Where to begin? I suppose it all started in fifth grade when I landed the lead in a play entitled Going To the Zoo – a musical about… well going to the zoo. It was then I realized the thrill of being on stage, and (let’s be honest) how awesome it was being the center of attention. I kept doing theater through out middle school. Mostly your typical musicals like Into the Woods, Bye Bye Birdie, you get the picture.
In high school I was almost always cast as the comedic lead, which lead me into the world of comedy. I started a comedy troupe – we did mostly improv and sketch. We got in contact with several people from Second City in Detroit, Michigan. My relationship with them took me into the world of stand-up comedy around Detroit, Ann Arbor, New York, and even Canada.
Even though acting and comedy was all I did with my time, I still had my doubts. I knew that it was a tough profession. And frankly, I was scared shitless. So I decided to go to Denison University: a small liberal arts college in the middle of nowhere Ohio. I wanted to make sure that acting was really the only option. During my time there I was a music major, a religion major, an econ major, a philosophy major, and even a political science major. But these things were all secondary to theatre. I was always a double major: firstly in theatre, and secondly in whatever my inclination was at the time… My faculty advisor tried to strangle me once. I don’t blame him.
After three semesters, I was done. I realized that acting was the only option. I decided to pursue it with vigor and transferred to the NYU Tisch School of Drama. I spent two and a half years there studying acting and writing. I wrote a play, Proof by Disproof, which was produced in New York City between my junior and senior year. I also made it a point to be in as many student films as humanly possible. Having graduated, I work closely with several theater companies in the city – mostly consisting of various NYU alumni. And even more closely with my friends that graduated from the film department.
Post graduation I survived on commercials, small films, a television show I hosted, and of course… waiting tables. But that all changed when I booked an internationally touring play called Sex Signals – a comedy/improv show about dating geared towards colleges and the military. It was a happy day when my dream job… became my day job.
Sex Signals allowed me to focus all my energy on my career. My schedule became flexible and I started doing more film and television – which is where my heart is. Nothing gives me more pleasure than being on a film set. Shooting films on location has taken me all over the world! There is no other way to travel.
Acting in general, through any medium, is the best way I’ve found to express myself as an individual and human being. I am more than determined to sustain a lasting career in this business. But it’s not just a career. More importantly it’s an art form that I have dedicated my life to.