Interview: Jack Griffo Chats About Performing in Wesley Taylor's PROUD OF US AND OTHER SHORT PLAYS

On November 14th, the Actor's Fun will host an evening of Wesley Taylor's PROUD OF US AND OTHER SHORT PLAYS. For one night only, actors from stage, TV and film will gather to perform Taylor's work.

Ahead of the event, BroadwayWorld sat down with Jack Griffo, who is best known for his work in Nickelodeon's hit show, The Thundermans, about coming to New York City and performing with this incredible group of actors.

Proud of Us and Other Short Plays will take place on November 14th at 7:30pm at New World Stages (340 W 50th Street Stage 2). The evening will be directed by Tony Award winner Billy Porter and feature performances by Griffo, Skylar Astin, Matthew Morrison, Terrence Mann, Bryce Pinkham and more. For more info click here!

Griffo discusses his long time friendship with Taylor, his specific short play and much more. Check out the full BroadwayWorld interview below!

Photo Credit: Ryan Orange

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How did you become attached to Wesley Taylor's PROUD OF US AND OTHER SHORT PLAYS?

So, Wesley Taylor is kind of a friend of the family honestly. I have a lot of older brothers and he went to high school with them actually. Back in Orlando. So, they did a bunch of theater together. Years later, we all moved out to LA and Wesley kind of approached me with these plays and I thought it was a great idea. I was going to be in New York anyway. I was totally game for it.

Being family friends, have you and Wesley worked together before?

We have! We've collaborated before. We are both really creative people. He actually came to me with an idea for a show, for a teaser for a show. We actually shot something early in the year. We shot a little teaser for one of his scripts that he wants to pitch in the new year. Hopefully that will go well. We shot that, so that's being edited and finalized. We aren't strangers to working together, so this will be really cool thing.

Have you guys had any rehearsal or have you just been looking at the plays on your own?

Just looking it over. Wesley called me about the project about a month ago. So, just reading it over. I think we are going to have a day or two before to kind of do it on its feet. Just to see how it feels.

It's a great cast Wesley has pulled together. Do you have someone you are most excited about working with?

Yeah absolutley. Billy Porter is going to be directing. I'm super, super excited to see just how he works and everything. He's legendary and it will be really cool. So, I'm really, really grateful that Wesley has decided to let me be involved. It's going to be awesome to work with these cool people on the other side of this industry that I haven't gotten to be part of yet. I'm super excited. Matthew Morrison is also attached. I was a big GLEE fan back in the day. Wesley has a really stellar lineup, so I'm pumped.

You've done a lot of TV and film, what made you decide to do some theater now?

To be honest, theater is what I did first. I was on stage before I was ever in front of a camera. It's really going back to my roots. That's why I was so down for it. Because it's kind of in-house, because Wesley is a friend, it all seemed like it would work out perfectly. I was there and he had this great part for me that totally fits. So, when the opportunity was presented to me I was like, "How can I say no?"

Can you tease your short play?

Absolutely! My short play is called "Say." The play revolves around a husband and wife and their daughter. The mother's name is Say. Basically, it's about the daughter's date picking her up for the night and what chaos kind of ensues when he comes into the house. That's my character, Justin. It will be really, really fun! I'm excited. I don't know who I'm working with yet, I could've asked Wesley, but I prefer to be surprised. I don't like to rehearse too much. I like everything to be pretty natural and not planned. I think the less I know the better.

Lastly, is Justin like any character you've played before or is he a new challenge for you?

So, I think mostly the character in the play, he's a normal guy, but what happens is he basically falls for this false temptation that's put on the table. I would say he's not really like any of my characters, more so myself. I think this kind of relating to the character and looking at what I would do is how I'm approaching it. So, there's not much from my other characters, it's mostly applying myself to Justin. For things like this when there's not a lot of backstory and not a lot of work to be done, I don't mind meeting the character where he's at and bringing myself to it. I let myself bleed more into.

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Jack Griffo currently stars as a lead in Nickelodeon's hit show, "The Thundermans." The superhero live action comedy was created by three-time Emmy award winning producer and writer Jed Spingarn."The Thundermans" is a show about your typical American suburban family who also happens to have astounding superpowers. In his most recent film project "And Then There Was Light," Jack stars opposite Burt Reynolds and Amy Smart. His extensive list of credits include "Henry Danger" (2016), "NCIS: Los Angeles" (2016), "Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No!" (2015), "Splitting Adam" (2015), "Jinxed" (2013). Jack was nominated for 'Favorite Actor' at the 'Nickelodeon Kids Choice Award' in 2014 and 2016. The show also won 'Favorite TV Show' in 2016 and continues to be a huge hit. Jacks career goals are to continue to work with amazing talent and grow in his craft.