MY STORY is that I got back into acting late in life. I’d done some theatre in college, after which I moved to Boston where I got some training with a teacher (David Juda) who started a small theatre company (The Cambridge Art Theatre). Stanislavsky, Michael Checkhov, Linklater, the whole nine yards. Three intense years of training. The company moved to the SF/Bay Area in 1981. Soon after I quit the whole acting world. Long story. I’ll spare you.
I got back into acting as I was pushing 50, with no professional aspirations, for fun and social reasons. Again, long story. I was the proprietor of a gardening/landscaping business and did community theatre evenings and weekends. I started to take it seriously, take classes, improve and move up the proverbial ladder, working with more and more professional theatre companies. One thing led to another and I got into the AEA union, was cast in a few films and got my SAG card. Despite my lack of ambition, I had become a professional actor. The Gardener with a hobby had become an actor with a day job. As I was pushing 60 and getting ready to retire from my gardening business I started thinking about pursuing acting professionally, and after some deliberation, I moved to New York in 2018. That is where I’ve been ever since. I have continued to take classes and develop my abilities here in New York, and while I have hardly taken Broadway or Hollywood by storm, I have been cast in enough theatrical, TV, and Film productions to feel like my “retirement plan” was not a waste of time. I’m still here, throwing my hat into the ring with all the other foolish dreamers.
Alex Michael Shafer 