Q/A of Star Micheal Hovance

A: I had a lot of fun memories of where I grew up. This is going to sound weird (laughs) but also in High School we would get together with a group of friends and we would go to each other’s houses and unload and stack fire wood. It was for the winter because it’s Maine and everyone had wood burning and that was actually a major source of heat in the winter time and it is a big pain to stack wood. It’s not fun at all, but with my group of friends, we would go to each other’s house and we would make it fun and it made it much faster even though you’re doing everyone’s wood stacking. Then driving to the Damariscotta and that’s my town that means the River of many fishes. Damariscotta is an Indian name.

 

Q: Was there a certain event that happened that made you want to become an actor?

A: Well when I was in High School I saw a touring production of “12 Knight”, a Shakespeare play and it was the first Shakespeare I had ever seen. I had seen a couple plays before, but they didn’t really get me. But seeing this just made me realized how much fun it was and I decided I wanted to do that. And it was ever since then. (He laughs).

 

Q: Who is an actor that you aspire to be like?

A: A guy name Michael Sheen, I love Michael Sheen, no relation to Charlie or Martin or any of those guys. He is an English actor and I saw him a number of years ago where he was doing “Amadeus” with David Shosea. And I went to see it because of him. When I was younger one  of my favorite films was Amadeus and I thought Tom Hulce was a genius when watching this movie and then I saw the play and Michael Sheen who I had never heard of at that time, just made me realized, what a really bad job Tom Hulce did with the part. Because Michael Sheen just brought so much life to this character that he was just amazing. He has done a lot of films, he was in the “Queen” recently and the “Damned United” and those terrible underworld vampire movies which was terrible, but he was good. I love Michael Sheen; he is a great stage actor and great in film as well. I also love Collin firth that was in “Bridget Jones Diary” and “Pride and Prejudice” who was his big thing, but I met him and also saw him on stage years ago before he became big and we had a drink afterwards. He was so cool and talented. In the resent film version of the “Importance of being Ernest”, he played Jack which is my part.

 

Q: How long have you been going to Pierce?

 A: Feels like forever now since, January. It has been a long rehearsal process and yet time wise long, but we keep coming four times a week. So it’s nice because you have the time to practice the part. 

 

Q: Where did you graduate and do you have a degree?

 A: I went to Sarah Lawrence College in New York, a great school and very small. We don’t have majors or grades, but I had a concentration in theatre and History. I mean they have grades but you had to ask for them. And I didn’t find out what my grades were until years later when I briefly applied to grad school and I found out that I did pretty well. Instead of grades each professor would write you an evaluation, which was like two pages. Where they would tell you where you were doing well and where you could improve on. It’s based on Oxnard University system. It’s one of the top most expensive schools in the nation. But I had free ride tuition wise. 

 

Q: What do you plan to do at the end of the play?

A: I don’t know. I was actually just…yesterday, no a couple of days ago, I don’t remember when. Algernon and myself went into a continuation education class here and they told me they were doing “Sweeney Todd” soon. And I would love to do that. It was recently a musical and I’ve only done one musical in my life, recently actually. It went really well though. But they didn’t cast me. But it’s a very dark play with funny songs. I was classically trained as a singer but I’m just going to audition for it, I don’t know. It’s also kind of a dream part. I am also too young for it.

 

Q: Who has been the most influential teacher you’ve had?

     A: I would have to say two really. There was a guy named James Shearwood who was my teacher at Sarah Lawrence College and was always supportive. He was my faculty pal and when I was in my junior year, I was in London, a drama school and I wrote a letter to the head of the theatre department saying that I wanted to play Hamlet. But he agreed to direct it and though it was a good idea that was huge. And then in London the other teacher who was very inspirational to me was Fiona Shaw she’s an Irish actress and she was the one who said you should play Hamlet and she actually wanted me to do Jack Worthing. She’s in the Harry Potter movie and she’s like a huge stage actress in England. She is hilarious, crazy, crazy, brilliant woman.

 

Q: Do you see yourself as more of a Hollywood or Broadway actor? Why?

 A: Well I am more of a stage actor, so I guess I would be Broadway, but not really Broadway because I am not really good in the musicals. In certain ones I could do well, but some aren’t really my thing. But I would love to be in the London West End. This is their professional stage. Have to marry some Brit somewhere I guess.