Interview: Tom Patterson

Job: I'm an actor.

Weren't you just in Sarasota, FL? What for?

Yeah, I was down in Florida for about three months. Kate Alexander, who is the Associate Director for Florida Studio Theatre, in FST’s production of Shotgun , had cast me.

First I guess I should tell you a little bit about what was happening with the play. Shotgun is a new work by John Biguenet and was picked up by the National New Play Network.

The NNPN is a sort of alliance of regional theaters who develop new work, and FST was one of three member theaters to pick up Shotgun . All three get credit in a "rolling world premiere" which, in theory, is to help promote new plays. All of this is to say I owe everyone involved a great deal because it led to me getting a job.

Shotgun itself about two families in the months immediately following Hurricane Katrina, one black and one white.

When the play opens, my mom has died. My father and I are moving into half of a shotgun apartment, hence the play's title. From there, you can sort of imagine the crucible. You have five characters, are wounded and sort of lost, and most not entirely comfortable with one another.

Image to the right, below - Tom Patterson as "Eugene" (left) with William Peden as "Beau" in National New Play Network rolling world premiere of "Shotgun" at Florida Studio Theatre

The play is about New Orleans, clearly, but it’s also about people living with death, which is something we all have to do. That said, I'm proud that it can remind audience that New Orleans isn't recovered. It's in the process of recovering and has been abandoned by the government and the collective American conscious.

You went to Tisch. What a privilege!

Well, I went to Tisch because it was in New York and part of NYU. I really didn't look at it beyond that.

Heh. Tisch was five years ago. I went to the undergraduate drama program which... has a lot of faults. I liked some of my teachers. Vicki Hart and Per Brahe were very influential. As far as professional advantages there's a lot more schools that offer a better "in" as far as the industry is concerned.

I received some good training, but I felt the program, as a whole, is unfocused. I've been out for a little while, and while I think there are programs that might serve you by getting you in the room, ultimately its up to you to bring the goods. You can look up any alumni list and see there's people who work and people who don't. A program can be a boost, but it won't give you jobs. Man, school was a while ago. It's not really something that I think back on or try to reason out. When I auditioned, I think I came in with the idea that I'd be famous a year after graduation. Now, I want a Tony.

It's not that I don't look back, it's just that I don't think where I went to college has a massive influence in my current career or lack thereof. NYU didn't grant me a "launch" and I feel everything I have I've hustled for.

Taking Shotgun as an example, what is your creative process? How do you originate another being?

Shotgun was interesting in that it was a new play. There was no real blue print for it in the way that you have for, say, The Glass Menagerie or Arms and the Man. This is a piece that isn't in the audience's collective conscious.

It's fun in that you get the idea no one has really done this before you, or in the "rolling world premiere" of the NNPN, maybe only one person has. So you're doing something brand new, but that's a challenge too. With older plays that are in the cannon, the audience and the actor sort of know where it's supposed to go and what the story is.

There really isn't a set pattern I follow. I look at each character and think about what this play needs, what this style needs, what I need to do to make this person feel alive. I think acting 101 is "what does my character want, how does he get it." That's the beginning and ending of it. Then when you're filling out the character, you think of the different colors your painting needs. If there's one thing I do consistently is read and re-read the play.

How is acting related to the arts as a whole?

Well, that's a pretty broad and heady question. I suppose art is all connected in that human experiences are connected, other than that I'm not much of a philosopher.

An actor interprets so the professions are sort of similar to all performing arts in that you're an interpretive artist.

So for you, acting truly is a vocation, not merely a means of self-expression?

Yeah, it's a job. You show up for work, act, and get paid for it and we have unions. There's an old joke where an actor asks what his motivation is and the director responds "your paycheck." And sometimes it becomes a grind and you just wanna get through the performance or the rehearsal. That's not to say you can't have an artistic experience and that your job isn't art, but it is a job.

Are you an instrument, or a creator, ultimately?

Both, but your job is to interpret the writer's work.

Tom Patterson as "Sergius" (second from left) with (from left to right) Maura Malloy, Heather Stuart, and Conor McGuigan in "Arms and the Man" at Electric Theatre Company

What is your Holy Grail role? How have you been kinda preparing for it through the ages?

