel – I played Little League Baseball and shoveled driveways in the Winter. It was heaven to me. The communal and supportive aspect was terrific. I still think it’s that way. Yinzers are a different breed – I still bleed black and gold!
I’d be remiss if I didn’t also mention the Van Halen cover band you’re in. Still doing that and how did that start?
In 1982 my older brother got me into heavy metal. We’d go to the Civic Arena and Syria Mosque to see shows. I loved bands like Ozzy Osborne and Judas Priest…my parents would let my 15-year old brother take me to the shows and we’d go to Eide’s Record Store first.
When I was 12 I wanted a guitar – my dad took me to Bridgeville to this guitar store and I got a knock-off Les Paul guitar and self-taught myself. In 1986 I got a Fender Stratocaster and that’s what I’ve played ever since. After that my dad bought me a real guitar – I still have it. I tell my wife if there’s ever a fire we’ll save ourselves, the cats and I’ll wear the guitar as we run outside!
How did your playing career start?
I was in a band in high school with friends – we’d play songs by the Sex Pistols… Sabbath….that was so much fun. In 2011 Patrick Wilson – a well-renowned actor in his own right – he and I started bonding over hair bands. He and I became friends in college and we’d bring those songs and other rock anthems into our voice classes. He’s a great drummer and has two brothers in St. Petersburg who are great singers. For Patrick’s 40th birthday we decided to all play together and call ourselves the Van Wilsons since we played a lot of Van Halen covers. The owner of the club told us that if we practiced more they’d book us!
After that we changed our name to the Wilson Vans since we didn’t want to be just known for Van Halen covers! We do songs from all artists now and do some of our own stuff too.
Now we play for our foundation – the Wilson Family Foundation – and have raised over a half-million dollars so far that all goes to the foundation. We’ve played at the Hard Rock, the Jannus and State Theater in St. Pete. It’s been so much fun – we’re like aging rock stars. It’s been a blast!
Are you a sports fan? Pittsburgh sports fan/experiences you can share?
I have a great one on Mike Lange. I met Bob Pompeani in grade school at St. Margarets in Greentree – he married the sister of my grade school basketball coach in early 80s. On my 21st birthday I was taken out to downtown Pittsburgh and we ended up on Liberty Avenue -we did the Dormont bar crawl and ended up at Slapshots- that was Lange’s hometown bar he always went to. Lo and behold Lange was there at the bar – this was in 1992 – the Pens had just won the cup. My buddy went up to Mike and said “My friend wants to say hi.” I ended up shooting the shit with him and talking hockey. I got to wear his Stanley Cup ring. He signed a napkin that read “Michael Michael motorcycle happy birthday, Mike Lange.”
I told him I thought the Pens would steamroll to a third cup. Lange said “Don’t be so sure! I’m afraid of the Islanders!” I said “Afraid of them? The Islanders?” Well, David Volek ends up scoring in overtime in game 7 to eliminated them. Lange prophesized this!
That’s the story I told Bob Pompeani when I called in that story to his radio show when Mike passed away…
Any other memories you can share?
My dad has season tickets to the Steelers and Penguins as a salesman for U.S. Steel. Growing up in those dynasty years – going to Three Rivers then in ’78 and ’79 – there was nothing like that. It was pure insanity.
My favorite memory was going to the Civic Arena on Saturday nights – this is when the Penguins sucked – pre-Mario. For $10 you got tickets in the balcony. My brother bought me a bookmark made from the roof of the Civic Arena after it was torn down.
I loved hockey. My favorite player oddly enough was Mike Bossy. We got WOR for some reason where we lived so I watched Bossy play all the time. I used to play hockey – I was the kid cherry picking trying to score goals and firing wrist shots. Backchecking? Nah…. When you went to games then you could go to the ice and interact with players. I got to say hi to Bossy and Trottier. It’s changed a lot since then.
Any tough sports moments stand out?
My biggest disappointing moment was Volek’s goal in overtime. My disappointing day number two was Sid Bream in 1992 scoring the winning run. I walked around Carnegie Mellon screaming into the void after that one. It was horrendous. My third most disappointing memory was Neil O’Donnell’s three interceptions in the Super Bowl.