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[0:00] Eila Mell: Hello, and welcome to Behind the Awards. I'm Eila, and I'm here with Bruce on this snowstormy day.

[0:17] Bruce Gotlieb: Yes, as we were recording this intro, we were on the tail end of a blizzard.

[0:23] Eila Mell: Yes, oh my gosh. But thankfully, this time the shows were closed, not like last time. People were so mad that they had to go to work last time because it was terrible. It was so dangerous.

[0:36] Bruce Gotlieb: Yeah, so at least this time, everyone, after their matinee, they got to go to wherever they were going and, you know, get under a blanket, get some snacks out and enjoy the snow.

[0:48] Eila Mell: Really? Well, Bruce, the other night, not last night, but the other night, I got to see the invited dress rehearsal of Every Brilliant Thing, starring Daniel Radcliffe.

[0:59] Bruce Gotlieb: Yes, I contained my jealousy a tad, but I'm glad you were able to report back. It seemed like a really fun experience. So tell our listeners about it.

[1:13] Eila Mell: Yes, so what I want people to know is that this is a solo show because Daniel Radcliffe is the only actor hired for the show, but he's not. It's really not a solo show because he picks people from the audience to play major roles in this show.

[1:33] Bruce Gotlieb: And as an audience member, do you have the capability of declining if you're not wanting to participate?

[1:39] Eila Mell: Yes. So also, you know, if you want to hang out with Daniel Radcliffe, go to this show because he talks to much of the audience beforehand. He's out there. He enters when the lights come up. He's out there the second the audience comes in because he's talking to people to figure out, I guess, who he thinks would be right to join him in this show.

[2:03] Eila Mell: So it's really interesting. And it seems like how could that work? Because, you know, probably most of the audience are, you know, they're not actors, but it works so beautifully and it makes it funny. And I mean, it's an experience like I've not had on Broadway.

[2:23] Bruce Gotlieb: So that's very interesting.

[2:25] Eila Mell: Yes, it really is. And I hope that we're going to get the directors on the show because I have so many questions for them.

[2:32] Bruce Gotlieb: Yeah, yeah. Well, it's playing at the Hudson. First preview was just the other night on the 21st. Opening night is March 12th. And I believe it's a limited run.

[2:45] Eila Mell: I would think it's got to be with Daniel Radcliffe.

[2:48] Bruce Gotlieb: Yeah, 13 weeks.

[2:49] Eila Mell: So, yeah, try to go if you can. Everyone, not just you, Bruce. Because it's really, really interesting. Plus, it's, you know, it's a really good show. And I typically don't like a one-person show. I'm shallow. I get a little bored.

[3:07] Eila Mell: But this really isn't that. And there's no way you can get bored during this show. And the audience participates during a lot of it.

[3:16] Bruce Gotlieb: Okay.

[3:17] Eila Mell: Even if you're not chosen to be on stage.

[3:20] Bruce Gotlieb: Interesting. Well, one show, I'll say that the audience, just from a psychological perspective, probably is happy they're not involved in is Bug.

[3:29] Eila Mell: Oh, yeah, that's for sure.

[3:32] Bruce Gotlieb: And today we have our, you know, our new friend, Namir Smallwood, who is opposite Carrie Coon in Bug over at the Samuel Friedman. And they're having a time of it. And he deep dives with us.

[3:49] Eila Mell: Oh, yeah. You know, I love when we get these conversations, when we really go so in depth. So let's bring out Namir.

[3:55] Bruce Gotlieb: Absolutely.

[3:56] Eila Mell: Well, Bruce, I am as excited as I am to hear the cast of the Rocky Horror Show that's coming. That's how excited I am to welcome Namir Smallwood to our show. Welcome, Namir.

[4:11] Namir Smallwood: Thanks for having me.

[4:14] Eila Mell: It's such a thrill for us to have you. Thank you for joining us.

[4:17] Bruce Gotlieb: Isla's favorite show of the season thus far. We will have to add to that.

[4:22] Eila Mell: I love Bug.

[4:23] Bruce Gotlieb: All right.

[4:24] Eila Mell: Yeah.

