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Interview: Christopher Lowell is the January 2025 Debut of the Month
Lowell discusses working with a cast that features Shailene Woodley, Zachary Quinto, and more, and what it means to him to be making his Broadway debut.
By: Chloe Rabinowitz Jan. 22, 2025
Christopher Lowell is currently making his Broadway Debut in Leslye Headland’s CULT OF LOVE at the Hayes Theatre! On screen, Lowell has starred in Oscar-winners Promising Young Woman ('Al Monroe') and The Help ('Stuart Whitworth', SAG Award, Critics Choice Award), and more. His TV credits include GLOW ('Bash', SAG nominations), How I Met Your Father (Jesse), Private Practice ('Dell'), and many others. On stage, Lowell has starred Cult of Love at Berkeley Rep, Jacuzzi at Ars Nova, and Barefoot in the Park at The Old Globe.
BroadwayWorld spoke with Lowell about how it feels to be making his Broadway debut in Cult of Love, working alongside a cast that includes Shailene Woodley, Zachary Quinto, Mare Winningham and others, his favorite onstage moment, and more.
Read the full interview and check out photography by BroadwayWorld's own Jennifer Broski below!
This is your Broadway debut—congratulations! Tell me about what opening night was like for you! What were you feeling?
My biggest priority was not fainting. It was such an out of body experience. As an actor, Broadway has always been the mountaintop, and to actually be arriving at that moment in my life and my career was an out of body experience for me. I couldn’t believe it.
What does it mean to you to be making your debut with Cult of Love?
That’s the best thing about it. This play is just so extraordinary. To be on Broadway in any capacity is such an honor, but to be on Broadway with a show that I love so much, that I think is such a work of art, is icing on the cake. To be able to do a show that is hyper-realistic, where I get to sing on Broadway, and make people laugh, and also have this deep emotional catharsis, what more could I ask for?
And the cast is incredible, how has it been working alongside them?
I think we all just cared so much about the material, and wanted it to be the best version of itself, and the stakes as a result felt really high. It wasn’t until we were performing in front of an audience that we really came together as a team. One of the things I love about all these actors is their commitment to the show. No one is phoning it in, no one is looking past this to their next job, everyone is so fully committed.
The biggest drama of the whole process was when we found out that we weren’t going to be able to extend further, because we had a hard out. I think everybody just wants this to keep going. So, frequently we’re talking about any possible way we can remount it elsewhere, or extend it further, because no one is ready to say goodbye.
And then, on top of this being a committed group of actors, it’s an insanely talented group of actors. There’s not a weak link among us. It’s amazing to be out there on that stage with such an exceptional company of players. For me, I’m just trying to keep up with the rest of them.
Do you have a favorite onstage moment in this play?
I love when we all sing ‘Children, Go Where I Send Thee’ because it’s the first time you see all ten of us on stage. We’re all trying to make each other laugh. It’s the one time in the show where every single character is allowed to enjoy themselves, and enjoy each other, where the rest of the show there’s usually one or more characters who are kind of in a moment of crisis. That’s the one time it feels like sheer play, and I love that.
And how has it been building the character that you play, James, from the rehearsal process to now?
It’s been a really wonderful process. Leslye is extremely informative in only the best ways. She has a lot to offer. The whole experience with both Leslye and Tripp [Cullman, director] has been extremely collaborative, which I think, certainly for me as an actor, is an essential part of the process. They don’t dictate ‘This is how it’s supposed to come out,’ ‘This is how you’re supposed to say it,’ ‘This is when you want to feel the emotion,’ ‘This is where I want to feel the comedy,’ they’re much more collaborative. They’re much more open to finding it together. And I think, for me, for my process, that really was a great invitation.
There are so many ways that you have to approach it. There’s a technical element to it, of just learning the lines, learning the overlapping dialogue, learning where to leave pauses so that information from other characters who are also speaking simultaneously can be heard from the audience. But then there’s also the emotional journey this character has to go on. When do we enjoy this character? When do we absolutely hate this character? When do we emphasize with this character?
And, again, it’s another gift from Leslye from the writing that I am allowed to be a character that the audience can hate, and also be given a real moment of humanity. Its just not something that you get to do very often as an actor, to be able to play all of those different elements.
That’s got to be so gratifying.
Ugh! It’s the most gratifying! Come on! What else is there? I get the whole thing, I get to do to it all! I get to sing, I get to tell jokes, I get to break down. There’s nothing better! And I get to do it with Shailene Woodley, and Christopher Sears, and Zach Quinto, and Molly Bernard, I mean what the hell? It’s so badass.
What would you like to tell audience members who are going to see the show?
It’s ok to laugh, it’s ok to cry. I think there is something really rewarding about being able to have your own personal catharsis watching the show. I think there is a lot of things that people will relate to, for better or for worse. And it doesn’t have to be Christmastime to see a Christmas show.
