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INTERVIEW WITH TIM OMUNDSON
Tim Omundson on stage
Interview
TIM OMUNDSON:
[01] So, what would you all like to know?FLORENCE JESSICA PAULLE:
[02] Quite a few things. Our first question has to do with being a parent. How has your life changed since your daughter was born?OMUNDSON:
[03] Oh man, that's a big question. How hasn't my life changed? It's changed in just a hundred ways. I get much less sleep, time management is all kind of screwy - like for example right now my daughter won't go to sleep, and it's her nap time. And then my wife Allison had plans and now she's got to deal with the baby. It's hard to explain. In terms of like my work, it really has totally changed my work because suddenly there's something more important than me, you know? We're all sort of self-centered beings and then you put a baby in the mix, and it sort of takes - on one hand, it puts a lot more pressure on you, to like, you know, to make money. On the other hand, it also takes the pressure off because like I said, it's not about me anymore and so I can kind of approach my work a little more freely, and your emotions are all sort of - they're on the surface. They're a lot closer to the surface. So for me anyway, it's really changed my work. There's just so many ways my life has changed that it's hard to think of one. We don't go out anymore, or not nearly as much as we used to. The only way we see movies right now is if there's something that we can rent. Haven't seen a lot of stuff that's up for the Academy Awards tonight, I'm sort of rambling about that.PAULLE:
[04] If you were going to describe yourself in three words, what would they be?OMUNDSON:
[05] [laughs] In three words. Oh, I'm trying to count words now. In three words…. up for fun. Those are the ones that just came to the top of my head. I was going to say up for a challenge, but that's four words.BRIANNA LEIGH:
[06] In high school did you fit into a category, such as Goth or jock, et cetera?OMUNDSON:
[07] You know, I was a little bit of everything, and I was always kind of happy with that. I was my class president. I was a drama geek, I was a band geek. I was sort of able to get along - I really think I got along with everybody. I don't know why that is. I didn't really play the part of any one category, you know? But I sort of was able to drift in between all those groups. If anything, I was most into theater.LEIGH:
[08] Look where that's got you now.OMUNDSON:
[09] Yeah, exactly. And that's because even back then, I knew what I wanted to do. It was always my focus. It's been my focus, I would say, since I was about fifteen. So I really liked the band, I was in the jazz band. I really liked that, but it wasn't - I knew I wasn't going to be a professional musician so that was much more just sort of for fun. I did what was called Dramatic Interp. It's kind of like acting. It's sort of like you get up and do a monologue. I started doing that my sophomore year and I actually won the state championship two years in a row in dramatic interp. So that was sort of like my acting training as well. I think I was voted most involved, like I sort of had my hand in everything going on. I don't know why that was; I just really liked sort of staying involved, and being a part of the action. I pretty much got along with everybody.PAULLE:
[10] How is Tim in his thirties different from Tim in his teens? And how are you the same?OMUNDSON:
[11] I'm the same in a lot of ways. Let's see, differences would be - that's an interesting question. I mean you certainly grow up a lot, and it's funny because I'm 33 - I've got a house and a baby, and a wife, but I'm still sort of a big dork.[12] I still am a kid in a lot of ways. One of the things when Allison was pregnant with Lily, it's like, I can't have a baby. That means I have to be a man, I'm still a kid. And I don't think that really ever goes away. I think there's a lot of people in their 40's and 50's and 60's who still feel like they're not adults yet. Differences - I was certainly much more naive about the world and certainly in the business of acting than I am now. God, that's a really good question. I'm trying to give you a good answer. Even though I was focused when I was a kid, I was focused in what I wanted to do, I didn't get the opportunity to do it because there were things I had to do, sort of as when I was older, meaning with acting. And now I have the opportunities to try and get jobs, to audition, and so I'm more focused that way, in that before I just had the goal but I didn't really have the means to go about it, and now I've got the means so I'm able to live my dream more. It's less of a dream and now it's sort of my life. Does that make sense?