[4:26] Bruce Gotlieb: You know, just it's immediately apparent how different the character is from you in your, you know, just your everyday life. Where does he come from within you?

[4:40] Namir Smallwood: I mean, within me, like, he's obviously African American. And honestly, I have nothing to compare Peter Evans to, you know, my Peter Evans to. I know Michael Shannon. You know, I have not seen the film. I have not seen the play when he did it. So I have nothing to compare it to. But I think Peter is just a loner guy who's, you know, a military vet who has some struggles in the military. And it just, you know, caught up with him, you know, and he found somebody, you know, who has a brokenness within them, a familiarity, you know, that he finds in Agnes White. And, you know, they just try to make a go of it. And things ensue.

[5:40] Bruce Gotlieb: Was your was it intentional to not visit those other pieces or were you given that directive? I know some directors don't want their actors to visit anything else, so it doesn't influence them too much.

[5:46] Namir Smallwood: No, I wouldn't have watched it anyway. I mean, being in Chicago, Mike is like a legend in Chicago, you know, I mean, so as is Tracy, as is David Cromer. So I was asked to read the play in 2018 by Anna Shapiro, who was the artistic director of Steppenwolf's fellow ensemble member. And I read it. She was like, you know, I want you to read this play. I knew it was Tracy's play because a friend of mine is one of her favorite plays of all time. Okay. So I read it and I was like, I love this play. I love what he's saying. You know, I want to do it. So, you know, doing that, agreeing to do the play. It was also scary to, you know, with the nudity and all that. Obviously, what Tracy has in the play, that's also scary too, you know, because you can go down a rabbit hole and doing research for this play really just, it's a lot, you know, so.

[7:10] Eila Mell: Right. I'm glad to be in it.

[7:10] Namir Smallwood: To be in the state of mind that Peter has to be in every night, it must be a lot to deal with.

[7:15] Namir Smallwood: It is. It is. It really is. But, you know, it's a testament to millions and millions of people in this country around the world who go through the same thing every day, short, you know what I mean, with drugs or not, you know, so.

[7:27] Eila Mell: Right. So Agnes, I mean, for me, I think that she was vulnerable because she was so isolated, but then the drugs on top of that, I don't think she had a chance when she meets Peter.

[7:41] Namir Smallwood: That's it. Yeah. I mean, the drugs are the, that's like the byproduct of what's actually happening. You know what I mean? That's how they cope with it, you know, and then they're always coming to a point where the drugs won't do the thing that it's set out to do, which is to make you forget.

[8:03] Namir Smallwood: Right. And I think that in the way that I'm playing this character is that the drugs actually makes him remember what's been done to him and what's going on in the world and putting those pieces together. And that's a scary thing, you know? Sure. Because you normally would use that as a catalyst to forget, but it doesn't. It's the opposite for him.

[8:31] Eila Mell: When he's so relaxed, he doesn't have the control over his mind that he does outside of an enhanced state.

[8:38] Namir Smallwood: Exactly. So do you think that Peter, had he not been in the military, would not have had any mental issues? Do you think it's because of the military?

[8:46] Namir Smallwood: I can't say that for sure. Yeah. But I do know that I have a family member, went into the military, and I don't think he got past basic training when something snapped. And he hasn't been the same since. And that was over 30 years ago. Wow. So, I mean, I don't know. I do know that military, that training can do that because it's so strenuous and it's so regimented and, you know, something can happen.

[9:27] Eila Mell: Sure. Right. You have to be a certain type to be able to be okay with that kind of, you know, just sort of blind following because that's what they need in the military. They need people who are followers because otherwise, you know, you can't have people who are free thinkers because then they're not going to do what you need them to do.

[9:42] Namir Smallwood: Exactly. What is it like for you guys as the show is progressing? And not to give anything away, but as the show is progressing, not only is your character getting more entranced in this world, but physically surrounding you, the set is also changing. Does that help inform your character through the process to kind of continue to make it almost like claustrophobic, almost more engulfing the situation mentally?

[10:01] Namir Smallwood: Yeah. I mean, it definitely adds to it because we have, there's like a descent, a rapid descent in the psychosis that's happening, you know? So the set really informs that, you know what I mean? It was just going along for the ride, you know, it's like the first half is one way and then it starts to just go like this. So by the time you start the second act and by the time that first scene is done in the second act, it's like, oh God, you know, and you just got to just have to go with it.

