Nick Searcy

Photo credit: Zimbio.com

Cullowhee, a small mountain city in North Carolina, isn’t generally thought of as a place where stars are born.

But one was born there.

Actor Nick Searcy, who plays lawman Art Mullen on the hit FX TV series “Justified,” was born and raised in Cullowhee, N.C.

Searcy, who now lives in Los Angeles, Calif. with his wife and two children, has worked as a professional actor for over 20 years, alongside industry professionals Tom Hanks, Jodie Foster, Tom Cruise, among others.

“I’ve had the great fortune to do this for a living,” Searcy said. “I’ve been blessed.”

TV critic Jack McKinney said in a review of "Justified" earlier this year that Searcy plays a huge part in the show's success. McKinney said Searcy is an indispensable member of the "Justified" cast.

"If they had an award for playing a character that is critical to a show but is so good and consistent that you forget how truly remarkable they are, Nick Searcy would win every year for his work as Art Mullen," McKinney said.

Searcy made his big screen debut in 1991 as villain Frank Bennett in Fried Green Tomatoes.  Since then, he has acted in several major motion pictures, including Moneyball, The Last Song, The Ugly Truth, Runaway Jury and Castaway. In addition to his role on “Justified,” Searcy has also held recurring roles on ABC’s “Rodney,” ABC’s “Thunder Alley” and HBO’s “From the Earth to the Moon.”

Searcy said his earliest recollection of wanting to be a professional actor dates back to his childhood days in Cullowhee.

“I fell in love with the movies when I was a kid,” Searcy said.  “I was about 11 and my first memory is of watching 'The Mary Tyler Moore show' and thinking, ‘Those people look like they enjoy their jobs.  I want to do that.’”

So that’s what he did.  After high school, Searcy went to the N.C. School of the Arts in Winston-Salem to study drama and then to UNC-Chapel Hill, where he studied drama and English.  After graduating from UNC in 1981, Searcy moved to New York City to pursue a career in acting. While there, he met the woman who would eventually become his wife, fellow actor Leslie Riley.

Searcy and Riley wed in 1986. Leslie Searcy, nee Riley, said that although their married life in New York City was exciting, it was often difficult to make ends meet.

“We were both starving actors in New York,” Searcy said.  “And parts of it were really fun.  We sacrificed to try to make it work.  We worked midnight to 7 a.m. shifts proofreading legal documents so we could audition during the day.  It was fun, but it got old.”

The couple moved back to North Carolina in 1989 after their daughter was born. Leslie Searcy said that, at that time, it looked like her husband was going to have to put his acting career on hold. Searcy said she never asked him to give up on his dreams, though.

“I was doubtful that he could make it, but I never said, ‘You have to give this up.’’’

And it’s a good thing she didn’t because in 1991 Searcy was cast in Fried Green Tomatoes – a film that would propel him into the television and film industry. Leslie Searcy said they were ecstatic when they heard the news Searcy had been cast in the film.

“We were just blown away,” Searcy said.  “I mean they had stars auditioning for that part.  We couldn’t believe they cast him.”

Fried Green Tomatoes helped Searcy land an agent in Los Angeles.  The year after the film was released, Searcy and his family moved to California.

And Searcy has been a consistent presence in the television and film industry ever since.  He’s most recognized as an actor, but has tried his hand at directing and producing, as well. 

In 1996 Searcy produced, directed and acted in the independent feature Paradise Falls.  The film was incredibly successful. It won the Hollywood Film Festival’s Best Feature Film award in 1998. 

While Searcy said he enjoyed the chance to direct, he said the experience ultimately taught him that acting is what he is most passionate about.

 “I enjoyed the directing, but I realized it’s just so much work!” Searcy said.  “The whole time I was directing, I was thinking, ‘I miss that little job I had of sitting in my trailer with my five lines.'  I realized that acting is what I really like.”

Searcy said he’s found acting especially rewarding when he’s been able to play roles that are perfect for him – like his character on “Justified.”

“I read the script and thought, ‘Oh this is mine,’” Searcy said.

