Interview with Eric Sheffer Stevens Part Two

Welcome to Day Two of my interview with Eric Sheffer Stevens. Today we talk about challenging roles, dream directors, and working with Terri (Colombino) Conn.

What would you say is the most challenging role you’ve performed to date?

[long pause] I don’t… I don’t know. I have kind of a hard time with those questions. “What was your favorite scene?” And I look back and it’s just a blank. I don’t see anything. Hold on here. I’m moving over to the computer to open up my resume.

[laughing] We can go ahead and skip that question if you want. They’re not typed in stone.

No, wait, I’m opening it now. I’ll glance over this and come back to it.

Okay. Well, you had mentioned in one of your radio call-ins that you had just completed a scene with Terri that you really enjoyed, but you couldn’t tell us what it was because it hadn’t aired yet. So there was a bit of a debate going on on Twitter about what scene it was.

[NOTE FROM KATE: YES, I AM AWARE THAT TEN SECONDS AFTER HE TOLD ME HE HAD A HARD TIME WITH THAT KIND OF QUESTION, I ASKED HIM THAT EXACT QUESTION. /FACEPALM]

Oh, yeah? What month was it?

Um… it was the first radio show, so it was probably right near the end. Within the last month of filming, the last few episodes, I think?

What did I do with Terri… I don’t know if this was it, because I have no idea, I don’t remember that, but it might have been – what did I say about it? Did I say anything about it? Or did I just say I enjoyed it?

You said you really enjoyed it, and it was a lot of fun to do, but you couldn’t say what it was because it hadn’t [aired] yet.

Oh, this wasn’t what I was thinking of, because this wasn’t fun to do, but… well, maybe. There were two things it could have been. The funny one, towards the end, was ...the toothbrush thing. I thought that was so random when the writers wrote that I actually keep my toothbrush in a very specific place in the holder, and that I noticed that it was turned the wrong way. And then she says, “Oh, yeah, Chris stayed over,” and I threw it. That was fun to do. That was a fun scene. I’m not sure if that was it.

One of the ones I was most impressed with with her was when she finds out Chris is sick, and then she finds out I already knew, that I knew the whole time. And then she just hits me in the chest. She hit me so hard that afterward I lifted up my shirt and showed her that her handprint was right on my chest, and it was there for half the day. But I thought it was really fantastic. Because before doing it, she was like, “I don’t know, it’s kind of stupid,” and the director’s going, “Just do it. Just go with it. I think it’s good. It’s good.” And then when she did it, she did it completely unlike how we rehearsed it and just completely whaled on me.

And she also has an amazing emotional connection. I’m really impressed with her. I thought she was fantastic. And then the whole end, with Reid dying, and dealing with Chris… I think she’s a really great actor. I loved everything we did. I loved working with her.

That was, I think, my second favorite pairing of yours on the show, with Terri. Reid and Katie together. I loved that connection you guys had.

Uh-huh. What’s your first favorite?

[Laughter] Well, it’s kind of obvious…

Oh!

Yes, definitely [Reid] and Luke.

Right.

But yes, I think you’ve covered the bases, because I think those were the two scenes that were argued about on Twitter which were the favorite ones. So I think you’re going to make everybody happy by mentioning both of those.

Oh, really? [laughter]

Have you had a chance to look at your resume?

No, no, I was trying to remember that scene. You asked me another tough one and I couldn’t –

Sorry, I distracted you again.

I started, and then I got distracted. Give me the next one, and then I’ll answer it.

Okay, let’s see…

I know one I really struggled in. I just found this and had a horrible memory associated with it. I did Alexei in A MONTH IN THE COUNTRY, by Turgenev, Brian Friel’s adaptation. I was in grad school, so this was just ten years ago. I felt like I was miserable in that. I couldn’t find my way in that one. I had a really hard time [communicating with the director] and I just wasn’t sure what I was doing. I really struggled through that whole process and wasn’t very happy with it. Ultimately I was happy for it to end. I felt like I kind of arrived at something finally but I remember I was just miserable to the point where I didn’t want to go to rehearsal. I would listen to Nine Inch Nails, I remember, on the way over to rehearsal, just trying to get some sort of energy. Some sort of will to live. [laughter] It was terrible.

That’s a really interesting choice to get the will to live, through Nine Inch Nails. You know, whatever works for you.

Yeah, that doesn’t quite work out. As far as the energy of the piece, I found, not the message of it. Not Trent Reznor’s darkness.

Okay, going to the other end of the spectrum, if you could choose a dream director to work with, who’s on your list?

Jack O’Brien. I would work with him again in a second. He was a dream director. When I did COAST OF UTOPIA, that was the one of the first times I worked with somebody who was famous and worked on Broadway all the time. And then I actually worked with him and found out that he’s just the real deal. He’s actually that good. It’s not just a hype situation. He’s a brilliant director. What he did with that sprawling, nine-hour play was unbelievable. He was like a preacher, and we just followed him. He’s a dream director to me, even though I’ve already worked with him.

The full cast of COAST OF UTOPIA. Eric is third from the left, back row, wearing black.

It’s nice to find that kind of experience.

Oh, yeah. Yeah.

(Be sure to come back tomorrow for more! We'll be diving into the ATWT phenomenon.)

Eric Sheffer Stevens, Part One

Eric Sheffer Stevens, Part Three

Eric Sheffer Stevens, Part Four