PAULLE:
[13] Yes. It reminds me a lot of what we're doing with this.OMUNDSON:
[14] Do you want to be writers?PAULLE:
[15] I do, and when you were talking about having the means, it was really ringing true for me, because that's exactly how this feels.OMUNDSON:
[16] And it's great you're doing it. It's like, it's similar to what I did. When I was in high school, because I knew what I wanted to do, I could figure out, what way could I prepare myself for my goals when I get out of school? Even with debate, that's why I did the acting side of debate. School politics, that was acting to me in a way.[17] I tried to find everything I could that would get me closer to my goal when I was put in a position to really go to work at it. College was the same way. We were given an assignment by I think our English teacher or something in college, and we could write about anything we want, and I did a piece on acting. And I saw someone in my acting class in the library, and she was like what are you doing your report on, I said I'm doing it on Shakespeare, and she was like whatever. She was like don't you get sick of it? And I couldn't understand what she was talking about. Like no I don't get sick of it, this is what I want to do. This is what I've waited my whole life to do. You know, like I didn't understand how people when they got out of college took 3 months to a year off. Like you know, how can you do that? I went to a school where a lot of kids had money, and they would just take a year off or they'd go to Europe, and I'm like how can you do that? I've been waiting these eight years including high school and college to get out into the world and try this out, and how can you go screw off in Europe for a month or whatever, you know?
PAULLE:
[18] I can't even wait. I want to be a writer, and I'm writing now, and I don't have the patience. All these things, I kind of want to be doing them now.OMUNDSON:
[19] Patience is one of the things. In terms of how I'm different from when I was younger to now, I have more patience. My folks were always very supportive. My dad was always, especially in college, when I just wanted to get out into the world, he was like you just got to be patient. Just be patient. And with acting, like once I was out in the world, it took a year before I got my first job. The thing is you just got to be patient. Just stick to your gun, and be patient and stay the course, but that's really hard when you're younger and you just can't wait to get going.PAULLE:
[20] If you were going to order a pizza, what would be on it?OMUNDSON:
[21] I'm a pepperoni, black olive guy.LEIGH:
[22] What is the strangest or worst job you've ever had?OMUNDSON:
[23] I was hot tar roofer the summers between my freshman year of college. I was the guy who had to load the kettle and heat up the tar and that was an awful job. It was just an awful job. Waiting tables is pretty crappy too. I did a lot of that and was not very good at it. It's just sort of what you do if you're in Los Angeles and you don't have any skills other than acting. And that's the thing. One of the detriments of my education is I was always so focused on acting and I never wanted anything to fall back on, so I never really learned anything else. I can gabble in a lot of little things but I'm not really proficient at anything else. So, I was very limited. I know guys who acted and they're also graphic designers, and they are in finance or whatever, I couldn't do any of that and didn't want to do any of that. So waiting tables sucks.PAULLE:
[24] I was thinking about doing that.OMUNDSON:
[25] But again, you do what you have to do to get by. If waiting tables is a means to an end for you to be a writer, to free you up, because the one thing it does is you have flexible hours, and a lot of it is work at night, so it frees you up during the day to do other things, then great, then that's what you do.PAULLE:
[26] If you won the lottery tomorrow, what would be the first thing you would do?OMUNDSON:
[27] First thing I would do. I would probably pay off my house. Like what kind of lottery? Huge crazy money lottery? Like you never have to worry about money again lottery?[28] That would be, I would pay off my house. I would take care of my mom and dad, my sisters and brothers and my in laws, and my wife's sister, and sort of secure the family. Make sure Lily is taken care of and start from there.
LEIGH:
[29] Okay. To you, where is the ideal place to live, and why?OMUNDSON:
[30] Well, I've lived in Seattle, which is where I grew up, just outside of Seattle, and I've lived in Los Angeles. Those are the two places I've lived in. I haven't found it yet. I still have this picture in my head of where I want to be. I think it's up in the Sandland Islands, off the coast of Seattle. I don't know that there is any one place. I could see living in a couple different places. A great mark of success for me would be to have two houses. A place in Seattle and a place here or a place like upstate in New York where you can sort of get a little of everything. If you get too tired of winter, you come out to California. If you get too tired of sunshine you go to Seattle.LEIGH:
[31] In your life who do you think has played a major part in who you are today?OMUNDSON:
