The last time Sam Underwood appeared on stage he was completely naked. He was playing Alan Strang in the much lauded production of Peter Schaffer's EQUUS at East Hampton (NY)'s John Drew Theatre. Those who are familiar with the play know that it culminates in a 20 minute nude scene for the actor playing the tormented young Strang. How then would the actor be recognized when he walked into a restaurant in New York City fully clothed?
Happily, his bright blue eyes and six foot stature made him easy to notice and his hair is still rather long in the style he wore in the play. Underwood is a serious actor but he enjoys a good laugh while having dinner. Speaking in his pleasantly clippEd English accent, the young Brit happily reflected on his experiences in EQUUS as well as his theater company and other upcoming projects. He's a far cry from the young man who had Alec Baldwin mystified every night on stage in East Hampton.
Underwood's background harks to the town of Woking, about a half hour's drive south of London. "My Mum put me in dance school when I was about four years old," recalls Underwood. "I had too much excess energy that needed to be burned off, I guess. My father was a singer/songwriter and we moved down to the Woking area because there's a lot of jam working around that territory. The music industry is thriving in that region. Eventually I started doing the musicals that the dance company was presenting; so I got to play Dodger in OLIVER! and things like that. I studied drama and went on to college. When I was auditioning for drama schools in London the director of the theatre company I was working with told me that they were doing a play that they were going to take on a little tour of America. He asked if I'd like to be part of it. I told him, ‘Absolutely!' and went to my school to ask them if I could have a year off so I could do this show. They agreed and that brought me to New York. My director suggested that I look at the training over here because he felt I'd really connect with things by using my theatre background. I looked at a couple of schools, auditioned and got in. I felt I had to take the opportunity when it presented itself. I knew I could always go back to London and this was the best decision ever!"
Underwood has been in the United States for almost four years now. "I came over in October of 2006 and graduated in February of 2008 and have been a working actor ever since!"
Despite his recent and memorable dramatic roles, the young Brit has a long list of musical comedy on his resume. "Absolutely!" he agrees. "I mean, Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor, Fred Astaire, Bob Fosse, all those old M-G-M movie musicals were things I grew up on. They were always playing in my home so I grew up with that kind of stuff. However, I was lucky enough to get the acting training over here as well as London and I developed a love for the music in Shakespeare's language and the music found in classic texts. It became a real passion and I feel that there's no reason why I can't do both things. It's possible to do musical theatre and have a good musical ear for the language of Shakespeare. One of the key components of performing Shakespeare is being able to tap into the melodies of how he wrote. Even contemporary writers like Sir Peter Shaffer have the same sort of music found in their texts."
It was while Underwood was in Arizona playing Billy Crocker in ANYTHING GOES that he came across an on-line audition breakdown for a production of CANDIDA at the Irish Repertory Theatre in New York. "I e-mailed my agents and said ‘You have to get me an audition for this because I know Marchbanks is a role I can do!' It's George Bernard Shaw. It doesn't get much better than that text-wise," The actor recalls. "They knew the casting director and had no trouble submitting me. I was lucky enough to get an appointment and when I walked in the room for the audition, Tony Walton, the director, was in there. I really wasn't expecting that. Tony and I struck up a great relationship from the get-go. He gave me some really great modifications in the audition room and we spent a good amount of time together. I went away from that audition feeling very good about it and went to England for my Christmas break."
