Spending decades in the world of theatre, film and television, Skuby, 45, has learned the in's and out's of the business of acting. Moving to Los Angeles in his mid-20s, he grew from a theatre talent to a reoccurring comedy character in King of Queens.
Playing as Doug Pruzan from 2000 to 2003, Skuby's career continued to lean on the TV side for 15 years, recently working on Freeform's The Fosters in 2017.
Skuby spoke with Zach Catanzareti of the Catch-Up Blog to discuss his career in acting and his growth from a "blue-collar" New Jersey upbringing to the big screen. We also dive into his King of Queens role and what he's up to nowadays with his LA play, Damaged Furniture.
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Zach Catanzareti: Let's start with where it all started for you in New Jersey. You grew up in the 70s, how was your childhood growing up? Did you have any siblings, what did your parents do?
Alex Skuby: I was born in 1972, I was the oldest of three siblings. We're all six years apart, so my brother is six years younger than me and my sister is 12 years younger than me. And my father was a salesman, he worked in New York City for IZOD, Ralph Lauren, stuff like that. He was pretty much on the road and my mother was a stay-at-home mom.
It was a pretty straightforward childhood, I had a lot of friends, grew up in Jersey. It was interesting, when I got older my brother was growing up I hated that he took some of the attention away from me. Just that sibling rivalry. It was pretty normal, I guess. My father was always telling jokes at parties and going above and beyond to get attention. That bigger personality came onto me I would say.
Was it through your father that you started getting into acting? Or was that something that came a little later?
It came later. My father didn't have anything to do with my acting, he actually did want me to pursue that. He wanted me to have a real job with benefits and health insurance. I knew that wasn't for me, that normal every-day existence only because my brain doesn't work that way.
I did not do theatre in high school, I didn't think about it too much. But what happened was when I graduated high school, I didn't know what I wanted to do with my life. I knew I had to go to school so I enrolled at Brookdale Community College, a two-year college in Lincroft, NJ. I had to go full-time there because my parents were divorced at that point. In order to stay with my father's home insurance, I had to be a full-time student.
There was a marketing class and an acting 101 class. Well, I didn't want to take marketing so let's see what this acting 101 is all about. I took it and I had a blast. It was therapeutic.
Why do you think that was? Was it something that came natural, performing in front of people, perhaps with comedy if that's how you started?
I didn't start in comedy, most of my credits, if you look at my resume and stuff, it's drama. Especially with Tv and stuff. When I went to Brookdale, they cast a play called "A Few Good Men". It was a movie that came out but it started as a play. I auditioned for it, it was pretty high drama and I got the part. It was just so wonderful, the feeling.
As far as being a natural in front of people, I don't know if you're born with that or if it's something you grow into. I remember doing that play -- I did a play in third grade, but in third grade, you don't give a shit. 'Yay, I'm in a play!'
I'm 19 at the time, so I cared. I was very nervous. It was the first time I had something at stake, you know?
But the role was amazing. Opening night, I played Col. Jessup, Jack Nicholson played that part. I remember being so nervous. There was a scene where another actor comes in and says 'I hate lawyers, kill them all.' Something like that. I was so nervous I went blank. I brain went blank and it seemed like it lasted five minutes, it was probably only 10 seconds.
When did you feel comfortable?
It's funny because every job you do is different. For instance, I'm doing a play right now, we're doing in Los Angeles, it's called Damaged Furniture. It's a comedy written by Howard Skora, it's an original play. We're doing this play, we just got extended through August at the Whitefire Theatre. To answer your question, each job is different. This theatre we're talking about here, it's live, no safety net -- once the lights come up and you roll on the stage, you're in it. Sink or swim.
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| (Damaged Furniture, 2018. Alex Skuby, Instagram) |
It's definitely more at-ease and more fluid I would say. More connected. But with TV and film you have take after take, you show up for a scene, you're not really feeling it. But after a few takes, you're OK and feel better. It's a whole different set of skills.
