CUE & A REVISITED: What Career Would You Choose If You Were Not a Performer?; 70 Actors Respond
By Playbill Staff
February 17, 2013
The editors of Playbill.com have combed through the past seven years of our popular Cue & A feature to select some of our favorite answers to the question, "What career would you want if you were not a performer?" Seventy responses from Broadway actors follow.
(Clicking on a name bolded in blue will take readers to that actor's entry in the Playbill Vault.)
Alexandra Socha
Event planner
Chester Gregory III
Teacher
Michael Esper
Music, I think. Record store owner?
Nicole Parker
I think being in development for television would be fun, because you get to make decisions and still be creative. I also think being a college professor would be pretty great.
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| Forrest McClendon |
Stock broker
Adam Godley
Director
Nina Arianda
Opera conductor
Lorenzo Pisoni
Architect
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| Merritt Wever |
Something in the non-profit realm
Christopher J. Hanke
Director. I still may do this one day. Like Clint Eastwood or Ben Affleck. They act and direct. Not that I'm comparing myself to these two chaps, but a dude can dream.
Rebecca Luker
Family therapist
Caren Lyn Tackett
To co-operate an off the grid, organic, self sustaining farm with my family ... named TackettTown. Still a goal.
Eventually I want to be churning butter, sheering sheep, spinning wool, harvesting crops and hosting huge harvest/music festivals in a barn-turned-stage. So I guess performing will always be a part of the plan. I'm serious.
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| Nick Adams |
I have no idea!
Corbin Bleu
Pediatrician
Brent Barrett
Spoiled trust fund baby
Sarah Uriarte Berry
Dolphin trainer
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| Jennifer Damiano |
Wouldn't it be cool to be a professional tennis player? Of course you'd have to be amazing at tennis for that to happen. I guess I need a more realistic Plan B.
Christina Sajous
Columnist for Vogue magazine
Lauren Molina
Writing music. I would also love to direct. On the opposite spectrum, I think I would be a teacher or start a business.
Bryce Ryness
Surfer, carpenter or sound designer.
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| Ari Graynor |
Chef
Rutina Wesley
I always wanted to be a dancer or maybe a doctor of some sort.
Randy Graff
Well, I've been teaching at Primary Stages and I find it so rewarding. What a great theatre school!
Francesca Faridany
A horse trainer
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| Gabriel Ebert |
I would liked to have been a painter.
Gabriel Ebert
Shortstop in the major leagues
Marlo Thomas
I can’t imagine anything that would have consumed me the way working at my craft has. But working with St Jude Children’s Research Hospital and seeing the difference we make in the lives of sick kids is pretty irresistible.
Jeremy Davidson
Sportswriter
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| Jenn Harris |
A drummer.
Alice Ripley
Homemaker
Jason Tam
Marine Biologist
Jennifer Lim
A member of the Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch
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| Kerry O'Malley |
Anything having to do with food and drink.
Kerry O'Malley
Disaster Relief or a front office position in Major League Baseball
Petula Clark
Something to do with animals — maybe a veterinary surgeon.
Kathryn Erbe
Teacher
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| Van Hughes |
Astrophysicist
Ramin Karimloo
Cop
Emma Hunton
DJ. Party planner. I'm great at throwing parties.
Mare Winningham
Student of Judaic studies, world traveler. Can those be careers? Please?
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| Celisse Henderson |
I would want to run a vintage shop that sold things that feel like my Nana.
Molly Ranson
A plumber. I LOVE unclogging drains.
Nikki Renee Daniels
I can't think of anything else that I'm remotely qualified for!
Josh Young
Chef
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| Jennifer Laura Thompson |
Architect
Tug Coker
Record Producer
Kevin Daniels
Something that studied the human condition. Maybe a therapist?
Bryce Pinkham
In my dreams? An anchor on ESPN's SportsCenter. In reality, probably a teacher or something in the environmental field.
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| Elizabeth A. Davis |
Doctor. Possibly surgery of some kind, possibly pediatrics, maybe psychiatry. But I think you have to be crazier than me to be a shrink.
Elizabeth A. Davis
Interior designer or theatrical producer
Spencer Kayden
Something crafty, like bookbinder or origami specialist
Jayne Houdyshell
I'd probably be a therapist. I'm interested in what makes people tick.
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| Tracee Chimo |
I guess I could be happy owning a ranch somewhere with lots of horses. I love them, and I love to ride them.
Bruce Dow
I have a BFA in Acting and an MFA in Directing, minor in Theatre History. Using those, I'd love to teach acting/music theatre at the college/university level.
Outside the arts - I'd go back to school to become a nurse. It's a tough profession, but I'm so proud of my sister. I think I could do it. I couldn't have years ago... but now, I think I could.
Anna Chlumsky
Equestrian rider? Wine grower? Hard to say. I really like being a performer. :)
Christina DeCicco
Can a girl who can't play baseball be on the NY Yankees roster? Because I'd like to do that!
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| Heidi Rodewald |
Making films
Ivan Hernandez
Soccer player or rock star
Oliver Chris
I wanted to be a fighter pilot for a while, but I'm too tall, too stupid and I don't like flying. So it was a bit of a non-starter.
Ashley Spencer
I have never even thought of doing anything else.
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| Graham Rowat |
Technology reporter
Christine Lakin
Chef. Writer.
Erin Mackey
Astronaut or nutritionist
Taylor Louderman
A teacher
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| Andrew Keenan-Bolger |
I would want a job where I got paid to make random YouTube videos with my friends. That exists, right?
Andrew Varela
Naval Officer
Andrew Samonsky
I still have childhood dreams of being a firefighter. Living heroes.
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| Brynn O'Malley |
I am so jealous of and fascinated by any writer on a great TV show.
Jenni Barber
Food and travel writer
Betsy Wolfe
If there was ever a job that combined wildlife conservation, FBI agent and professional poker player, I'd be doing it.
Incidentally, I think this sounds like a great USA television series. Anybody? Who can I meet with about this? She conserves wildlife on week days, fights international crime on week nights and flies to Vegas for the weekend. It's a hit.