SSP STAFF WRITER ENTERTAINMENT ZONE: May 31, 2023
We are excited to be back with our first conversation of 2023! Today, actor / funny man, Todd Sherry graciously agreed to have an open and honest chat with us about his career and finding balance in the craziness that is Hollywood.
SSP: Hello, Todd, thanks for sitting down us! Tell our followers a little be about yourself.
TS: A little about myself. Awkward! That is to say, that I was an awkward kid. I found my tribe in the school choir which I was in from first through 12th grade. Singing led me to being in school musicals and plays. I come from a small town in northwestern Pennsylvania called Meadville. Founded in 1788. My mother’s family came to this land in 1629. My father’s grandparents came over from Ireland. I am the youngest of three boys.
SSP: What attracted you to begin a career as an actor?
TS: I started acting in 9th grade when the French teacher and the English teacher decided to produce and direct a musical. Having been a singer since the age of 6, it should have been a piece of cake. But I was terrified. My French teacher, Mrs. Mook, encouraged me to get up and sing. Thankfully, my choir instructor was playing the piano at the audition. He recommended my first audition song: MY COUNTRY TIS OF THEE. I told you I was awkward! I got 2 roles in the show! One with a solo number! I was hooked. I did most of the plays and musicals throughout my high school years and then attended Clarion University of PA where I received a BFA in Acting, minoring in Musical Theatre.
SSP: Was it harder to get started or to keep going? What was the particular thing that you had to conquer to do either?
TS: For me, it wasn’t difficult to get started at all. It was the only thing I wanted to do with my life. In my final semester of college, I auditioned for a summer stock theatre aboard the Showboat Becky Thatcher in Marietta, OH. I booked the gig playing 3 leads and one character role in 4 musicals that summer. After that, I was asked to stay for the Fall season. By the end of that year, I moved to NYC to follow the dream! It all seemed very logical to me. Coming from a small town, I had to learn to navigate “the big city”. I only knew a couple of people there at the time, so it was scary and depressing. But, in time, I became a New Yorker and began to study voice, acting, and dance. Again, I found my tribe–other actors in my classes and auditions.
SSP: When was your first major role as an actor? And how did you get it?
TS: My first major role as an actor? Hmmm. I had already played several major roles in summer stock musicals during my first few years in NYC by the time I booked the role of Seymour in the U.S./ Canadian National Tour of LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS. That was a dream come true. My favorite role in my favorite musical! I got it after numerous callbacks for the director, Albert Tavares. At the end of all those auditions, I had literally sung every note Seymour sings in the show and did every scene! Not kidding. I just kept showing up and doing what was asked of me.
SSP: When digging into a role, what is the biggest challenge to becoming the character?
TS: The biggest challenge to any role for me is finding the similarities from my life that apply to the character and bringing myself to the role.
SSP: A star of both the stage and screen, which do you enjoy more? And why?
TS: Stage or screen? I love both for different reasons. But I think my first love will always be the stage. There is nothing like a live audience watching as the show unfolds. Shooting a sitcom with a live audience is similar, but not the same. Stage is the most exciting, in-the-moment acting you’ll ever do.
SSP: You’ve played so many wonderful and compelling characters over the years. Which was your most favorite? And why?
TS: On stage, my favorite role was Seymour in LITTLE SHOP. I ended up playing it three times in my career, including the National Tour. It’s the one role I would play for the rest of my life if possible! On TV, my favorite role was the title character of an episode of THE RESIDENT (season 3, episode 17 “Doll E. Wood”). The writing was fantastic and I played the lead in the major story line. It was just so fulfilling. I must give credit to the director, Li Lu, who did a spectacular job of guiding that ship! And producer Amy Holden Jones for her undying support.
SSP: What was the biggest challenge about taking on that role?
TS: For the role of Seymour, the biggest challenge was simply endurance! As directed, my character only left the stage for 6 minutes or so throughout the entire play. He also sings in 11 songs…solos, duets, and group numbers. For Doll E. Wood, it was the huge prosthetic breasts I had to wear as a Dolly Parton Impersonator!
SSP: Have you ever felt in over your head when portraying a character?
TS: Over my head? Sure. The first time I was cast as Seymour in LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS, it was a daunting task to learn it all in 10 days!! Songs, scenes, dances, puppetry, etc. That role is non-stop for 2+ hours. Wonderfully exhausting.
SSP: Even for such a renowned actor as yourself, the business can still have its ups and downs. How do you manage and cope through the down times?
TS: There will always be down times for actors. I recently saw an interview with Meryl Streep where she said that every time she wraps on a project, she thinks there will never be another one! I think all actors have that worry, especially as we get older and have a lot more experience under our belt. I’m sure everyone handles it differently. For me, I retreat to my garden and my animals where I find peace of mind. And I reach out to friends for a dose of unconditional love! Show business is cyclical. I simply trust that my past work speaks for itself and that more will come in the future.
SSP: Has your career progressed as you have expected?