You said you didn't really know what you wanted to do. Kind of not having a Plan B, did that really motivate you to get rid of the nerves?
I would say it is but what makes a solid performer is work. You have to focus. I'm going to bring up this play, I'm in 96 of 100 pages in the script. That's a lot of dialogue. I'm in the entire play, I'm on stage with other brilliant actors, a cast of five of us. So, I knew we were going to start rehearsal at the end of January, so I started reading the script.
I learned all my lines to make sure I was off-book for the most part in a matter of 10 days... so in 10 days I did nothing but sit in my office -- I would take five pages and go, 'OK, I'm going to learn these five pages right now.' And then I'd take the next five and keep doing that.
And fear [laughs] is a great motivator, too. I got to know this!
But that goes into what you were saying, did that make me feel with a Plan B? Yeah, it did. But again, in my brain, there is nothing else I could do. Nothing. I remember when I was eight or nine, my whole family is Russian. We're all from the Jersey Shore and I remember Russian Easter my cousin had brought a friend of his to this party we were having. I was a kid and she was a casting director for soap operas.
I didn't know much about it then but when she explained to me at that age what he did, casting actors on TV, I started doing these dances for her [laughs]. 'Look at me, look at me!' I think it has always been there.
Also, I had this psychology teacher in high school. My grades weren't great, I didn't feel the schoolwork. Anyone can say they hate school, I get it. But I really wasn't that good. I remember my psychology teacher one day in the hallway he said to me, 'You know Skuby, you're not going to need any of this.' I go, 'What are you talking about?' He's like, 'All this stuff, this work. You're going to get somewhere on your personality.'
I'll never forget him saying that. I was like, 'Holy shit.' I didn't think of it then but now 30 years later, wow. He said that to me and he was kind of right.
It makes you feel it was meant to be a little bit. This wasn't by accident, you found what you wanted. You were dancing as a kid and before you knew it, you saw yourself on TV.
"There are two different types of actors in this business. There are celebrity superstars and there are actors. I'm an actor."
You have your superstars, your Brad Pitt, Bruce Willis. Those are more superstars to me. Then there are actors, those who move throughout this business in smaller parts, bigger parts, but they're always there auditioning, working, going for it. And you build a nice little life for yourself. That's kind of where I'm at. That's kind of what I am.
When I first moved to LA when I was 25, it was like I wanted to be that star. Then after 10, 15 years of learning about this business and the people who ran it, I came to the conclusion I like being an actor, man. I just like being an actor.
Do you think people get stuck wanting that limelight?
I think there are people who do, yeah. There are people who look at the size of the paycheck, they look for how much clout this is going to give me. They live in that white, fluffy cloud -- they surround themselves with a lot of yes men. I've never been in that, I've never had that. I've worked with people who were that.
I can't speak for who's into that but just by looking at it, how did they do that? They already have $200 million in their bank account why the hell would they do that movie?
I started in theatre, I love theatre. Of course, I do love working in television and film, I do. Theatre is where it all started for actors. Going back hundreds of years, this is where it is, where it's sink or swim.
With theatre, I hear that a lot with actors. What are really the differences when you're on a bigger set on a TV network and theatre? Do you keep that same mindset or are they too different to bring those skills?
You hone your skills and work on your craft in theatre. In my opinion, others may have a different opinion. But with mine, that's where I learned my stuff. When I was doing King of Queens or when I was just on a show called The Fosters, I bring those skills into that environment.
Essentially, it's the same thing but two different skillsets. TV is smaller, the physicalities are smaller, especially in drama. That's very low-key and played down. Whereas in theatre, you have to be bigger, the people in the back row need to hear you and see your facial expressions.
To answer your question, I do use the same skillsets just in a different way.
You quickly became a fairly familiar face on TV from A Will of Their Own, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, ER. Did you anticipate your career leaning toward the TV side?
