Michael Cassidy (VI)

Michael: (On what makes a great actor) There's an ability to blur the line between reality and fiction within the framework of, "I know that I'm not going to hurt anybody and I know that nobody's going to hurt me." Beyond that, everything's fair game.

Michael: I reflect on Johnny Depp's body of work every day. And every day I reflect on particular moments in Sean Penn's performances. There's a lot of people I look up to. Brando is a personal hero.

Michael: (On how "Privileged" is different from other teen shows) I think the fact that the show is funny is really unique. Most one hour shows are more dramatic and soapy. Also, the show is more wholesome and frank. The way that we deal with the pains of growing up storylines are more honest and realistic and funny.

Michael: (On why he took the role of Charlie on "Privileged") I liked the show because it centers on some very strong female characters, which there are so few of in TV. I like the humor in the show. I grew up with brothers and no sisters, so a lot of the humor and relationships are new to me and I just love it.

Michael: I have been living in New York for the last five and a half years and I moved to New York when I was eighteen, at a high school to get actor training and to try and start a career as an actor. I never thought in a million years that I could be a television or a film actor. I didn't know anybody that had done it, I was always…I grew up in the theater thinking like that was for a very select group of people, and I would never be one of them. I was totally okay with that. I really enjoyed theater. And…so I moved to New York to get training and I went through the two year program at the New Actor's Workshop. I studied at the HB Studios and with a couple of coaches. You know, two years ago-they have a way of doing workout so that I was in a situation that I totally didn't expect and I was auditioning and I got a manager through a friend of a friend and it turned out to be really great and I've sort of been working ever since. So that's three and change years.

Michael: No, I'm really grateful for that everyday that I didn't grow up as a Hollywood kid. I…let's see, how did I get into acting? I…When I was…I was really fortunate to go to a great school-an elementary school that had a music teacher which is a rare thing nowadays in America. And so I…the music teacher would put on like a musical production that generally was like songs taken from…performed by kids-you know obviously it's a school and taken from a play. And so we learned the songs and we danced a little bit better…and when I was eight I did, I can't even remember which I did, and like what songs our production or whatever we did but we did it and I went home one day after rehearsing and I was like "Mom, this is what I wanna do." And she was like "Great." And my mom's a school teacher and my mom was like "Okay, well if you wanna do it, you should take a class." And so I took a class at…I grew up in Portland, Oregon. I took a class at a theater company in downtown Portland and did classes and productions and I ended up working with that company as I was going through high school and grade school and that's how I got to be sort of a like a professional actor. I sort of got paid to do it when I was like fourteen. But I was just doing theater, and through that company I got involved with all the other, a lot of the other regional theater companies in Portland. And then yeah that's how I got started.

Michael: I spend most of my time talking to friends on the phone, either in Portland or New York.

Michael: (his advice) Move to Los Angeles and cash in on your looks or move to New York and get real training.

Michael: (the biggest difference between Portland and Los Angeles) Like everyone says, it's the people. Their mindset is absolutely alien to me. It's the same thing in New York.

Michael: People always told me that I should go to college. But I said I would rather fall back on waiting tables.

Michael: You get vaulted into this world of show business, and all of a sudden I'm hanging out with movie stars.