By Liam Sweeny.
RRX: You’re coming here to Universal Preservation Hall to perform your musical “Cheyenne Jackson: That Guy from That Thing,” the joke being that you’ve been in everything and nobody can place you, in terms of your name. Do you think this happens to actors that are multi-talented, as in they branch out?
CJ: I think so, yeah. If you do one thing for thirty years, people know exactly where to file you. I zigzagged. Broadway, then 30 Rock, then a horror show, then a sitcom, then Carnegie Hall, so nobody has a drawer for me. I get “Did we go to high school together?” I’ve made peace with it. Actually, I’ve made a show out of it, which is cheaper than therapy and the seats are better.
RRX: You played Mark Bingham in the movie United 93. Since we just went through the 25th anniversary of 9/11, was the filming of that movie different in any way from other films you’d done? Was it more serious, maybe? More solemn?
CJ: Completely. There was no “action” and “cut” energy, no one joking at craft services. Paul Greengrass wanted it to feel like it was happening in real time, so nearly all of it was improvised, and we were all very aware these were real people with real families watching. Playing Mark Bingham was the honor of my life. He was a big, gay rugby player who ran toward the cockpit, and I was a young gay actor still figuring out how out to be in this business. He made that decision a lot easier for me. Twenty-five years later, I still think about him.
RRX: You’ve been on Broadway many times, and also regional theatre, so I’m imagining that that encompasses “off Broadway” too. What are some of the key differences that you would notice as a stage performer that a showgoer wouldn’t notice?
CJ: First things that come to mind are the size of the dressing room and the paychecks. On Broadway you might get a closet with a mirror. Off, you might get a corner of a closet. But the real difference is the house. A 1,500-seat Broadway theater breathes differently than a 200-seat black box. In a small room, you can whisper, and they lean in. In a big one, you have to send it to the back row without looking like you’re sending it to the back row. The audience never sees that math, and they shouldn’t. But I could make a case for both, as they both have their specific magic.
RRX: You’ve played leading roles on Broadway. Is the pressure harder on a leading role, or is the whole show sort of holistically pressured?
CJ: Yes, but it’s all hard. Broadway is hard. Period. The hardest job I’ve ever had. When you’re the lead, if you’re sick, the show still goes on, but people ask for refunds. That sits on you. That said, a show is a machine. If someone goes up on a line, if the sound op misses a cue, everyone feels it. But when you’re in the middle of the stage with all eyes on you…that’s a heavy crown, honey.
RRX: You sold out Carnegie Hall twice. Considering that most musicians would kill to just get on Carnegie Hall’s stage, is it extra bragging rights to sell it out twice? And was there a secret to that success?
CJ: Damn right it is. I’ll brag. I grew up in a town of about 248 people in northern Idaho. We didn’t have a stoplight, let alone a concert hall. So yes, I’ll take the bragging rights and frame them. The secret, honestly, is that I stopped trying to be what I thought people wanted me to be and just did the show I’d want to see. Some songs, some stories, some embarrassing truths. Lots of incredible music, and hopefully lots and lots of heart and relatability.
RRX: On top of Broadway, you have a whole host of film and television credits. Did this just come from theatre, or was theatre a stepping stone to film? When did you decide to work in film?
CJ: I never had a master plan. I was an understudy on Broadway, then a lead, and the TV and film folks were sitting in those audiences. Tina Fey handed me my first real TV break on 30 Rock, and thus began my second career on television. Theatre is home, though. Film and TV are the places I visit and bring back fabulous souvenirs.
