Actor is ready to work his ‘rubber face’ for kids

He thought football was for him, until he found his love for theater in high school. Second year student Drew Pierce began his acting career in grade school and plans to pursue acting as a career after MHCC.

He is playing the part of Boggis in MHCC’s Children’s Theatre production of “Fantastic Mr. Fox.”

Pierce is fueled by the sensation that comes when he first steps on stage: “It’s a gut-wrenching feeling of ‘Am I going to do okay?’ ” he said.

He acted in various productions in grade and middle school as well as eight productions during his time at Sandy High School.

“Theater has just been in my life by the luck of the draw,” said Pierce. He began his freshman year of high school playing football, but quickly realized before school even started that it was not for him. His father, a sports fan, encouraged him to finish the season.

“My heart was not in it,” Pierce said. He did not feel his personality was fit for competitive sports. “I’m always the dude who is joking around, even when I shouldn’t,” he said.

After the season ended, he began to pursue acting seriously and auditioned for plays. His junior and senior year he received lead parts. He played William Randolph Hearst in “The Cat’s Meow” and the father in “Leaving Iowa.”

Pierce describes his face as “rubber” and “going all over.” He has often played more serious and sinister characters, so “When I’m not in control, no one believes me,” he said. In “Leaving Iowa,” Pierce felt he didn’t have to hold back: “I could just go crazy!” That role allowed him to let go, and quickly became his favorite.

Pierce enjoys telling stories, regardless of the plot. He finds the silence of audience members during a drama as rewarding as their laughter during a comedy.

When actors have humor lines, “kids will laugh forever,” Pierce said. He was in the children’s play “Sleepy Hollow” last year and found that children “have no filter, they’ll do what they want” and blurt out their thoughts at various times throughout the play, he said.

Pierce doesn’t feel stress in the show, thanks to “all the good aspects of children.” He said he finds humor in the young audience’s extended laughter.

“Sleepy Hollow” was his lone performance last year, so that he could focus on his studies.

He plans to audition for the upcoming production of “Rent,” “especially now that we have a solid director behind it all,” he said of newly appointed theater instructor Jesse Merz.

Pierce gets abundant support for his acting. He receives notes of encouragement from his grandparents, and his parents express more support than he expected.

His mother participated in musicals during high school, as well. “I’m so glad I didn’t get my dad’s tone-deafness,” Pierce said of his ability to hold a tune.

Pierce acts alongside friend and fellow MHCC student Garrett Larreau, who inspires him with “incredible comedic timing,” he said. Pierce practiced his comedic skills over the summer by making videos of sitcom spinoffs with Larreau.

When he is not acting, he takes on the persona of a minotaur for his friend’s band, “Ion Storm.” The minotaur dances with the audience and produces excitement, which Pierce said is a lot of fun.

He is looking forward to a wrestling match at an upcoming event, a battle for the right for his band to continue playing.

His everyday wardrobe consists of a T-shirt collection he has acquired from various concerts, totaling more than 50.

“If I did a price inventory, I would probably cry,” Pierce said about the amount of money he has spent on his hobby. “In terms of shirts, I never run out of something to wear.” Whenever a concert has shirts for sale, he almost always has to get one. “It’s still the memory of the show. Some shows have really funny memories attached to them,” he said.

To see Pierce’s talent and “rubber face,” look for him in the Children’s Theater show and in an upcoming MHCC production this year. “Fantastic Mr. Fox” will run Nov. 5-17. The production is primarily intended for elementary school children on field trips. Only the Nov. 17 show will be open to the public. Tickets will be $2.