What can’t Michael Urie do? The actor got his start playing fabulous personal assistant Marc St. James on ABC’s “Ugly Betty.” Now, he’s bringing his comedy skills—and singing pipes—to the Broadway revival of “Once Upon a Mattress,” starring as the tender Prince Dauntless alongside Sutton Foster. Later this month, he’ll return to the small screen on Season 2 of the Apple TV+ dramedy “Shrinking” as Brian, the best friend of a grieving therapist (Jason Segel). Here, Urie discusses his theater roots, what he learned from “Ugly Betty,” and the importance of queer representation on TV.
1. Throughout your film and TV career, you’ve always returned to the stage. Why is theater important to you?
There’s nothing more alive than being onstage, and there’s nothing more alive than that than being onstage with Sutton. Doing theater is an incredible experience; you get to share with people, and they know that it’s completely unique to them. While everything is set for safety and to make sure we’re all on the same page, there is wiggle room and a real sense of play.
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2. What lessons did you take away from your years on “Ugly Betty”?
We became a family. We learned from each other. We were doing such progressive and joyful material. It couldn’t have been a more perfect experience. I also learned about money, I learned about real estate, and I learned about walking a red carpet—so many little things that you don’t really think about.
3. Did you discover any new dimensions to Brian on the second season of “Shrinking”?
He’s a gay character, but the fact that he’s gay isn’t the point; it’s nice to know that we can normalize being gay. When we first met Brian, he was this happy-go-lucky, shiny human. And then when his longtime partner and he decided they were going to get married, suddenly his neuroses really crept in. I think that is a real thing for queer people of a certain age who did not grow up expecting to get married, which I can totally relate to. It was a color I hadn’t played as a guy who plays a lot of queer characters, and I hadn’t seen it on television before.
Michael Urie, Jason Segel, and Christa Miller on “Shrinking” Credit: Beth Dubber
4. How has being gay impacted the type of roles you’ve taken over the course of your career?
There was a point when “Ugly Betty” was on TV and I was being counseled to avoid more gay characters. But I realized very quickly that it would mean no more acting if I didn’t embrace and accept the fact that people saw me in these kinds of characters. And it also implied that all gay characters were going to be the same. I realized that was crazy—you can’t typecast gay. There are so many different versions of us.
5. What advice would you give young actors just starting out in the industry?
It’s very important to treat every opportunity as real. This business is a marathon, and it’s a business of connections; but connections can come in a million different ways and at a million different times. You can’t expect one hit to immediately turn into two hits. You can’t expect a good review to get you the next job. When you’re starting out and opportunities begin to come, those opportunities are coming to you. And until you can’t, you should take them. You don’t know what a project will lead to. My advice is to hunker down, do the work, and say yes until you can’t.
This story originally appeared in the Oct. 3 issue of Backstage Magazine.