It was announced last June in Playbill that you had landed a regular spot on the second season ofSMASH. Please tell me about auditioning and discovering you were cast in the show. Sure, I just got the appointment like any other audition. It was a couple of scenes
to learn and go read in front of a camera. It was at the casting office that I go to a lot. I was excited about it because of the kind of show, but I didn’t really think “Oh, this will be the one,” you know? I go on auditions like that all the time. I would get far in the process but hadn’t landed anything major in television yet. I just learned my lines and planned to do my best. Afterward, I got a call from my manager that I had a callback for it, which was
really exciting. The callback went really well. They told me I was going to have a “chemistry” read with an actor they were thinking of for the role of “Jimmy,” who was going to be my best friend and writing partner. That’s when I started to go “Oh my gosh… this is really happening!” You had to have been psyched, definitely. After that, they had one more proper screen test, which they shared with all the
“powers that be.” I was going to Los Angeles because I was planning to move there, actually. So I was like, “I’m gonna go now and then I’ll come right back or come back later to finish my move.” When I got on the plane, I didn’t know whether or not I’d gotten the job. When I got the call from the runner of the show, Josh Shafran, he let me know that he hadn’t even told my representatives yet but he told me first; I had the part.
“What’s great about this CHARACTER, is that while he is GAY and that’s a part of him that he is really COMFORTABLE and really in love with,
that’s just one part of him. It’s not the DEFINING character TRAIT about him at all.”
My representative found out, of course and then it got announced the next day somehow. Prematurely I thought, as friends and family were calling me and say- ing “Oh gosh, why didn’t you tell me?” I had just found out and I was freaking out. It was a big whirlwind of that news and there wasn’t really time to process it on my own, before it went out to the world. It was really wonderful and I really felt loved by all the people who supported me over the years. It hasn’t really stopped yet… people have been really great. Yeah, that’s quite something… for you to be flying and then when you land, to find out. Yeah, I was in baggage claim when I got the call.
After watching the two-episode premiere of the second season, I didn’t zero in on the fact that your character was gay. Did I miss some subtle dialogue or something? You know, people keep asking about the “gay” thing. It’s funny, I’ve done a couple
of interviews now about him. Everyone is like “Kyle is gay and Jimmy [Jeremy Jordan] is straight. What’s that like?” What’s great about this character, is that while he is gay and that’s a part of him that he is really comfortable and really in love with, that’s just one part of him. It’s not the defining character trait about him at all. There’s going to be no storyline this year about Kyle getting discriminated against for being gay or having to come out to somebody in some painful way or the “usual” gay storyline. He’s a gay, confident kid. I think that’s really refreshing on a network television show, where we have moved past the gay thing being something that we really need to “hammer” on the head.
SMASH : Andy Mientus as Kyle Bishop -- (Photo by: PatrickRandak/NBC) MARCH 2013 | RAGE monthly 25
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68