Searcy was cast as Chief Deputy Art Mullen on “Justified,” which just finished its third season, in 2009. The show is set in Kentucky and follows the life of U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens, played by Timothy Olyphant.  Searcy plays Givens’ boss in the series.

“Justified” will begin filming again in October. Searcy said he hopes the show will be around for many years to come.

“I love ‘Justified,’” Searcy said.  “I hope it goes on for 10 years.  I’m hoping I can just ride this one out into the sunset.”

Dean Smith, of Chapel Hill, who met Searcy at the N.C. School of the Arts many years ago, said Searcy’s stellar performance on “Justified,” is characteristic of Searcy’s work as an actor. Smith said Searcy is the real deal of film and TV acting.

“He’s that reliable character actor,” Smith said, “who can come in and give any show or movie the flesh-and-blood depth and texture they need to be more than just a vehicle for the latest start of the moment. He’s a real pro.”

Searcy said he would describe the roles he generally gets as “character” roles – roles like the best friend, the boss, the neighbor, etc. Searcy said he isn’t bothered by not getting cast in leading man roles.

“I’m a leading man trapped in a character actor’s body,” Searcy joked.

Searcy said the secret to his success in the film industry has been his confidence, persistence and candor.

“My wife always says that I’ve been blessed with overconfidence,” Searcy joked. “But you have to be tough.  In this business you get rejected 150 times and you might get accepted three or four times – and that’s good.  You can make a living out of that.  You have to have the ability to hear ‘You’re not good enough,” and think, ‘You people are idiots.’”

Leslie Searcy confirmed that her husband has always been incredibly self-assured.

“I could see it from the first moment I met him,” Searcy said.  “I really think it’s the reason he made it. He takes rejection and just thinks that the other people are stupid.  I mean what a gift.”

Frank Garrett, of Winston–Salem, who was Searcy’s roommate at the N.C. School of the Arts nearly 30 years ago, said he always believed Searcy would make it big.

“I told him that he would be successful and that I would be behind him 100 percent,” Garrett said.  “He had some very difficult times, but I always knew he was going to make it.  He had that drive and that determination.  I never thought he would give up.”

Garrett wasn’t always Searcy’s biggest fan, though. When the two first met at the N.C. School of the Arts, Garrett said he was skeptical whether he and Searcy would get along.

“When Jane, my sister, and I were moving my stuff into my dorm room, I met Nick and his parents,” Garrett said. “And I instantly disliked Nick.”

Garrett said the animosity was short-lived, though.

“After a couple of months, Nick and I came to love each other as best friends,” Garrett said. “We’ve been best friends ever since.”

Garret said that, despite his fame, Searcy is just a regular guy. Searcy is the father of two children – Chloe, 22, and Omar, 12. Searcy said his daughter plans on launching an acting career of her own – against her dad’s best advice.

“I tease her that she has an unrealistic idea about acting because she sees her dad lying around the house most weeks out of the year,” Searcy said.  “But she’s going to do great.  She’s a really great actress.”

Omar, Searcy's son whom they adopted at 15-months-old, is Searcy's pride and joy. Leslie Searcy said that because her husband has such a flexible work schedule, he is able to be a very hands-on father.  Searcy said her husband enjoys spending a lot of time with his son.

“He’s always with that boy,” she said. “He just adores him.  He’s an amazing father.  He really loves being with the kids.”

Searcy said he’s told his agents that he’s planning on taking the summer off to have some fun and be with his kids.  He’ll begin filming “Justified” in October and has plans to act in a play next spring. 

Searcy said that he is thankful for and excited by his present career success – even if it did come later than expected.

“I’ve been expecting sizable roles all my life,” Searcy said.  “It’s the years of anonymity and failure that I didn’t expect.  At last, they finally figured out how great I am.”

 

"Angels" Then and Now

Photo credit: OneonOneNYC

If theatrical success is measured by sold out performances and standing ovations, then PlayMakers Repertory Company’s production of Angels in America last year was a hit.  Critics called Angels, a Pulitzer Prize-winning play about the AIDS crisis of the 1980s, “a magnificent piece of contemporary theater.” 

