Interview: Rory O'Malley Talks Playing Shakespeare in AMERICAN PRINCESS

Tony Nominated actor, Rory O'Malley (The Book of Mormon), fresh off of his run as King George in both the Broadway and West Coast productions of Hamilton, is starring as Brian Dooley in Lifetime's new series American Princess. The show is executive produced by Jenji Kohan (Orange is the New Black, Weeds, and GLOW) and follows a runaway bride as she joins a Renaissance Fair after her wedding goes awry. In the series, Rory plays the Faire's beloved Shakespeare.

Rory O'Malley took a moment to speak with us about what it was like playing Shakespeare and getting to share this story with television audiences.

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How did you get involved with the project?

I got a script that was written by Jamie Denbo, who I loved from her podcast Ronna and Beverly. She's a UCB (Upright Citizens Brigade) alum, and she's just- I know she's a hilarious human being, and I loved the script, and it was being produced by Jenji Kohan, so I got into an audition with the two of them. Jennifer Houston, who was casting it, who casts a lot of Jenji's shows, like Orange is the New Black, and GLOW, and I just was so excited to meet them all. So, it just was such a gift to get this part, and get to start working on it with them. But, they had seen me in Hamilton, and I think that going from King George to Shakespeare just made a lot of sense.

What is it like to play this character where half the time you're playing Shakespeare and the other half the time you're just Brian?

Rory: Right? He's so much fun, because there's a lot of layers. Like, sometimes I'm playing Shakespeare, but I'm playing Brian playing Shakespeare, and he's upset at his costar, or something's happening onstage. There's so many different layers to it, so it really makes it so thrilling. It's a puzzle to figure out. You know, do I have an English accent right now or not? Would Brian keep up the character while he's walking through the Renaissance Faire at this moment, or does he get too upset and breaks character? It's just so much fun to play with.

This show does a great job showing audiences how much goes into putting on a Renaissance festival.

The playtrons as they're called--patrons who play--the people who show up in costume and in character who are paid to do it. It's where cosplay really came from, were Renaissance faires. So when you go to BroadwayCon, and you have people walking around in character and in costume, it really originated from Renaissance faires in Laurel Canyon, in Los Angeles, and then spread out all over the country, and kind of became this fun escape for people to go into a different time. And now those comic cons and BroadwayCons and Renaissance faires, they've kind of blended together. If you go to a Renaissance faire, you will see a King George III walking around, or Deadpool, or superheroes, and it's really about showing up and dressing up and playing.

What was it like working with the cast and being on a non-traditional set?

It was incredible. They built the entire Renaissance faire. First day I showed up to work, I couldn't believe it, because I had been to Renaissance faires, and this was a complete recreation over a football field of different areas of, you know. An archery station, and axe throwing, and the pub, and the stage for the queen, and Shakespeare's stage, which was a smaller one. I used to call it off-Broadway. It was unreal. I couldn't ever comprehend that they would make the entire world for us to play in, which is just so different from being on a stage, where you just have whatever can fit on that stage. This was an entire world, and it was almost like the writers and the actors were like, okay, we have this amazing space. What can we do with it? What stories can we tell in it? And it was--we were surrounded by hundreds of background actors who weren't just extras walking around. They were jugglers, and musicians, and people with such great skills and costumes. So it was a huge production. I was very intimidated when we started, because I'd never been a part of something this elaborate and fantastic on a set at least. And it was amazing. I was so lucky to get to work with my costars Georgia Flood, Lucas Neff, Mary Hollis Inboden, and Seana Kofoed, who plays the queen, especially, because we're like bosom buddies. Seana is a total pro, and really held my hand and made me feel so relaxed on set, and I learned so much from her and the rest of the cast. Such generous, wonderful actors and human beings, and the cast is really dozens and dozens of people. It's getting bigger every episode. You're like, how many people are in this show? But it's what it takes with a Renaissance faire. It's an army of performers. And I was just glad to be surrounded by them for a whole summer.

I bet that kind of experience translates onto the screen, are the relationships as real as they feel in the show?

They really are. There's such a theatricality to this world. There are a lot of folks in this show that were a part of Broadway, and a part of the theatre world. Like Sas Goldberg, who plays Amanda's sister Erin. Sas was in Significant Other, and she's from New York. She's a theatre pro, and then Seana, who I mentioned before plays the queen. She was in Proof on Broadway, she is definitely comfortable on the stage. And I think that that really gave us a sense of how to work together and to how to make us a company in a way that we would be if we were doing a show eight times a week. And I think that really made a difference, because we became close very, very quickly. And we had to perform Shakespeare on the show! You know? It's definitely a different kind of TV show because there's so many different elements. You never know what you're gonna see week to week.