TS: If anyone’s career has gone “as expected” they are doing something terribly wrong! Ours is one of the most unpredictable businesses. My career has literally taken me around the world as a singer, across two countries as a musical theatre performer, and it has led me to guest starring and recurring on dozens of TV shows. I’ve been in films opposite Sandra Bullock, Adam Sandler, Jennifer Aniston, and Steve Carrell to name a few. That little choir boy in that small town never imagined the life I have been privileged to live! So, no, it has not gone “as expected”, thank goodness!
SSP: What was the most important lesson you had to learn that has had a positive effect on your career? How did that lesson happen?
TS: My most important lesson that positively effected my career happened in a single day. I had been auditioning for TV shows, but not booking anything. I had not spoken a single line on TV when I got an audition for a Guest Star on CHARMED. It was important to me to give a good audition, so I asked an actor friend to work on it with me. We were waiters in the same restaurant at the time and he knew me fairly well. At one point he simply said “Remember how much fun you were having with that customer at the counter the other night?” “Yes”, I said. “Well, try it more like that. be more YOU. This character is a lot like you, so be like that.” It was life-changing. I booked the role. My first role on TV was a Guest Star! From that day forward, I always sought to bring a bit of myself to every role for which I auditioned. I started booking a high percentage of roles I auditioned for. As I put it “If you’re Pepsi, sell me Pepsi. Don’t pour Orange Crush out of that can!” I quit worrying about “what they’re looking for” and started to come from a place of “here’s what I got–want it?”.
SSP: How do you seek out roles?
TS: Mostly, my agents and managers look for roles for me. Besides that, I took advice given by Jane Lynch to heart and started saying yes to everything I was available for.
SSP: Who are your biggest influences?
TS: My biggest influences are Sean Hayes, Paul Lynde, Jimmy Stewart, everyone in MGM musicals, and virtually every actor on TV during the 70’s!
SSP: What are personal attributes that make for a good Actor, and what do you do to foster them?
TS: To be a good actor, I believe you must be someone with whom others want to work. When you come onto a tv show, for instance, you may be a Guest Star, or a Recurring character, but it’s not your show. Be early, know your lines, hit your marks, be flexible, and have fun. Above all, be kind.
SSP: Is the film business fair? Why or why not? How do you make the apparatus work for you?
TS: Nothing in life is fair. So why would anyone think show business is any different? Get up, dress up, and show up. Do your best. Be a good human. The rest is out of your hands. If some executive wants their niece or nephew to get the role, you have no chance. But you CAN show up and be so darn good that they remember you for another role later on.
SSP: What has been your greatest accomplishment as an actor?
TS: My greatest accomplishment as an actor has been transitioning form stage to TV and Film. Not everyone can do it. I am proud of my work.
SSP: As a successful working actor, is there still any area in which you would like to improve as an actor?
TS: There is always room for improvement. There’s always a better joke to tell, a higher note to sing, a dance move to perfect…the list is endless. I think performers begin to die the moment they stop seeking to improve themselves. Constant learning keeps us young!
SSP: What sort of acting roles will you be seeking in the future?
TS: Going forward, I hope to play many more meaningful gay roles. There was a time when gay characters were non-sexual, sidekick, silly laugh-makers with no real, full, fleshed-out lives. With each passing year, I’m seeing more full, rich, real gay characters and that’s what I want to portray.
SSP: When not on a set, what do you do in your spare time?
TS: When I am not on set, I have a 5000 square-foot garden that I have built and tend myself. That keeps me as busy as I ever need to be. I also have 5 white pigeons that I care for. I am also quite adept at repurposing furniture. I’m forever finding things in thrift stores or in the trash that find their way home with me!
SSP: You’re known to be a very private person. How do you maintain a healthy home life vs work life balance?
TS: I think the only way to keep a home life/ work balance is to learn that it’s impossible. In this business, you could be grilling in your back yard one moment and packing to go to Vancouver or Atlanta to shoot a TV show the next. I remember one time after I had returned to LA form Hawaii where I was shooting JUST GO WITH IT. I had bought a couch and was on my way home when my cell phone rang. It was the director of JUST GO WITH IT saying “Adam Sandler is writing another scene for you. We need you on the next plane back to Hawaii”…within two hours I was in the air! I think most of us in the business understand its nature and just do our best to find balance.
SSP: Are you on social media and do you use it in your work? Why or why not?
TS: I am on social media. I mostly post garden photos. Occasionally I will post reels of work I have done as a reminder to myself and others that I’m out there, I’m good at what I do, and I am available for work.
SSP: What would be a good theme song for your life?
TS: Theme Song for my life? DON’T RAIN ON MY PARADE
SSP: If someone was going to make your life into a movie, what would the title be and why?
TS: The title of the film of my life? WELL, THAT HAPPENED
Because it did, and still is. As Sharon Stone, who is from my home town, said to my cast mates when she attended a play I was starring in:
“You all have no idea how fucking hard it is to get out of Meadville!”
SSP: LOL! Well, you did it and we are glad you did. Thanks for sharing your story with us! We look forward to continuing to see you grace our screens large and small.
To keep up with Todd, check out him htttps://www.facebook.com/todd.sherry or follow her on Instagram @toddsherry
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Until next time, live your passion and chase your dreams!
SSP