The story was quite different 16 years ago, when the play's North Carolina debut in Charlotte resulted in boycotting, millions of dollars being cut from the arts community and the eventual closing of the city's only accredited professional theater. 

At first there was great excitement for the play to come to Charlotte.  Charlotte Observer theater critic Lawrence Toppman, who worked as the paper's film critic at the time, said the play was highly anticipated by audiences. 

“It was an extremely hot ticket,” Toppman said.  “It might be possible that every performance sold out – or at least every weekend performance.  It was very difficult to get in.”

After the production opened, many people were angered by the play’s risqué content.  A group of religious conservatives, including five Mecklenburg County commissioners, were especially vocal expressing their disdain for the play, which has full frontal male nudity and gay themes. 

In Toppman’s 2009 article “Participants Reflect on the ‘Angels’ Controversy in Charlotte’” Bill James, one of the commissioners who spearheaded the effort to ban the play, said his response was justified.  

“I report to voters, and voters were mad that their tax dollars went toward illegal, immoral and repugnant stuff,” James said.

In the wake of the Angels controversy, James and the four other members of the nine-member board voted in 1997 to cut $2.5 million from the Arts & Science Council.  Eight years later, the Charlotte Repertory Theatre closed its doors for good.

Toppman said the controversy created a lot of bad feeling in the Charlotte community.

“There were no winners in the outcome,” Toppman said.  “The county commissioners looked foolish and narrow minded and four of the five of them decided not to run again or were not reelected.  Nobody really came out of it smelling like roses.” 

Angels had rocked Charlotte and attracted national attention to the area.  Fifteen years later, the play found its way to Chapel Hill.

PlayMakers Repertory Company produced Angels in America Spring 2011.  Jeff Meanza, PRC’s associate artistic director, said he and Artistic Director Joseph Haj were anxious to see how modern audiences would respond to it.

“It was the 20 year anniversary of the play being written and we were curious of whether it would have any contemporary resonance,” Meanza said.  “It was a sort of test to see where we are now.  There’s been a big cultural shift across the state since the Charlotte incident.”

Meanza said he and Haj had no idea whether the show would be a success — they just hoped for the best.

“We were cautiously optimistic,” Meanza said.

Fortunately for PlayMakers, the production was a success.  The play ran from Jan. 29 to Mar. 6 and was met with positive reviews.  The News and Observer described Angels as “a play not everyone will want to see, but one everyone should see.”

Meanza said the play sold better than the theater’s 2010 production of Nicholas Nickelby, an eight-hour stage play adapted from the Charles Dickens novel.  Nickelby was PlayMakers’ first full-scale rotating repertory production and was universally praised by critics and audiences.

Whitney Vaughan, PRC’s wardrobe supervisor who worked backstage of Angels, said the production was, for the most part, well-received by audiences.

“Overall it seemed like people responded well to it,” Vaughan said.  “Some people would leave mid-show because it wasn’t what they expected, but those who stayed to the end responded pretty positively.”

Meanza confirmed that while the production was commercially successful and mostly well-received, not all audience members respected PlayMakers’ decision to show the play.

“There were people who were not pleased,” Meanza said.  “We got our share of letters from people with strong opinions.  A couple of people decided not to subscribe with us anymore.”

Yet those audience members’ reactions were nothing compared to those of the 1996 Charlotte controversy. Unlike the Charlotte showing, there were no picketers surrounding the PlayMakers production, chanting, “This play is evil.  Don’t go in.”

Toppman said part of the reason why recent North Carolina productions of Angels have been better received than in years past is that the show has become less shocking over the years.

“We’ve been desensitized by film, television, video and what we post online,” Toppman said.  “It’s hard for a play about social issues to irritate us now.  We just have sort of accepted it as part of the fabric of life in America.”

Meanza said it also has to do with audiences becoming more comfortable with the play and with gay themes in general.