As many parallels that this show has to theater, the camera crews, lighting, and other aspects that going into making a television series must add more to your performance

Absolutely. There are crane shots, and we had a zipline. They put a zipline in at the faire, and there's camera work being done on the zipline. There's so many things that I never had experienced before to act with, you know? To have cameras flying around the set and getting so much of the faire. Because there are hundreds of people in a scene, so they have to have an aerial view of what's going on. And I definitely found it challenging and thrilling every single day, also to just hit your mark. When you're onstage, sometimes you have to know your blocking, you have to know for your number. But when you're on a set with that many people, it is very important that you hit your mark, so it's the camera work. And everyone has made it so you have to be in certain places so the camera can be focused and find you. And if you don't hit that mark when there are hundreds of people doing their thing around you, you ruin the whole shot. So. The stakes are pretty high.

It must make it that much more fun to do something different and learn another way of performing

Yeah! It's just amazing. Acting for a camera is all the same stuff, but it's just like, being in an intimate, black box theater. And the audience is right next to you, so you don't have to carry your voice to the back of the theater. And I'm a loud guy. I'm a loud singer. So it's very new for me to not feel like I have to reach too far. And I learned a lot. And I think it's also brought a lot to my performance onstage as well.

Does this make you want to do more television in the future?

Absolutely. I love episodic television. It has been such a thrill, because you get to. You know. Broadway is my home. I love being on a stage. There's nothing like it, especially in a community with the audience. However, your challenge is to do the same thing over and over and over again. So, 800 performances of Book of Mormon. 670 of Hamilton. And, you know. They're the greatest shows ever, but you have to do them over and over again and not go crazy. That's the goal. And the goal with TV is you have a new scene, a new situation, every single day. And I would get an email with a new script, and find out where my character was going next, and it was so exciting to have new problems. And it's very challenging, and, you know, you miss, kind of, the repetition of theatre, and sometimes you film a scene and you think, oh my gosh, we're never gonna do that again! I can't believe it! That's it?! I hope I got it right! On Broadway, you feel, eh, I didn't do great in that scene tonight, but I'll get 'em at the matinee tomorrow. You know? You've got another chance. But with TV, it really is just that moment in time, and it's forever. So it's a very different experience, but I loved it, and I loved the challenge of it.

The show has allowed audiences to experience your character, who is gay man in a multi-dimensional way, relationships and all, in an honest and non-stereotypical way, what did that mean to you?

Having a fully formed character who is gay is such a wonderful gift. And I didn't realize it until I got to play Brian how I have been longing for it. To play a gay man who is romantically involved who isn't just giving some sassy comments on the side. It was such a breath of fresh air to go through an entire season of television and have ups and downs romantically, and I'm trying to say this without giving away too many spoilers. It made me so happy, because I know that as a young man watching TV, I got to see a lot of gay characters, and that meant so much to me, but I didn't get to see a lot of relationships, and I think it's so important to have those kinds of stories be told, and so that young gay people and gay people in general can see that their stories matter, and it's all the same. It's all the same heartache, and joy, and, you know. Love is the same roller coaster ride for all of us, and I'm glad that Brian gets to go on his own ride.

The show just premiered a few days ago, so how has the reception for it been so far?

It's been amazing. It's been wonderful because the Renaissance faire community--the Rennies all across the country--have been posting pictures of them at Renaissance faires, and saying how much it means to them to see that world that they love so much be reflected on television, and that's what's most important to all of us involved with the show, that those folks who put on the Renaissance faires all across the country, who attend the Renaissance faires, that they see that this show is being made with love and respect for the faire-milies that are all over. And I really, truly feel like I have a faire-mily now. Because this cast--we were in a Renaissance faire together for a whole summer, and it really felt more like being a part of a festival than a TV show, and we all got together to watch the premiere, and it was one of the most fun nights I've had. Just seeing everyone, having the reunion, and seeing how much everyone cares about this show. So the response--we're all so proud of it, and we're so glad that the Renaissance festival community is celebrating it as well. And my mom loved it, so phew. Tough critic. But yeah, it's been going really well. And we've got some great reviews, which, you know, don't matter unless they really are gonna help get the word out about our show. And that really means a lot to me, because this is a labor of love for Jamie, our creator. She got her start in a Renaissance faire. That's why it's so accurate. And we all were showing up to work every day trying to get it right for her. And she's a wonderful human being, and I'm just so glad she has this wonderful success.

And hopefully you'll be back next summer doing the same thing all over again.

That would be a dream. You know, sometimes I think you work on a project, or a TV show, and you're like, that was nice. I'm ready to move on. But we're all hoping to get to go back to the faire again and play with each other and have a blast like we did last summer. So, hopefully, if we find an audience, we'll get to do it all over again, and tell more stories about these really unique and eccentric and beautiful characters.

I really do believe that theatre nerds like me will really gravitate toward this show. It is for us. This is a dream of getting to pretend to be a character every day in this world, and if people don't know Renaissance faires, they're wanna go to one, and if they do, they'll love seeing the world that they go to be celebrated on TV.