[10:50] Bruce Gotlieb: Yeah. Yeah. It's crazy where the show builds too, right? I don't think that people expect that it's going to end the way it does. There's such a gasp in the audience at the end.

[11:03] Namir Smallwood: That's awesome. Yeah. I mean, it makes perfect sense because when you hit rock bottom, like what does that look like? Like rock bottom looks different for everybody, you know?

[11:16] Eila Mell: Sure. And this is what it looks like for these two individuals. And it's the only way to survive.

[11:21] Namir Smallwood: Yeah. Right. Exactly. It's sad to me that Agnes at least has people trying to help her, but Peter really has nobody. There's nobody looking for him. There's nobody trying to help him.

[11:31] Eila Mell: Right. Right. And, you know, when you think about that kind of isolation, that kind of sense of aloneness, it's like, there are millions of people who are just like this. They have nobody.

[11:56] Namir Smallwood: Members of their tribe or whatever, or they've, you know, kind of thrown people off a little bit, you know, in their journey, becoming who they are at this particular time in their life. Yeah, you know, people don't want to be bothered, you know, so it's like, which one is Peter, right? And I think it's probably open to the interpretation of the people in the audience, which way, because for me, exactly, I took Peter as being alone, almost because he doesn't didn't want to have others trying to tell him, you know, what he's thinking is wrong, or trying to, I guess, you know, pull him back onto their what they think the right path should be that he, you know, kind of shut that out, because he's so in his conviction of this is what it is, you couldn't really tell him otherwise.

That's great. That's great. And you know, the thing that occurs to me is that how many Peters are there that we see on the street, you know, people living on the street, because, you know, exactly, they don't have an Agnes to take them in. Right. And that's, and that's the sad part about the relevancy of this play, for me, because I see it everywhere, you know, and every time I do a play, no matter what the subject matter is, I see it in the world, it's like, right in the center, like, I can't escape it. So seeing people, you know, on the street here in New York City, or whatever, you don't know what people are going through. And it's like, huh, it really makes you more empathetic, it makes me more empathetic to what's actually going on with people, you know, you can't judge and that's being an actor, you cannot judge anything, right? You have to just see it for what it is and tell the truth. That's it. Right. Once you judge the character, you're not, you're next to the character. You can't embody. Yeah, exactly.

[14:10] Namir Smallwood: So I would love to just talk about Steppenwolf for a little bit. Growing up, it was just the ultimate of, you know, of acting for me. You know, Laurie Metcalf and John Malkovich and Gary Sinise, Terry Kinney, that whole crew was so influential to me as a kid. They've done such quality work for such a long time. What was it like to become a member of Steppenwolf? Honestly, it was surreal. Like, before 2010, I didn't really know anything about Steppenwolf. You know, I went to school in Minneapolis and people would talk about it or whatever. I'm just like, okay, cool. But I ended up doing How to Baltimore directed by Tina Landau in 2011 at Steppenwolf. And that changed everything for me. Because I had never been in a rehearsal process where there's no ego, right?

I mean, I'm working, I was working with people who were nominated for Tony Awards, TV, you know, doing television, doing film, and there was no ego. And it was like, where am I? Yeah, right. And that really informed me as an artist, because that's how I work. I'm about the work. I don't care about all that outside noise and all that other stuff. So when I was asked to join the ensemble in 2017, that was like, are you serious? You know, and it was just it became like the biggest blessing for me as an artist. Like bar none, because every theater artist wants a home. Sure. And I have a home. And my home happens to be Steppenwolf. And I get to be a better artist because of it. And that's like a club that a distinctive club that you're once you're a part of it. It's it's forever, right? It's like, you know, it's like you signed in blood the the oath.