“We produced the play after the HBO miniseries took off,” Meanza said.  “And there was a Broadway remount of the production.  There are also more queer characters on TV now than there were then.  It’s not as immediately scary to the majority of people as it once was.” 

 While PlayMakers never aims to shock or scare audiences, it prides itself on challenging patrons with the material it selects.  PlayMakers recently presented a one-night staged reading of “8,” which chronicles the controversial Proposition 8 trial.  Chapel Hill Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt read the stage directions for the play.

Tim Scales, PRC’s marketing assistant and producer of “8,” said PlayMakers is devoted to promoting dialogue through theater.  Scales said the Chapel Hill community has come to expect bold, intellectually satisfying content from the PlayMakers stage.

“We live in a very socially conscious community,” Scales said.  “We have an audience that cares about important issues and wants to come see these shows.  And as a theater, we want to remain relevant.  We want to have an impact.”

Scales credits PRC Artistic Director Joseph Haj, who began working for the theater in 2006, for turning PlayMakers into a socially aware theater.

“He sets what direction our plays go in,” Scales said.  “He puts a lot of resonance on producing plays that explore important issues.”

Meanza said that one of the immediate changes Haj made after joining the theater in 2006 was to add a second stage season of plays – called PRC ² – where a post-show conversation follows every performance.

In a 2011 interview, Haj said he believes it is PlayMakers’ duty to address difficult issues in its work.  Since his coming, the theater has produced Fences, The Parchman Hour and Big River, which address race issues.


Haj said one of theater’s greatest responsibilities is to encourage audience members to think deeply about the material and engage in meaningful conversation with each other.


“If you’re going to strive to be an important theater, you have to have courage,” Haj said.  “You have to be willing to ask thought-provoking questions.  You have to make it meaningful.”

Meanza agreed.  “We realize that theater has a social responsibility,” Meanza said.  “It is one of the last public forums where the medium lends itself to generating dialogue.  We believe that theater is not a passive art form, but that it’s participatory.”

PlayMakers’ 2012-2013 season includes A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry and Clybourne Park, a new Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Bruce Norris.  Both plays address race issues.

Toppman said it is a testament to how far we have come as a society that theaters in North Carolina are now able to show productions like these without causing much of a stir.

“We’ve passed it as a culture  — as a threatening point,” Toppman said.  “We ‘get it’ better; it doesn’t scare us.”

Meanza said PlayMakers will continue to produce works that start conversations around social and political issues.

“Absolutely.  Why would you do anything else?” Meanza said. “We’re not going to be doing seasons of Annie and Thumbelina. We’re not interested in that type of playmaking.”

 

Sources for Trend Story

I am writing a trend story on the increase in socially conscious theater in North Carolina and how it is being better received now than in years past.

I will compare the 1996 "Angels in America" production in Charlotte, N.C., which was incredibly controversial, to the 2011 production at PlayMakers Repertory Company in Chapel Hill, N.C.  The PRC production was well received by audiences.  Unlike the Charlotte Repertory Theater production 15 years prior, the PRC production did not inspire riots or boycotting.  PRC's Artistic Director Joe Haj said he did receive hate mail for choosing the play, though.

I plan on contacting Joe Haj for an interview.  If he is unavailable, I will contact Associate Artistic Director Jeffrey Meanza.  I want to find out why PlayMakers has decided to do theater with social justice undertones.  Why did it decide to show "Parchman Hour," "Fences," "Big River," and "A Raisin in the Sun," which all deal with race issues?  And what about "Angels in America" and "8," which deal with gay rights?  Has PlayMakers become a socially conscious theater?

On the national level, I plan on contacting someone at the League of Regional Theaters (LORT) for information on whether there has been an increase in theaters across the country taking on social justice issues into their work.

I want to find out why PRC has decided to have shows that deal largely with social issues and if other theaters are doing this, as well. What makes these shows important?  And why are these shows being better received now than in years past?

Is this type of theater just in Chapel Hill?  Or are there other theaters in North Carolina that are doing this kind of work?  And how are audience members responding? Are audience members' opinions on social justice theater changing?  Are they becoming more tolerant?