I put it forth as a challenge to the industry to continue thinking of actors, regardless of sexuality, with open eyes and open hearts that they can play any role.
— Dan Amboyer
I am one of four, so I have two sisters and a brother, and I'm the youngest.
I'm from the Detroit area, just north of Detroit. But then I went to boarding school in northern Michigan, so a little bit colder up there. But beautiful, very beautiful.
Theatre is all about the process and the sense of community that is created. You have weeks of rehearsal, time to explore your character and get to know the other actors. There is opportunity to try off-the-wall ideas, to find layers and nuance over weeks. You become like a second family with your cast.
Middle school left some scars, as I'm sure it did for many of us. When my body started to change, I felt a bit like I was living inside a stranger. People began responding to me differently, which was confusing.
I've been painting since I was a kid.
New York has everything, so you can do anything.
When you do a show eight times a week, you are constantly living in the same world for that whole time, but when you have such drastically different characters and circumstances, you have to find a way to take a moment to reconnect.
I did 'Christmas Carol' off and on through my teenage years, so I always had that dialect and that sound in my ear, which was so helpful. It became second nature.
Being a young actor in the industry, I had a lot of people who strongly advised me to stay quiet. That was hard to live with. But I've never played a gay role before, and I didn't want to be limited by some strange perception.
I've learned that no matter what shape you get your body into, if you don't get your head right, you're not going to feel good about yourself.
When you're coming up in the business, there are so many people giving you advice and people prepping you for interviews: what to say, what not to say. When you don't know the business, you kind of take all that on and say, 'This is what I need to do, and I need to do what people tell me to do.'
Got a degree in acting and actually double majored in musical theatre. And then I came straight to New York and started working.
What I love about working on 'Younger' is that it combines some of my favorite elements of both theatre and film.
I am a New Yorker! Mass transit is my sweet ride. I know the subway system like the back of my hand.
Growing up, I was the awkward, chubby kid. I had a few close friends, but I was the first one to be bullied.
I don't really get nervous about the people I'll audition for, especially if it's people I admire and want to work with: it actually makes me more excited.
I'm from Detroit, so not exactly Buckingham Palace.
When you're the guy inside of a character and you've lived with it for almost two years, you're always a bit defensive about the character, and you want to root for the character you're playing.
I really love the TV thing because it's a little of the best of all worlds. You have a sense of a family and work with the same people over the seasons.
No amount of gym time will make you feel beautiful if you don't feel it on the inside.
We have to try harder to do our best every day, challenge ourselves to better our world.
I came out to my family when I was 13. I was a very young kid, a vulnerable kid.
I grew up in Michigan and - where to start? I mean, my dad was a doctor who worked at a jail. He was more like a jail administrator. My mom was a public school teacher. There's no artists in my family whatsoever.
It is exhilarating and dangerous to perform live. You are walking a tight rope in front of hundreds of people: anything could happen on stage, and whatever does, you must find a way to make it work.
I was extremely shy, but since college, I think I have opened up and gained confidence. I find it much easier to make friends, I let myself go a bit more.
I strive to destroy fear and judgment that once stifled me.
It's even hard for me to even watch myself, but that's the case with most actors. It's weird if an actor is like, 'I love watching myself.'
Clarity is so important for Shakespeare.
I don't know anything about being a royal child. But I have played Shakespearian kings.
I want to live my life moving forward with integrity and pride.
I was a chubby kid, an outsider, and then all of a sudden I shot up to 6 foot 2, and people started calling me handsome. I couldn't accept it; I couldn't see it.