[16:21] Namir Smallwood: Can't tell everybody that. Okay. All right. Was there a specific audition process to become a company member? Or was it just for whatever that production happened? No, no, it was. I mean, how it happened for me was I had signed on to do Passover by Antoinette Nwando. And like, at that point, I had been attached to it for like, maybe six months. And I ended up getting Pipeline by Dominique Morisseau at Lincoln Center. And I was like, I mean, I'm from Jersey. And I hadn't been home in like 15 years. So I was like, I kind of want my family to be able to see, you know, me work or whatever. And I went and had a meeting with Anna Shapiro. And she was like, okay. Well, I was gonna wait until we open Passover.

But I want to make you an ensemble member. So there's that. I'm like, what? Like, so whatever you choose, you know, whatever you decide, we're behind you 100%. And I chose to do Pipeline. And that was 2017. And then I ended up doing Passover the next year in New York. And it was just like, wow, this is it was a blessing.

[18:10] Namir Smallwood: And how wonderful to have their support, no matter the decision. They're not saying, well, you can pick the path that you say you want. Or you could pick the one that we're laying out for you. That doesn't even matter. That kind of support is, you can't put a price tag on that. Can't buy that. And I also can't imagine turning down working at Lincoln Center. It's just such a, you know, historic place to work. I mean, it was it was it was like a no brainer. Yeah. And it was just it was just one of the biggest blessings of my life, like to be able to be presented with these desperate roads. And just like, either one you choose, you're going to be good. So that's right.

[18:39] Namir Smallwood: It's great. Yeah, it's great. Purpose came from Steppenwolf. Yes. Yes. Yeah. I mean, they're just on fire lately. Yeah. I mean, those purpose that was an amazing play. It really is. You know, I mean, my closest friends, you know what I mean? Yeah. In that and seeing the success of that and of them just like couldn't happen to finer people, I think. Yeah. I mean, that was just an outstanding play. Just a bit of last season.

[19:14] Namir Smallwood: Yeah, for sure. And I still think about John Michael Hill in that show all the time. How funny he was. How wonderful he was. Yeah. Yeah. John is fantastic. I mean, I've done a couple of plays with him and he's just steady, you know?

[19:31] Namir Smallwood: Yeah. It's great.

[19:33] Namir Smallwood: Hi, this is Norm Lewis and behind the awards, we'll be right back.

[19:42] Namir Smallwood: So Carrie Coon recently had a viral moment where she talked about, had she not done White Lotus, not being able to play Agnes in Bug. Do you feel that you benefited from her being cast because then, you know, they didn't need a Hollywood person to come in for Peter? Well, I think that so when we did it first at Steppenwolf in 2019, 2020, we were three days away from closing and there was talk about it moving to Broadway. And it was just like, OK, normally when stuff moves to Broadway from Steppenwolf, like they try to keep everything intact, especially with the ensemble members. But I think that with Carrie saying what she said, it was the absolute truth. Because I am not a name per se. You know, people know me in Chicago.

Some people know me here, you know, from my work in past years. But, you know, it's not like, you know, people forget, you know, and I think with Carrie having the journey that she's had, it only helped. Yeah. Yeah. And I think that she is one of the greatest actresses that I've ever worked with. And she's also one of the greatest people that I know. She's one of my favorites. And I think that with her being in this play, being written by her husband, right, who is one of the greatest American playwrights or just playwrights, period. He's just fantastic. And the fact that he wrote this 30 years ago, you know, I think the foresight with him and Anna, having me be Peter and having Carrie be Agnes, I think that is a dream team, in my estimation, because we both care about the work.

And we both push each other to do our greatest work. And, you know, it's just, it's just fun. You know, it's a lot of fun. And the whole cast is amazing. And the crew is amazing. And it's just like, all right, let's keep this going. And just tell the truth every night.

[22:15] Namir Smallwood: And you're lucky enough to keep going because you guys just got extended through March. Yes, correct. Thrilling. Right. That's great. Um, is this the same cast then that you did it with before? The exact same cast. That's wonderful. Yeah, best. I mean, it's, it's, it's amazing. And a testament to David Cromer for keeping everybody intact. Yeah, you know, we did this twice before. And now we get to do it on Broadway. And, you know, deepen it, you know, deepen the well, a whole lot more than we did the first or the second time we did it. And it's just, it's just, I'm having the greatest time. You know, it's fantastic.