Haha, there's a lot of roles I want to play, but I'm not really picky about it. Tom in The Glass Menagerie. I wanna do more Shaw.

What do thespians do recreationally?

I would say the biggest recreational activity amongst actors is complaining about how they're not working enough. You have to find a way to stay active, but I think actors tend to be diverse as anyone else. I play board games; I have a friend that bakes. Eventually we'll get a summer softball league together.

Do you consider yourself sentimental or idealistic artist?

Desperate isn't an option? I dunno if I'd say either, because I'd sell out to hawk Taco Bell in a commercial in a second. Maybe that's wrong because I actually enjoy Taco Bell. Let's say McDonald's. Nono, you're missing the in between. I don't explore emotions, I go after what the character wants and emotions rise up as a result. And I try to be loose enough to play as well. That's the whole of it, man, you just wanna be able to play around on stage and see if you can tell the story.

Maybe idealistic because I don't consider myself sentimental? I really don't consider myself either. I have ideals. I have the desire to transform and tell the story. So probably idealistic, because while I like being self-indulgent and look-at-me-audience-I'm-crying I'm not necessarily motivated by feelings of tenderness or nostalgia.

As an actor, do you compartmentalize your personality? Does it ever get United States of Tara bad? D.I.D.?

(Laughs) I don't think actors develop dissociative identity disorder. My approach to a role doesn't entail living the character. That doesn't work for me, and I can't live as a different person while I'm working. It comes back to "what does the character want." During those few hours when you're on stage, you go after what the character wants. That along with any physical work you've been doing and any style work you've been doing creates a different person.

You have these different energies going into the character as far as desire and behavior, and different objectives that should be crushed or satisfied by play's end. Now sometimes I find it difficult to put these to bed and I bring some of the play home with me, which isn't healthy for me as an actor. It's not how I wanna go about it.

My life is my own, actors aren't crazy. I mean, they are, but not in the way that they switch between personalities to suit different life crises. And, no, I've never had that sort of last moment in Highlander where Conor MacLeod goes "I am everything."

As an actor I'm just trying to be honest and have an experience on stage, in that moment, with my other actors and the people that showed up to watch that night.

Ah okay, so you acknowledge some actors can’t act well in just ANY role. Its kind of like a challenge is presented to the entire acting world, and people have act-offs to find who can best bring a role to life? It’s really a job, and it’s really a competition of skill.

What you call "act offs" we call auditions. I don't think there's ever been an actor that's been right for every role ever written.

Is it weird or difficult for an actor to concede to the skill of another? Or is it more like: there’s a cornucopia of roles, I hope we all get one some day?

For me it is, but I'm sort of intensely jealous of people better than me. Especially if they're younger and more successful than me.

Do you want me to include that?

Sure.

Okay lets play a word game. First response, like the pregnancy test, ok?

Sure.

“BEST PLAY”

Hamlet.

"Contrivance"

iPad.

"Distortion"

Those mirrors at amusement parks.

"Scenic Route"

My career.

"Jell-O Mold"

Bill.

"Destiny"

Something that they talk about in fantasy movies that doesn't really exist.

"Art"

A really cool set design.

What are the next five ways we can see your work?

Oh holy shit. Well, hopefully I'll be back down at Florida Studio Theatre. I had a great time there and I'd love to go back. I'm writing something with a friend of mine, and I'll be sure to let you know if we ever get around to doing that. And of course you can see me at any number of open calls or auditions. (Laughs) I also did some funny stuff with my friend Risa 'cause we're hilarious. It's called Beastwood Park:

Okay, Tom Patterson, when should we check back in on you?

Gimmie six months and we'll talk.

Florida Studio Theater [] John Biguenet (Playwright)

* Rife, Susan. “REVIEW: ‘Shotgun’ a vivid exploration of post-Katrina life in New Orleans.” Q&E. Sarasota Herald Tribune. 10 Apr 2010: http://aande.blogs.heraldtribune.com/11710/review-shotgun-a-vivid-exploration-of-post-katrina-life-in-new-orleans/?pa=all&tc=pgall&tc=ar