Chicago remains my favorite city in the world. I wish I could still live there. When I first worked in Chicago, there were nowhere near the number of theaters that there are now. It has been such an explosion, and I arrived at the beginning of it.
I was born at 4535 N. Artesian Ave. and attended Waters School at 4540 N. Campbell for kindergarten and Queen of Angels School at 4520 N. Western Ave. for 1st grade.
When I was 6 years old, we moved to Rockford, where my father still teaches English literature at Rockford Community College. We returned to Chicago often, about twice a month, because we all missed the city so much.
We`d stay with our good friends Mike and Nadine Byrne and their kids. I remember going to Cubs games when I was about 8. I`d go with one of the Byrne kids, saying we were going out to play football. Instead we would hop on the
”L” and go to the game. We`d get some older kids to buy our tickets, and we`d go in with them.
We swam in the lake a lot too. Other times, we`d just hang out in the street, playing ball, stopping only when the cars came by.
I was exposed to the theatrical classics early on, and I recall vividly being cast as the little boy in ”Waiting for Godot” when I was 8. It was at Rockford College, and my father, who had volunteered my services, insisted that I read the play before rehearsals started.
All I wanted to do then was go outside and play. I couldn`t understand the play, but once rehearsals started, I had the best time of my life. All the college kids in the cast were wonderful to me. I got to wear furs and paint and makeup. It was incredible.
After graduation from high school, I went to live in Ireland for a year. I saw a lot of theater there, including classics and experimental stuff. I would go to Trinity College to see performances at the school theater. Tickets were so cheap I`d go whenever I had the chance. I was fascinated by it all, and I thought, ”Gee, I`d like to do that.”
I moved back to Chicago when I was 19 and took an acting class with Byrne Piven at the Piven Theatre Workshop in Evanston. I worked as a roofer to support myself.
Byrne directed me in a play that he also starred in, ”The Man in 605,”
which was written by Chicago playwright Alan Gross. I was 20 years old, and when it went on to New York, the producers wanted a name actor to play my role. They got W.H. Macy.
I kept going back to the Pivens for additional classes. I would watch Johnny Cusack and his sisters and Jeremy Piven, who were all in the Young People`s Company. They were teenagers and were so talented even then.
I also studied with the late Ed Kaye Martin at the Wisdom Bridge Training Center. It has since moved and is now run by Kyle Donnelly and Dan LaMorte.
I really am indebted to the Pivens-Byrne and his wife, Joyce-for being so supportive. They took me under their wing, gave me jobs fixing up their house when I didn`t have any money. They even let me slide and not pay for acting classes. They were great people.
After ”Man in 605,” I had a lot of jobs, including painting houses, carpentry and waiting tables. I was a janitor in the Evanston Public Library, and I moved around a lot, living on Kenmore, Belmont, Newport-near Wrigley Field-and in Evanston.
I knew everyone at the Steppenwolf and Remains theater companies, but I was kind of an outsider. We all hung out together at the Gaslight Corner on North Halsted Street. That was the favorite watering hole. I didn`t get as much work as they did because they had their own company. I`d go to auditions and readings but never did join a group.
We told each other about auditions, sharing information. It wasn`t fraught with the jealousy and competitiveness that usually occurs. There was a lot of great theater and interesting happenings, which just couldn`t happen in New York because it`s so expensive to live there.
I did an audition for a casting director who came through town. It was a cold reading with Joanie Cusack. A director in L.A. saw it and flew me out to audition for my first film. It was like a fairy tale. It was the lead, and I got the part. I was very fortunate.
The last time I appeared in Chicago on stage was at Wisdom Bridge, where I did ”Hamlet.” I would like to do more live theater in Chicago, but this would be hard to do right now; I have a family living in New York and I want to be near them. When my daughter Ava gets a little older I certainly would like to return to Chicago and do something there. It`s such an extraordinary place.
