Actor tackles serious character as Chief Bromden in play

The second-year MHCC student playing Chief Bromden in MHCC’s student-directed production of “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest,” is excited to pursue a potential career in acting.

Theater major Drew Pierce graduated from Sandy High School in 2011 and was involved in many theater productions there. “The play ‘Leaving Iowa’ was probably one of my favorites,” he said.

Pierce has been involved in acting for four years and is pursing an associate degree with plans to transfer to Portland State University this fall.

As for leaving Oregon to pursue his acting career, he said he’s open to it. “California is looking promising but I haven’t made a solid decision,” he said.

The character Pierce portrays in “Cuckoo” is Chief Bromden, a mental patient in the institution where the play takes place.

Pierce explained his approach to the role. “It’s easier for me to key into the disturbed factor, that he is mentally not there,” he said.

“Bromden is a very socially awkward character, and that takes up the majority of Chief’s character, and (there also is) a little bit that he ‘breaks his chains’ towards the end, and I’m trying my best to do my research on that (Native American culture) and key into that” before the play opens, Pierce said.

Pierce said he can personally relate to Chief. “He speaks up and nobody really listens to him (prior to his institutionalization) and I feel that a lot. It’s not a good feeling and eventually you stop talking. And that was where I was, at one point,” he said.

He cautioned that patrons who attend “Cuckoo” should expect “heartbreak” during the play.

Pierce said he has struggled with a certain part of the play, “where I have to do a Native American traditional dance. It is the most difficult part for me, especially being some white guy that doesn’t know anything about the Native American culture.

Pierce said he has been looking up YouTube videos to help figure out the dance.

Theater Artistic Director Jesse Merz, the producer of “Cuckoo,” said Pierce has made progress with the dance and continues to improve. “He is doing a great job with it. He’s been doing some research.”

Merz has known Pierce since September and said he has seen significant growth.

“He has had a fantastic year for acting with us at Mt. Hood Community College,” Merz said.

Pierce said his parents have been very supportive of his acting endeavors.

“My interests are different from (theirs) but they have been totally supportive of me in this,” he said. They say, “ ‘You can do it, you’re more than capable of doing this.’ ”

He hopes to boost his children’s aspirations, someday, as his parents have his own, he said.

It can be a struggle to thrive as a successful actor in Portland, Pierce said. “I see (associate degree) students and theater majors here (on campus) and I say ‘Hey, haven’t seen you here for a while, you should audition,’ and they say, ‘Oh, I have to go find a real job,’ ” he said.

Pierce regrets that many people quit acting to pursue another career.

“You don’t necessarily have to do acting full-time as a career, you can do acting in your spare time,” he said. He gave one example from the “RENT” show MHCC staged this winter. “In ‘RENT’ we had this lady and she had a (doctorate degree) and was a lawyer and she loves acting,” he said – not to mention, she was a gymnast in her spare time.

Beyond acting, one of Pierce’s own favorite hobbies is music, which emerged only during high school, he said. He’s active with his own band, Shoo-Shoo, a name that he and a friend lifted from a scene in the animated television show “Futurama.”

“Cuckoo” will open Thursday in the MHCC Studio Theater.