Meet Jere Shea

Q: So how did you get involved teaching at Stonehill?

A: [Stonehill Theater Program Director] Matt Greene’s name has popped up in a number of circles. We were introduced by a couple of different friends. He suggested that I come over to Stonehill and I’ve been thrilled to do that.

Q: What does your Acting II class entail?

A: It’s intermediate acting. We go into monologues and scene work, as opposed to the fundamentals. We get under the hood of the character, the scene. There’s lots of script analysis.

Q: What do you like about teaching?

A: It scratches that itch for me about storytelling. It’s the other side of what I do as an actor—helping someone else find that moment. It’s very close to directing in ways. It’s a great way to flex my own muscle and keep myself in shape while I’m not acting.

Q: What’s the feeling you get when you see a student breaking through?

A: I remember many breakthroughs in my own training, I studied at BC and NYU’s Graduate Acting Program at Tisch School of the Arts—there were moments of breaking through that were just so exciting. You get that tingle. You’re empowered to move under your own steam. I still get that feeling when I recognize, “Oooh that person’s about to have that breakthrough.” You see it in their eyes, that light dawns, and they learn something they’ll use the rest of their career.

Q: That’s awesome. You grew up in Boston. Did you always know you wanted to get into acting?

A: Always. My very earliest memories are of watching movies as a little boy on a tiny little black and white TV set, and wanting to do that, wanting to play the way the grown-ups I’d see play. I knew from the start that’s what I wanted to do. I remember being 3 or 4, and being taken to an elementary school play, “Snow White and Seven Dwarves,” and could’ve been Broadway for me.

Q: That’s great.

Eventually in high school I said, this is what I want to do, and by the time I got settled at BC, I knew I wanted to do it professionally.

Q: Do you prefer theater or film?

A: This is a wholly unsatisfactory answer to a really good question, but I can honestly say that I enjoy them equally. It just depends on people, role and story I’m involved with.

Q: What was it like doing “City on a Hill”?

A: That was a real labor of love. I hadn’t been working as an actor for a long time. The story was so familiar to me because I grew up in the setting, in the timeframe, the character I was playing, my cousin had the job of Hank Signa in those years. [A Massachusetts State Police Detective assigned to the Suffolk County District Attorney's office.]

Q: Oh wow.

A: I probably prepared over a year for that role. I loved playing Hank and working with those folks on a story I felt was compelling and human.

Q: And you worked a lot with Kevin Bacon. That must’ve been interesting.

A: It was. I’ve been a fan of his since the ‘80s when he exploded on the scene. He’s such a part of our culture in many ways, too. I find him to be a real actor’s actor. Just so unassuming. We all really just hit it off. No one is going to outwork Kevin Bacon, he comes prepared, he comes with ideas, he’s flexible, he’s creative, and inspires everyone else to do their best.

Q: That’s awesome. You had a role in “Blue Bloods,” too.

A: I did. My dad passed away just about a week after “City on a Hill” premiered. He was able to watch the first episode with me. His favorite show, every time I’d call him, he’d be watching “Blue Bloods.” And when I got a call, “Hey do you want to do ‘Blue Bloods?” I thought, How can I not do this?

Q: I love that. And on stage, you’re known for “Passion.”

A:Yeah, that’s one of my big claims to fame, I guess. It was 26 years ago now. Time has flown. To originate a role created by Stephen Sondheim is something I never would’ve imagined. I still scratch my head. It was a great experience I’ll never forget.

Q: You took a break from acting for a while.

A: I did. My twins were born during the run of “Passion.” By the time they were 3, I got sick of not being there. I decided to pull the pin on acting. I thought, It’ll be nice to get back to it someday if I can; if not, I’ll find something else to do.

They were 25, 26, when “City on a Hill” came along, they were like, “We don’t need you around here, go!’”

Q: During the break, is that when you started to teach?

A: I had started to teach back in college, doing summer camps, theater camps that sort of thing. I learned quickly I enjoyed it just about as much as I did performing on stage myself.

By the time I gave up acting, I took a few years to get myself settled. Eventually I decided to throw my hat in the ring. Friends would ask me to teach a [college] class. Through the years, I’ve realized, “Gee, I’ve picked up quite a resume of teaching at colleges.” If I could do that full-time I’d be a happy man. I really enjoy working with college-level students on the brink of great things.

Q: When you're teaching, what are some main points you try to get across?

A: Number one: to keep a sense of play and find the joy in what you do so you never take it for granted. It can feel demoralizing at times. There’s a tremendous amount of rejection. I have friends who are at the highest levels of this business who will say the same thing. But if you can hold on to that sense of joy and that sense of gratitude of what you get to do, you can hang in there. It’s a craft. If you aspire to do this professionally, you need to have a skillset, and show people you know how to work. There’s so many transferable skills to other work. Actors are just generally speaking, problem-solvers. Flexible and creative people. I’ve done a lot of different things for work, and I find artists in general are really valuable people to have in the mix.

Q: Looking back at your resume now, do you have a favorite role?

A: “Passion.” To work with Steve, to have a role written for me—my voice, my sensibility as an actor— nothing can really top that. I also relish the experience of “City on a Hill’ working with really gifted powerhouse creative people. Kevin Bacon, it doesn’t get better than that.

There are roles I really enjoyed that most people didn’t see, tucked away at Williamstown Theatre Festival, or Summer stock. Working with Joanne Woodward, getting to know [her husband] Paul Newman at Williamstown. I worked with Joanne around ’96 at Paul was coming into town to watch rehearsal and shows.

Q: Wow. And what did it feel like to get a Tony nomination?

A: It sort of blew my mind, to be honest. My agent said: There’s a little bump you get, a Tony nomination bump, if you get nominated, you get a little bump in pay. I thought, well that’s never going to happen.

I just dismissed it immediately. I couldn’t believe it when he called and said, “Guess what? You get a little bump in pay.”

I couldn’t get my head around it. To this day when someone asks about it, I just say, “Yeah, how about that, huh?”

My wife was expecting our twins—the awards were less than a week before they were born. She was having labor pains at the Tonys. Sitting right behind Stephen Sondheim, next to Christopher Plummer. She’s clamping down on my hand.

I had a car waiting for us. I asked the driver to stay outside the theater. We made it through the night but we didn’t go to go to any parties after. We played it safe.

Q: Wow. Do you plan on teaching at Stonehill next semester?

A: I do plan on teaching at least one class. It’s just a wonderful atmosphere. It’s a beautiful facility in Duffy. I’m grateful to be a part of Stonehill this year. It’s been a privilege and a pleasure to be part of that family.

Lauren Daley ’05 is a freelance arts writer. Contact her at ldaley33@gmail.com.