[23:07] Namir Smallwood: So, um, this seems to be the season of shows with nudity. Is that, is that difficult to do? Or are you just used to it? How do you feel about that? So when I was told that there was going to be nudity in the show, I like emailed Tracy was like, is it really necessary? And he was like, yeah, kind of is because, you know, it's like, they're showing their vulnerability to one another. And that's like a part of the story. It's a part of the growing intimacy of these two people. And I was like, Oh, okay, that makes sense. It still scared me. Yeah, sure. But

[23:52] Namir Smallwood: When we did it the first time, you know, like closed, closed theater or whatever, just to get it out the way, it was like, oh, all right, this isn't, this isn't anything, you know what I mean? And it goes by so fast, it feels like. So it's like, and then it's like, I can't be thinking about, oh, my God, I'm naked on stage. Oh, my God, all these people. I can't think about any of that. Literally, it's a play. And it's a play that is focusing on a real moment in these two people's lives. And it's just that you have 650 people watching. Yeah, who cares? Right? You know? Yeah. And there's nothing sexual about it. No, you know, like that's post, you know, like the sex or whatever. So it's like, hey, yeah, just just just do it.

Just tell the truth and don't think about it. Yeah. You know? And also, because it sort of represents different things at different moments in the play, when you are nude, you know, there's the first time is, you know, it's a stripping away of, I guess, boundaries, right? Because right, he's sort of crossing a line with himself. I mean, he's not a sexual person. And then he exactly at one moment. Why do you think he makes that choice? I think that he finds in Agnes, a state that he hasn't had. And there's something very, very vulnerable about when a person finds that, then it's like, okay, well, I don't have to worry about a thing with this person. This person isn't out to harm me. And I'm not out to harm this person.

So we can see where it goes. So I mean, I think that he saw when she's talking about her lost child, and that does something to him, because that's a real moment where she lied to him at first. And then he caught her in the lie. And then she decided to be vulnerable and tell the truth. And there's something very sexy about honesty. You know, so that's what got him, I think. Yeah. And I think that then, right, if she's not honest and stripped away of everything, the play doesn't continue, right? He doesn't let her in and she doesn't, there's not, you don't do that dance together and let each other in. So yeah. You know, he saw her for who she was, but they had only just met. It was so fast. He just knew her.

Yeah. I mean, it's one of those things where you see a person and there's something familiar about that person. And you don't know if it's a past life thing or what, but there's something like immediately I feel okay with this person. Yeah. Yeah. And that's a very like, great, like I found that with my wife, you know, so it's like, it's a real thing, you know, and for people to see that in real time, it's like, oh, okay. I should have looked it up because I was telling Bruce the other day that there's this psychological term, forget what it's called, but it's, it's what it means.

[27:27] Bruce Gotlieb: Folia do?

[27:28] Namir Smallwood: Yes, that's it. Thank you. I think that's very much going on in this play. Don't you think?

[27:33] Bruce Gotlieb: That's it. That's exactly what's going on.

[27:35] Namir Smallwood: Yeah.

[27:36] Bruce Gotlieb: That's exactly what's going on.

[27:38] Namir Smallwood: Right. So by themselves, they would never have gotten to that point, but only because they came together, did things escalate so much?

[27:46] Bruce Gotlieb: Right.

[27:47] Namir Smallwood: Yeah.

[27:48] Bruce Gotlieb: Yeah. Fascinating from that perspective. And you were talking about the Tracy's ability to craft a piece of work and nobody does that psychological, you know, thriller, however you want to put it on, but that psychological type of, of peace, like he does, is that something that also, you know, gravitated you to the piece for an opportunity to kind of dig into that type of world live on stage, as opposed to a film where you can have a moment to try to get it right and make sure that that stays on, on the tip of the surface. Doing it live has to be a thrill to be able to do that.

[28:26] Namir Smallwood: I mean, it is. I mean, anything live on stage is thrilling, but I think that, that particular thing, like seeing this, this psychosis, like you see something in Peter, like with me, I've heard people say, like, you see something, you know, like, it's not like, totally like apparent, like, Oh, this man is one thing or over another. Like it's very well crafted. Like what I'm trying to do is like, it's, it's a flash of something, you know? And then it just gets bigger and bigger and bigger until it's uncontrolled, you know? And that is, that is thrilling for me. The fact that Tracy wrote this play 30 years ago is astounding.

