First off, what projects are you working on that you want others to know about?
Better Caul Saul just ended but there are always reverberations. If people didn’t see the final season or hadn’t watched it before they can always go do that.
I’m on the hunt again – I just did an episode of Tracker and produced an independent film on VOD called the Way We Speak. It’s an indy film we filmed in Portland.
How did you get started acting when you were in Pittsburgh – what got you interested and how did the career begin?
I was born there. My brother still lives in Murrysville and I was my nephew’s officiant for his wedding at the Phipps Observatory. I did the Steelers hype film two years ago, got to twirl the Terrible Towel on the field before a game and played in Troy Polamalu’s celebrity flag football tournament!
My family actually moved to Harrisburg when I was young – I went to Cedar Cliff High School and acted in musicals there and played the trombone. I played football too but stopped playing in sixth grade – I stopped growing and just wasn’t cut out for that physical punishment then! I became the president of the band and stayed on stage.
After that I went to Penn State and got my undergraduate degree then went to Long Beach City College and got my graduate degree in acting. That was a surprise to my parents – they told me they didn’t know you could get an acting degree!
Then I went to L.A. and did the actor thing, waiting on tables and auditioned for roles!
Did you have any mentors along the way?
I find anyone who wants to find their dream of acting inspirational. The people I admired though were the people that were trained. That are stage-worthy. I believe acting is a craft like any art and needs to be worked on.
My teachers at Penn State and Long Beach – Ashley Carr at Long Beach and Bill Kelly and Jim Hopkins- they taught me that it takes hard work and you should have no expectations. I can’t tell you how to succeed by getting caught up in trying to be rich. I can tell you how to break down a script and how to audition.
It’s been 30 years now – I can’t believe I’m that lucky – and that old! Every job I auditioned for – I learned the nuts and bolts of acting to know how to do that. It’s a weird, mercurial thing. I was lucky to get some of the parts I did and unlucky not to get some parts I thought I should have gotten.
How has Pittsburgh influenced you?
I think for lack of a better word, that blue-collar aspect did. That work ethic. It’s bitter cold in January and February – it’s a cyclical thing in Pittsburgh. You have the four seasons and I raked leaves, shoveled snow and cut grass as a kid.
There’s a sense of contrast there versus L.A. People in Pittsburgh put their nose down and aren’t working to show off. That has lended itself well in acting. There’s a time to show off, but acting is an ensemble. There is an entire crew that makes it work – hundreds to put on a show. You don’t do it by yourself.
Was the transition to LA difficult from Pittsburgh – how did you make that transition? I spoke to other actors who struggled a bit with the culture difference.
I was a young man when I moved to L.A.. Look, L.A. is still L.A. – the sun, surf and beautiful women and weather. It’s great – but it is also a weird fantasy land and ambition can wash on the shore quickly. You have to be careful not to say to yourself that you can do that thing next week or the week after. You have to stay focused.
And yes, I love swimming in the Pacific Ocean. The Monongahela River is a beautiful river but it’s not quite the same as Malibu! I do remember though, flying back to Pittsburgh after having lived in L.A. for a while and as the plane was landing thinking to myself “Oh wow – look at all of the green!” L.A. is a desert – all of the plants are imported. Pittsburgh is lush – I missed the forests and streams.
Lots of successful Pittsburghers in Hollywood – do you hang out with those guys at all – is there a Pittsburgh sub-culture?
Look if you know Michael Keaton I’d love to meet him! Joe Manganiello – I’m friendly with him and he’s a real ‘Burgher. A Yinzer through and through!
It’s the funniest thing, I was in a show where my role was to be a star for that episode. In the show I was supposed to call Snoop Dogg as a favor to my son on the show – I was supposed to be friends with him. So when Snoop Dogg arrived on the set he came in with his entourage and everyone was intimidated. We did a scene together then took a break and I’m just sitting there next to him. I’m thinking to myself “This is crazy.” No one approached him – they were all giving him his space. So I started talking to him. I told him “We had two things in common. So I’m from the LB I said {Long Beach}.” He said “I don’t think we ran with the same people!” Then I said, “More importantly, I’m a Yinzer and a huge Steelers fan!” After that we talked about the Steelers for five minutes. After that I told him we’d probably never see each other again, and asked him for a selfie. So I got a great picture of the coolest guy in the world and the whitest suburban guy – me! All because of the Steelers.
Are your daughters showing interests in film/comedy being the kids of an actor and your wife Mandy also a successful comedian and director?
