Meet the Cast: Tom O'Neill

When did you know you wanted to be an actor?

I knew I wanted to be an actor by the age of 6, when I was impersonating Michael Flatly of River Dance at a fundraiser for a local food pantry my parents held every summer at our house. I wore only red spandex that were much too small for me, and kept pouring water on my chest to simulate sweat. I recall making everyone laugh, and it felt good, so the following years I had a permanent act at the annual fundraiser over the summer. But it wasn't enough, I craved the 'laughter' so I started doing school productions on the off season.

How did you come to work on this production?

Last spring Jodi Collins called me in to audition for Eric for a reading of YORKTOWN to read for 'Brek.' I was pleasantly surprised to find out that same day, that he wanted to work with me. We did the reading at St. Luke's Theatre, and a year later I ran into Andrew who told me Eric was trying to produce a world premiere... I reached out to Eric asking if I could possibly come back in for him and read for 'Brek,' as I really love this character, and Eric wrote back simply, 'you have the role.' It was the easiest audition and one of the most gratifying. Thank You, Eric!!

List three adjectives that describe your character.

Clownish, Scavenging, Determined

How are you 18th Century? What in the 21st century could you not live without?

I think the thing about me that is most is '18th Century,' is that I like to wear a lot of layers, almost unnecessarily so... Also, I much prefer the hand written letter to the electronic email. I would find it very difficult to live without the accessibility to a vast plethora of knowledge, news, books, music and entertainment we can easily get to with our technology today. However, I think I could live without it. Bottled water is good too, though. I would miss that.

What is your heritage?

I am Irish-Lebanese.

If you could have lunch with an important historical figure, who would it be? Why?

I would have lunch with Fidel Castro. I wrote a thesis on him in school, for a Revolutions class and I have always been fascinated by his ability as a leader. Quite erratic and violent, yes, but extremely intelligent, powerful, and strangely enough, revered. He often held public speeches that lasted more than 24 hours! I was always very intrigued by the fact that the US never really was able to beat him out.

What is your favorite part of the rehearsal process?

My favorite part of the rehearsal process, is trying new things, playing, taking chances, having fun with my character, and being able to step back and say 'oh, that just didn't work at all.'

If you could make any fictional character real, who would it be? Why?

Well today, as I think this may change frequently, I would choose, Ignatius J. Reilly, fromA Confederacy Of Dunces By John Kennedy Toole. Because he is absolutely ridiculous, and I think I could learn a lot from his physicality and mannerisms, that would create years of material for me to use as an actor.