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| (Alex Skuby, Instagram) |
That's just how it panned out. I didn't think too much about where I would end up, I just went with it. When I moved to LA, I was an actor in Chicago -- I grew up in Jersey, moved to Chicago when I was 20. I did a lot of theatre out there. I was cast in a show called Early Edition and I was so nervous I couldn't even hit my marks.
The camera guy whispered to the director, 'I cant get him in the shot.' The director would come up to me and go, 'Alex, you have to hit your mark. If you don't hit your mark, you're not going to be able to do the job.'
But again, I don't see myself as comedy or drama, I see myself as an actor. The last gig I had was in December for The Fosters, the last six months have been pretty dry. But I do have the play I'm doing which is keeping my brain occupied and my feet wet. You never know when your number is called and here you go, you're back in a series, back doing your thing. You have to stay... loose.
You hear about these actors who played in stuff a long time ago and you wonder if they still have that fire in their belly to still act. Obviously, you still have that.
I do. Has it lessened a little? Look, I've learned a lot in this business. When I first got here, I was more about the show and less about the business. The problem here is that I was young and naive, I didn't think about the business side. And it worked for a while, I booked jobs.
But after a while, you start to learn it's not about that. It's about relationships you're creating, business relationships. I was never really good at ass-kissing and schmoozing. I just never was. I'm a blue-collar kid from Jersey, a guy who loves the art I do.
As far as going out to bars and schmoozing with directors, producers, I was never good at it. As a matter of fact, most of the time I did try to do that, I'd wind up drinking too much [laughs], you know what I mean?
Now I have kids of my own and my son who's 16 wants to be an actor. I'm like, 'Oh God. Kid, please. Do something else, do something else. Because I know how it is.'
You talked about Early Edition and early on how nervous you were. When you look back and how your skills have grown tremendously over 15, 20 years. How do you look back on that and how far you've come?
I look back and go, 'Wow, I wish I knew then what I know now.' That's just a cliche, we all say that. But you have to go through these moments to learn, A. If you want to keep doing it and B. If you're even right for it. Trials and tribulations we go through in any business, not just acting, it could be accounting, a car salesman. You go through these things to help us grow and figure out if it's what we want. Is this something I can fight for the next 40 years.
You brought up earlier that I still have the fire to go out and do that. A lot of the time, I don't. There are days I don't want to do it anymore, I don't want to walk into a small little room on Warner Brothers with more producers, a casting director sitting there staring at me. Most of the time, I got to tell you, if they are bringing actors in with a resume, they know when you walk into the room before you say a word, they have a thought in their head if you're right for the part.
Again, this business isn't all about talent. Very little of it is. These days they're casting on how many YouTube followers some of these kids have or their Instagram followers or Twitter. If that's the case, I'm screwed. I'm a 45-year-old guy, I have an Instagram account, Twitter, all this stuff. But some of these people have 600,000 followers, who the hell is that?
They put up videos and them bouncing a pink ball and it gets like 200 million hits. You're like, 'What is that?!' I feel I am aging out of this, like one of my parents like, 'What is this Instagram thing and how do you use it?'
Everything is changing, man. The whole business, everything. The last 10 years are so different.
You said your son wanted to get into acting?
My son has been bringing it up. First off, he knows how I get when he says, 'Oh, it looks like fun.' I' be like, 'Don't say that.' Yes, maybe two percent of it can be fun but the rest of it is, 'Oh my God, I'm so stressed, I'm not going to get the part. I got to look at my lines, got to get rid of the nerves, maybe take a Xanax.
I tell him all time, if you're going to do it, start in theatre. Do it the right way, not like these people putting up a video of them chewing gum and they think they're going to get a TV series. Maybe they will, I don't know how it works. But I try to tell him that, I want him to be smarter about this decision.
I have a daughter and she wants nothing to do with it.
CLICK HERE for Part II with Alex Skuby.
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