[29:24] Bruce Gotlieb: And it feels so fresh.

[29:26] Namir Smallwood: Yeah, exactly. You know, and I mean, that, that is thrilling to me as well, because it's like, okay, I get to make it fresh and new every single night, you know, and that's, that's beautiful. And just for people to see it happen in real time, it's like, yeah, that's, that gets the fire burning, you know?

[29:50] Bruce Gotlieb: I know over time that, you know, obviously the character work deepens. And I know, like you said, you put this on a couple of different iterations since it started. Did the, did the piece itself change at all to this production where they've maybe tweaked a little bit?

[30:08] Namir Smallwood: Nope.

[30:09] Bruce Gotlieb: Okay.

[30:09] Namir Smallwood: Not a single thing.

[30:11] Bruce Gotlieb: Because it didn't need it. It was so good already.

[30:14] Namir Smallwood: Not a single thing. You know, what's so smart about the way Tracy wrote this play is that it, it just destroys what we think is going to happen because we expect, you know, there's a bad guy, the ex, he's the bad guy. And then Peter comes in and he seems to be the good guy. But actually, both of the men are bad for her. She doesn't need anybody to help her. No offense, Namir. But, but, but really, you know, and in the end, who we thought was the bad guy is trying to help her, but that doesn't make him any better for her. But it's just, you know, it's so interesting to me that it's, you know, it's not that what we think it's going to be.

[31:03] Namir Smallwood: Yeah, I mean, it's, it's expertly written. And it's a, it's an actor's dream to be able to, to fine tune and to craft a person that is on a page just like, huh, there's a lot going on, you know, but then to actually craft how these things manifest in this person, and how they how he expresses what's going on inside, like, that's, that's like, it's a dream, you know, because it doesn't remain the same at all. There are different entryways every night, you know, into how everything unfolds. It might be through Carrie, it might be through Jen, who plays RC. It might be through Steve, who plays Goss. It might be through Dr. Sweet, who knows? Or it might be through how I hit crack pipe in one particular moment, and how that might unlock something and just off to the races. Yeah, you know, that's, that's the, that's the beauty of this of this piece to me.

[32:31] Bruce Gotlieb: What kind of you've taken the audience on this on this ride? What's the response been like at the stage door? What? What are you finding that most people? Are they even feel comfortable enough to approach you? Because yes, you're you. They've just got done watching this. This craziness, like, you almost feel like, are they still in that moment? Because I know, Isla and I talked about like, the show stays with you a bit. So when you get out from your seat, you don't just walk outside and the winter air hits you and you snap out of it. It's still, it's still processing. I'm still thinking about it.

[33:05] Namir Smallwood: I mean, the audiences have been great going out stage door, you know, people, some people are like, you can see the shock in their face. And there are people who are like, there was one lady yesterday who said, you're so different. You seem so different from your character. And that's just a testament to, you know, said, you know, thank you. And it's, it's just, people are like, oh, my God, you scared you scared me to death. And I'm like, okay, or I'm itching. I you know, I'm gonna be itching for a while. And I'm like, well, yeah, right. Yes. You know,

[33:47] Bruce Gotlieb: Are you more sensitive to bugs since doing the play?

[33:51] Namir Smallwood: Oh, yeah. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Like, I, there, there are instances where, like, if I have an itch, I'm like, where's this coming from? You know what I mean? You know, I'm exaggerating a little bit. But it's, it's like, yeah, you when you do see stuff, you know, like, where did that come from? You know, it's like, oh, oh, God. It's bugging. He's in a bug world.

[34:23] Bruce Gotlieb: Why do you think it's bugs that Peter fixates on?

[34:26] Namir Smallwood: Because there are bugs are things that you can feel. And sometimes, like, you don't know if it's in you or on you. And then the idea of bugs, like somebody's bugging your apartment, bugging the phone, you know, listening in on you, you know, especially with all technology. There was a one day in rehearsal this time around, I was doing a scene. And my phone said, I'm sorry, I didn't get that. And it was like, yeah, that's it. I know, right? They got us.