Any parent will appreciate this. What I want versus what they will do are two different things. My daughters are ready to go and want to be actors. As a parent I want to say “No! Anything else but that!! I know how hard the industry is and how lucky I was – and especially how hard it is for a woman in this business. The business has also changed – who knows what it will look like in 10 years with the effects of things like Tik-Tok and AI?
But as 12 and 14-year olds, if they want to learn how to do it, the skills that go into it – dancing, memorizing lines, resiliency – those skills translate no matter what. They are in acting school now and are having the times of their lives. Who knows what they will end up doing later on. My job is to equip them with the work ethic and positive attitude to do anything. In this business, if you can’t handle the constant “Nos” then this business is not for you.
You’ve done movies, theater, TV better – any you like better?
I just love to work. I’ve had an interesting career – I wasn’t at all famous in my 20s and 30s. Better Call Saul happened late. Before then I was in Xena, The Olson Twins, Friends, Will & Grace – a number of sitcoms. I just did Tracker – Justin Hartley is a great guy. I just thought when I did it – “What fun this is!” I went to Vancouver, worked and did some hiking which I love to do. What else could you be looking for? You get to have fun and put on a great show.
I’d love to get on stage again and am looking for that next gig. Another series would be great. A friend told me that the entertainment business is the only business that you don’t really know you retired until three years later. The industry will let you know. I just thought “That is cold!” But it’s true.
Are there roles that you’ve enjoyed playing the most?
I did a play that Eric Bogosian and his wife Jo Ann Bonney produced right after 9-11. It was called Humpty Dumpty and was about a post-apocalyptic world – I really enjoyed that. It was representative of what was going on in the world at the time.
Being on Xena too was one of the best jobs I ever had. I got to fly to New Zealand, wear leather gauntlets, beat up the bad guys and kiss Xena! And they paid me to do it!
So I saw you’re now a Rams fan – were/are you a Pittsburgh sports fan?
Let’s just say I had a flirtation with the Rams! In the end it’s just carpetbagging though! I am a Yinzer – I had pictures of L.C. Greenwood, Rocky Bleier, Terry Bradshaw and Franco on my wall as a kid. In my birthday pictures I’m always wearing a Steelers sweater!
We’re living in London now. And I brought three Steelers sweaters with me that I wear depending on the mood I’m in. I’m watching games that start at night.
Being a Rams fan is convenient – rooting for the homies in L.A. Now the Chargers are here – I love their uniforms but I can’t root for another AFC team!
What brought you to London?
We moved out here for a year. It’s an adventure for us. The kids are in a school they really like. L.A. is a great city – Pittsburgh too – but it’s nice to be exposed to something different. But we quickly learned that we are those loud Americans here!
You mention being friendly with some of the Steelers players? Any fun memories stand out?
It’s the craziest of things. Dreams do come true. My family and I were on Acrisure field waving the Terrible Towel – this was after Better Call Saul – and they were asking to get pictures of me! Troy Polamalu asked for a picture of me! I was like “You’re Troy Polamalu! Shut up!”
The Troy Polamalu Flag Football Charity Game was special. I lined up and Troy was covering me! Seeing James Harrison get a handoff and Ben Roethlisberger – let’s just say he is still a huge competitor!
We had Mike Tomlin as a coach and the other team had Dick LeBeau. Ben’s teams was getting hammered by us in the first half and you could see Ben was getting upset. Tomlin started smack-talking Ben and Ben’s face just changed. You could see it. The second-half he started completing passes one after the other and mouthing off! They toasted us the second half!
All those players and coaches – they came back to support Troy and this event. It spoke volumes about Troy and the rest of the Steelers. They all came out for him. I thought that just said so much about the Steelers.
I spoke to some other Pittsburgh-natives in the acting community and they talked about wanting to bring more work back to the city. Have you thought about that at all?
It’s such a photographic city – it has so many different landscapes to use. The biggest issue is the politics – the mindset for some is of giving those liberals in Hollywood a big tax break. That’s the biggest opposition to it.
Better Call Saul was filmed in Albuquerque – they gave incentives to bring production there. They understood that when they do that, I come in and advertise the restaurants I eat at, pay rent while I’m there, eat out…. We bring money into the city. But depending on the political winds, the tax break discussion becomes a political punching bag. But you look at cities like Atlanta, Albuquerque and Vancouver – the amount of filming that’s done in those cities now and the business that’s brought in.
It helps support the entire city. From the dry cleaners to money that goes into the parks. My wife and I did a low-budget movie – we didn’t choose Pittsburgh because it would have just cost too much to fly people in. It would have been prohibitive for us. But for say a one or two million dollar movie, I would get behind that. I would love to shoot a movie in Pittsburgh. It helps everyone from the carpenters to the gaffers. Everyone benefits from those incentives.