[32] There's been many, many, many people. My parents first and foremost, obviously, they would have been the biggest influences for the first, I was going to say the first 18 years but they still continue to be. There's a lot of teachers in high school that played a really, really big part in my life and encouraging me to do what I wanted to do and seeing that I had these goals and the talent to maybe or maybe not back it up but at least I had promise. Those teachers that encouraged me, there were a lot of those. There were actors in Seattle when I was growing up that sort of took me under their wing a little bit, and then moving down here there's been a lot of people who've shepherded me and helped me down here. My wife's a big influence on me. We've been together for ten years now. A big part of who I am today, I think I'd be a different person if I hadn't met her. And now Lily's a huge influence.PAULLE:
[33] Do you have a quote or saying that inspires you?OMUNDSON:
[34] I think, the thing I try to live by is being true to yourself. The quote from Shakespeare is, "This above all, to thine own self be true." That's what I've always tried to go by, and my dad actually wrote that on my graduation card from high school. And just recently in the last two years I've tried to sort of re-embrace that and really kind of - you know, 'cause like, again, adult, kid, I don't know. I'm still trying to figure out who I am and I don't think that ever changes either. So especially in my work I'm trying to re-examine you know, who I am and what I think about things and bring that out in my work. Which has changed for me. I used to sort of cover up, and now I'm try to uncover, if that makes sense.PAULLE:
[35] You've said that you have done a lot of Shakespeare. What is your favorite play he has written?OMUNDSON:
[36] I think Othello is my favorite play. I did that in college. In thinking of it, I didn't do that much Shakespeare but it was always such a part of my early education. I was always studying it, I was always doing scenes, I was always, you know, kind of engrossed in it. Also because that's what I thought actors did. Shakespeare.PAULLE:
[37] And a lot of them do.OMUNDSON:
[38] Yeah, and I think they're all the better for it. I think it's improved my acting. It's certainly improved my verbal skills and the way I- you know, you are, it's rare when you get a really, really good script in TV. A lot of it's written very quickly, and not everything it could be for various reasons. Shakespeare I think really helped me make mediocre material a lot better.LEIGH:
[39] In my class this year we're going to be studying Othello.OMUNDSON:
[40] Oh really. Loved it. I did Iago. That was my favorite role that I've played for Shakespeare.PAULLE:
[41] I saw you this past summer, I saw you perform in Love Letters with Renee O'Connor in New Jersey.OMUNDSON:
[42] Oh, you did? Oh wow.PAULLE:
[43] It's probably one of the most amazing plays I think I've seen and I was wondering how putting on a play with no set and no costume really challenges you as an actor?OMUNDSON:
[44] You got nothing to hide behind. And we had very little rehearsal. We read the play, I think once before, that was our rehearsal. In that show, I almost missed my flight. I think by the time I got to the hotel where we did the reading I had time for a quick shower and to like iron my shirt and that was it. That was sort of an exercise in which there's nothing to cover up, there's nothing to hide behind you just have to try and find the truth and really listen to what the other person was saying and be affected by it. I was really happy with that performance. I think it was actually some really good work. It was the best I've been able to do in terms of being truthful and honest.
Tim Omundson at breakfast
PAULLE:
[45] I thought, what really amazed me was that fact that both of you could convince me that you were these people, you know, especially from seeing you two in Xena, it's like you have these ideas of what you're going to be like as characters.OMUNDSON:
[46] That's it. That's a great compliment. That's actually the highest compliment you can give, that you believed what we were saying. I think we're supposed to do it in London this summer if we can work everything out.PAULLE:
[47] It's a great play.OMUNDSON:
[48] And it was great working with Renee. I always loved working with Renee. That was tremendous fun.LEIGH:
[49] You're making me jealous now because I never saw it.OMUNDSON:
[50] Well it was very, very good. (pause) I'm kidding.LEIGH:
[51] You also played Seamus McTiernen in the movie The Luck of The Irish...OMUNDSON:
[52] [in Irish accent] Seamus McTiernen, the evil leprechaun, yes.LEIGH:
[53] How does that role compare to the others you have played?OMUNDSON:
[54] It was a blast. I mean, it was just a hoot. I've always loved doing accents. I've never really gotten to really do one on camera before so that was a lot of fun trying to do that. I am part Irish, so, you know. It was just a ball. I love the whole culture and that was a lark. I really liked doing something for a younger audience, something that my daughter can watch. It was a lot of fun. It was just a lot of fun.LEIGH:
[55] Can you do that accent one more time?OMUNDSON:
[56] [in Irish accent] Sure I'll do the accent. It's a bit more of an Irish sort of thing. It's a bit of kind of a northern Irish thing, you know you talk to a real Irishman and they'll say it's crap.PAULLE:
[57] [laughs] It's quite funny, in telling a couple of my friends that we had this interview, I was able to mention that movie and they knew who I was talking about.OMUNDSON:
[58] It's funny, 'cause a lot of kids and young people know me from that. And their parents are just - so the kids will be excited and their parents will look tired because they've had to sit there and watch it 20 times.PAULLE:
[59] You seem to be everywhere in TV. It's kind of cool because you've got that range.OMUNDSON:
[60] It is very cool, and I'm very blessed to have this opportunity that I'm in sort of a great groove right now. It certainly hasn't always been like this; it's not always going to be like this so I'm trying to ride this wave while it's going on.LEIGH:
[61] Do you ever actually watch yourself on TV? Are you self-critical?OMUNDSON:
[62] Yeah. I am very self-critical, and that's why I do watch. Because, there's always another way to do it, there's always a better way to do it and you normally discover that when you're watching it. Sometimes I'll watch it and go, yeah I did what I wanted to do in that scene. And for me it's like when football players review the game tape, you know, you sort of review what went on and whether you reached your goals. To me it's part of the learning process. I know a lot of actors hate watching themselves on TV, they never watch themselves. I think a lot of that is because they're so self-critical. I try and be critical in a way I can learn from opposed to just beating myself up.LEIGH:
[63] Yeah.PAULLE:
[64] 'Cause once it's on TV, you can't change it.OMUNDSON:
[65] Once you do it, it is out there forever and you can never change it.PAULLE:
[66] Speaking of actors, and all the different actors and people in TV, who, if anyone, from your previous work are you still friends with or in contact with these days?OMUNDSON:
[67] I've been really fortunate in that I'm friends with a lot of the people I've worked with. I was in a show called SeaQuest, which was on '93, I think, which Ted Raimi was on, who played Joxer on Xena. And Ted's actually the reason I got the job on Xena. Well, Ted and I have remained friends along with a guy named Marcus Sanchez, and Don Franklin, and actually a lot of that cast. It was a bunch of guys and we all just kind of hit it off and we all remained friends, and I only did four episodes of the show, so it's really unusual for a guest star to bond like that. But it was just good guys. We hit it off and remained friends. And Ted called me one day and said you need to get your agents on this project, they're looking for a guy, essentially, a guy who looks like Jesus. And I had always had the long hair and a goatee and I went in and read for it and Ted sort, you know, said he's a good guy you should hire him, and I got the job. There was another show called Medicine Ball, I think that was the first big series I did, that the lead female and my wife have become best friends and I see her all the time. I'm friends with a lot of the crew members that I met on Xena, I'm friends with Renee, and Lucy, and we try and get together whenever Lucy's in town. I've been really fortunate.PAULLE:
[68] It must be really nice to be able to continue good friendships like that.OMUNDSON:
[69] It's the best part of the job. It really is. When you work it's sort of like instant family, especially if you're working on location, and it's a big sort of pretend family, and it has all the dynamics of - people who get along, and people who don't get along, and you bond very quickly and then it's over and you disappear. And then it's really up to you about whether or not you choose to stay in contact with these people. And it's just one of the best things in my job is that I've met people that I want to stay in contact with and that they want to stay in contact with me and I look forward to getting older and working with these people again. Like Ted. The day Ted and I first worked together on Xena, it was so cool. We were doing this scene, and we kind of stopped and went, this is fun; we did this seven years ago. Hopefully there will be more of that.PAULLE:
[70] Yeah, Ted is also a good actor. I saw him while he was here in The Foreigner.OMUNDSON:
[71] Oh, did you see that play? Was he good in it?PAULLE:
[72] Yes. It was one of the funniest things I think I've ever seen.OMUNDSON:
[74] Aw, I wish I could have seen it. I know he was looking forward to doing it.LEIGH:
[75] How do you prepare for an extremely emotional scene? Do you have a certain warm-up or a thought you keep in mind?OMUNDSON:
[76] Hmm, yeah. I haven't had to do a lot of extremely emotional scenes. I do more in class than I do in my real work. That technique is always changing. That's sort of one of the big things I'm working on in class, is refining how I approach that. I don't have an answer, just because I haven't hit one thing. And I think it always sort of changes. Like what works for you one year isn't gonna work for you another. There's some heavy stuff coming up on Judging Amy, which I just shot. You know, I - I can't explain it, I'm sorry.PAULLE:
[77] When making a decision, do you tend to follow your mind or your heart?OMUNDSON:
[78] In work or in life?PAULLE:
[79] Either one.OMUNDSON:
[80] It depends. It really sort of depends on what the decision is. I can be pretty analytical. I try and be pretty logical a lot, which is weird for an actor, because actors need to be pretty free, so it depends. In my work certainly I'm trying to think more with my heart because I used to think a lot with my head. I'm a better actor when I think with my heart. And in life it just depends on how cranky I am.LEIGH:
[81] This one kind of covers what we were talking about not too long ago. You've really got a wide range of acting credit from your state work in Love Letters to Xena to Judging Amy, and you even appeared in Seinfeld. What type of role would you like to play next in order to expand this variety you've already achieved?OMUNDSON:
[82] I actually have a job coming up. I'm doing this HBO show called Deadwood (set for airing in 2004), which is a Western, and I'm really looking forward to that because it's a period piece. It takes place in Deadwood, South Dakota in 1878. And I love period stuff. It's all pretend to me. You get to dress up in the funny clothes and speak a funny way and it's that stuff that appealed to me to become an actor in the first place. So I'm really looking forward to doing that. In class, I'm working on a lot of darker stuff, because I haven't got to do a lot of that on TV. And TV, they can only push the envelope so far. In class I'm trying to do kind of darker, more serious, more heavy stuff - see where that takes me. You know, same thing - I could get a job tomorrow, to play a porcupine hunter. I don't know.LEIGH:
[83] You've said the fun part about life is not knowing what's next. However, do you plan to work in TV, movies and live theater or are you interested in focusing in one of these areas?OMUNDSON:
[84] Well let me say this - the fun thing in life is not knowing what's coming next, that's also the horrifying part in life. It's the same thing. They really go hand in hand. I mean right now, it's fun not knowing what's coming up next, because I've been working and I've got a little money saved. Put me in a situation where I haven't worked in a couple of months and I'm running out of money, and I'm pretty desperate to known what's coming. It's all, it's all in how you look at it.LEIGH:
[85] We're not going to let you get away without asking you some stuff from Xena. Is there one moment from Xena that sticks out in your mind over everything else? Could you share it with us?OMUNDSON:
[86] There were a lot. The stuff I did with Kevin, just 'cause I loved working with Kevin. Actually, a specific day, it was working with Kevin but it's also about Renee. It's not about my work it's about Renee's work. It was after Ares kills me and Renee is basically sitting there just wailing. I mean, it just shows you what an unbelievable actress she is. She's the one to ask about how she prepares for an emotional role. She cried from sun up to sun down. Like it took all day to shoot that scene, and she was constantly in that state. I mean she would come in and out, but when it was time to go it was right there and I don't know how she did it.LEIGH:
[87] Were those real tears?OMUNDSON:
[88] Oh, absolutely. Those were absolutely real tears.PAULLE:
[89] What has Eli taught you?OMUNDSON:
[90] Eli has taught me to be more patient. Then again, back to the patience thing. Even though I try and live by it, I don't always, most certainly. Most of the time I don't. But he taught me patience, yeah; I think that's the main thing. Patience and trying to mellow the heck out and not worry about it all so much.LEIGH:
[91] What did you think of your character's end on Xena?OMUNDSON:
[92] I liked it. I thought it was appropriate. I wish the character had, you know, lived a lot longer because I would have liked to have done more episodes, but that's just, you know, me being selfish.OMUNDSON:
[93] I liked the way he went. And I liked it, if anybody took me out, I liked that it was Ares.PAULLE:
[94] You would probably be the expert on this, since you did portray Eli, and this is kind of a funny question, but would you say that love is the way?OMUNDSON:
[95] Most of the time it is, sometimes not always. I think it's the ultimate goal to make it that way, I mean yeah, it is the goal, but unfortunately it's not practiced very often.
Tim Omundson at a cabaret
Articles
Florence Jessica Paulle and Brianna Leigh, "Interview with Adrienne Wilkinson". Whoosh #77 (May 2003)
Amy Murphy, "Inside The Head Of Tim Omundson". Whoosh #76 (March/April 2003)
Biography
Florence Jessica Paulle
Florence Jessica Paulle is a teenager attending high school in Michigan. Writing is her favorite hobby, and she plans to turn that love into a career someday soon. She enjoys tennis as well, and of course is a longtime viewer of Xena: Warrior Princess.
Favorite episodes: INTIMATE STRANGER and THE GREATER GOOD
Favorite line: Callisto: "We played a game of truth or dare and she wasn't very good at it." A NECESSARY EVIL
First episode seen: SINS OF THE PAST
Least favorite episode: FRIEND IN NEED
Brianna Leigh
Brianna is a teenager attending high school in Hawaii, USA. She is a frequent visitor at the Whoosh! message boards... you may know her as lilpunkin or mystikgab. Brianna enjoys horseback riding and surfing, and looks into acting or web design as a career.
Favorite episode: MANY HAPPY RETURN
Favorite line: Gabrielle: "It's very strange... in each story you tell me, this thing I'm wearing gets smaller. Is it enchanted?" FORGET ME NOT
First episode seen: SINS OF THE PAST
Least favorite episode: MARRIED WITH FISHSTICKS