[35:10] Namir Smallwood: Yeah. So it's these, it's these kinds of things, you know, I mean, that that just permeates is his thinking, you know, do you have any rituals or that you do to be able to leave Peter in the dressing room so you can walk out and go back into your life without that cloud because there you have to get yourself into such a vulnerable and dark space throughout the show.

[35:37] Namir Smallwood: Honestly, like I have to shower after every show because of the blood and prosthetics and all that stuff. So I think that that helps. And I didn't think about that until you.

[35:49] Eila Mell: Welcome back to Behind the Awards. We are thrilled to have Namir Smallwood with us today, who is currently starring in Bug at Steppenwolf Theatre.

[36:19] Bruce Gotlieb: Yes, and it's such an exciting time for you, Namir. You’ve been with Steppenwolf since 2017, and now you're taking this incredible show from Chicago to New York. Can you tell us a bit about that journey?

[36:48] Namir Smallwood: Absolutely! It's been a wild ride. Bug is such a unique piece, and working with Carrie Coon and David Cromer has been an incredible experience. The transition from Chicago to New York has been both challenging and rewarding.

[37:14] Eila Mell: What were some of the biggest challenges you faced during that transition?

[37:42] Namir Smallwood: I think the biggest challenge was just adapting to the different energy of New York. Chicago has its own vibe, and bringing that same intensity to New York audiences was something we had to navigate carefully.

[38:10] Bruce Gotlieb: And how has the audience reception been so far?

[38:36] Namir Smallwood: The reception has been amazing! New York audiences are so passionate, and it's been great to see them connect with the material. It really adds a different layer to the performance.

[38:50] Eila Mell: That's fantastic to hear! Can you share a memorable moment from the rehearsal process?

[39:20] Namir Smallwood: One moment that stands out was during our first run-through. There was a scene where everything just clicked, and we all felt this electric energy in the room. It was one of those moments where you realize why you do what you do.

[39:48] Bruce Gotlieb: That sounds incredible! It must be so fulfilling to be part of a production that resonates so deeply with both the cast and the audience.

[40:18] Namir Smallwood: It really is. There's something special about live theater that you can't replicate anywhere else. Each performance feels like its own unique experience.

[40:46] Eila Mell: Speaking of unique experiences, you've worked on a variety of projects, both on stage and on screen. How do you find the balance between the two?

[41:11] Namir Smallwood: It's definitely a juggling act! I love both mediums for different reasons. Theater allows for that immediate connection with the audience, while film and television offer a different kind of storytelling. I try to embrace the best of both worlds.

[41:41] Bruce Gotlieb: And you've had some impressive roles in television as well. How do you approach a character differently in a film versus a stage production?

[42:01] Namir Smallwood: Great question! In theater, you have to think about the arc of the character over a longer period, while in film, you can focus on smaller moments. Each medium requires a different kind of preparation and mindset.

[42:25] Eila Mell: That's such an insightful perspective. Now, with Bug being extended through March 8th, what do you hope audiences take away from the show?

[42:53] Namir Smallwood: I hope they leave feeling challenged and provoked. Bug tackles some heavy themes, and I think it's important for audiences to engage with those ideas and reflect on them.

[43:19] Bruce Gotlieb: Absolutely! It's a powerful piece. Before we wrap up, do you have any advice for aspiring actors looking to follow in your footsteps?

[43:47] Namir Smallwood: My biggest piece of advice would be to stay true to yourself and your craft. Keep pushing yourself, take risks, and don’t be afraid to fail. Every experience is a learning opportunity.

[44:17] Eila Mell: Wise words, Namir! Thank you so much for joining us today and sharing your journey with us.

[44:46] Namir Smallwood: Thank you for having me! It’s been a pleasure.

[45:13] Bruce Gotlieb: And to our listeners, make sure to catch Namir in Bug at Steppenwolf Theatre. It’s a show you won’t want to miss!

[45:43] Eila Mell: Until next time, keep celebrating excellence in theater, film, and TV!

[46:13] Namir Smallwood: Thank you!

[46:41] Bruce Gotlieb: Bye everyone!

[47:11] Eila Mell: Bye!