‘Chuck’ the villain of Beaumont

“I feel like everyone has a little bit of darkness in them. I get to embrace it,” said Drew Pierce about playing the role of a villain, “Chuck,” in the Mt. Hood musical theatre production, “Footloose.”

“Chuck’s a bully,” said Pierce. “He gets off on making fun of others, he doesn’t get any pleasure in himself, so the shortcomings of others make him feel better about himself.”

Pierce describes Chuck – nemesis of, Ren, the play’s lead character – as being there “to mess with everyone’s good time.” In a town council scene where the community gathers to debate Beaumont’s no-dancing law, Chuck takes the side of supporting the law just to spite Ren, who attempts to end the ban. “He doesn’t really care if you can dance or not, he just doesn’t like Ren.”

Chuck despises Ren because he’s the new kid in town and is admired by everyone. What’s more, Chuck’s girlfriend (Ariel) leaves him for Ren.

Ariel was drawn to Chuck mostly “to ruffle Dad’s feathers,” said Pierce, and partly because “he’s kind of the bad boy. He breaks a lot of the rules, kind of has that gruff rebellious charm to him.”

Pierce said Chuck is “a little bit of a narcissist, (but) he doesn’t really love himself. He looks in the mirror every day, kind of making himself look the way he does, and I can relate to that. I look in the mirror more than I’d like to admit.”

There is another side Chuck’s, however. “He’s very uncomfortable with who he is and that’s why he belittles the other people,” Pierce said.

“He’s a lonely, lonely dude. Another part of a back story I thought of, is his relationship with his father, and his father’s relationship with his mother. I think that his dad was abusive, and that’s how he thinks he can operate around people – through an exertion of power,” Pierce said. “This guy is a really angry, lonely, sad dude, but you only see that through his expression of anger.”

Acting in Footloose was not something on Pierce’s agenda this term. “I was not planning on auditioning at all,” he said, but friends encouraged him.

Pierce earned his associate of arts degree last term and hopes to be an actor. He is currently dual-enrolled at Portland State University, along with Mt. Hood.

Aside from acting, he is a big metal music fan and calls himself as a ‘metal head.’ He said he’s had to adjust his clothing style over the years: “I’ve kinda toned it down, ‘cause I don’t like to scare people.”

“I kind of realized this about myself: that I look angry,” Pierce said. “I’m a nice guy. I’m a teddy bear; but I still love going to (metal) shows.”

Pierce said playing the part of Chuck really makes him appreciate his friendships. “It makes me want to devote stronger relationships with the people around me. If you do the kind of stuff that Chuck does and the self-destructive behavior, you become a sad, lonely – just poor sap really,” he said.

“I feel like I have pretty nice friends and pretty nice interpersonal relationships, but I want to strengthen those so they don’t fall apart.”