Actor steps into a daunting, respected role as McMurphy

Stepping into the shoes of one of the most respected roles of all time may be daunting, but one actor is up to the task.

Nineteen-year-old Matt Rowning will star as Randle Patrick McMurphy (R.P. McMurphy) in the MHCC student-directed theater production of “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest.”  McMurphy is convicted of statutory rape, and pretends to be crazy so he doesn’t have to go to prison.

Rowning said that “this role feels huge,” since he has never performed in such a well-known part. “Everyone is going to come in and expect to see Jack Nicholson (who played McMurphy in the 1975 motion picture that cleaned up at the Academy Awards),” he said.

Rowning did not expect to get the role of McMurphy. He was originally hoping to get the part of Billy or Harding, fellow patients in the mental institution. He is happy with the

role, but he confesses that it brings a lot of pressure. “I was telling my friend’s dad about it, and he told me how much he loved it and that it was one of the greatest performances of all time,” he said. “I now have to own up to the legacy of (Nicholson), doing this role.”

Rowning said his character is very energetic: “When you read the script it just leaps out at you, that this guy is constantly moving.”

Rowning thinks that it’s okay to do a little channeling in his roles, like using Nicholson for inspiration, but he will also put his own spin on the character. “I think that all my specific mannerisms and quirks will come through in the performance.”

Rowning said he likes acting but enjoys doing musicals more. “The tempo of a straight play is different than a musical. You do have time to get more intellectual with your role, but I just love to sing,” he said.

He said he got involved in acting so that he could participate in more musicals, but now has learned to love acting, too.

Rowning recently had a starring role as Mark in MHCC’s production of “RENT.” He said the transition to his new part has been no trouble. “These characters are like night and day, so there are no problems there,” he said.

Rowning has a full load on his plate. “I am exhausted,” he said.

On top of the play, he is taking 14credits at Clackamas Community College this term and has a full-time job at Subway. “It’s not sexy but it pays,” he said. “The first week was like, how can I do this, the second was I think I can do this, the third was I know I can do this and this week I am halfway there.”

 

In order to relax, he likes to read and play guitar and video games. “I have recently been playing through the Bioshock series,” he said.

In the film version of “Cuckoo’s Nest,” McMurphy didn’t have any trouble attacking Nurse Ratched, but it was a scene that Rowning struggled with. He said the combination of pretending to strangle someone and the screaming in the scene was a little much, at first. However, after many practices, he is more comfortable with the encounter. “Today, for better or for worse, I was finally a

ble to get in the mode of ‘I wanna strangle this person,’ ” he said after a recent rehearsal.

Now, he said, this scene is what he most looks forward to when the curtains rise. “It was violent, it was emotional, it was safe (in rehearsal) and I am very excited to present it.”

Rowning said the rehearsals are going well, for the most part. He will start feeling better when he no longer has to call for a line and when he is fully in tune with his fellow actors.

 

“I don’t feel good until I am perfect, or as perfect as I can be,” he said. “I am an utter perfectionist.”

Rowning said, “This role will be memorable because it is my first foray into serious theater and it’s a big part that’s well known.

“I would say that these two plays (“RENT” and “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”), as a duo, would be where I took my acting to the next level.”