Todd Stashwick

Todd Stashwick is one of Hollywood’s hottest actors right now. His featured role as the evil Dale Malloy in FX’s “The Riches,” with Minnie Driver and Eddie Izzard, has catapulted this alumni of The Second City to a new level of fame. We spoke to Todd as he was finishing up a session with the Wardrobe Department in preparation for filming a new season of “The Riches.”

When were you hired by Second City?

I was hired by the former producer of The Second City, Joyce Sloane on New Year’s Eve of 1991. Actually, I was visiting her in the re-sale shop that she volunteered for about three months earlier and she had said “you know what I’m giving you for Christmas this year?” I said no and she said “A job with The Second City Touring Company.” I was on air, but three months pass by and I’m still seating people at Second City and no one has said a word to me. It was New Year’s Eve – one of Second City’s busiest nights – and we went to the bar across the street after our shift ended and Joyce comes up and officially hires me. I’ll never forget that moment.

Did you enjoy touring?

Most of the time. My first touring company had a lot of couples and people that didn’t like each other. That wasn’t fun. But I really lucked out later and performed with a company that had some of the best improvisers I’ve ever worked with. That group included Adam McKay, the director of Anchorman and Talladega Nights, Brian Stack who now writes for Conan O’Brien, his wife Miriam Tolan who’s brilliant, Nancy Walls who was on SNL and The Daily Show – she’s also married to Steve Carell, and Theresa Mulligan who’s a writer/performer here in Hollywood. My favorite gig was a month long engagement we had in Dallas, Texas. We got to do 80% original material; we experimented improvisationally every night; and we really gelled as an ensemble.

I remember that was the time that Steve Carell got pulled from the audience…

Yes. No one knew Steve at the time – this was pre-Daily Show and mega-stardom. He was just dating Nancy from the cast. He came to a show and as a guy we pretended he was a regular audience member who was asked to the stage to perform with us. He got up there and acted all nervous and then we were mean to him and made him cry. Steve sold it beautifully. In fact, his acting was so good that the audience just turned on us and started booing and walking out.

Do you remember your worst gig?

It was on some college campus in Arizona, I think. It was a lecture hall and had no real sound or stage lighting. Our Stage Manager stood at the back wall and turned off the room’s lights to indicate the end of scenes. They also didn’t advertise so only 25 people showed up. We were literally walking on campus asking people to come to the comedy show. It was pathetic.

But most of the time it was fun…

Yeah – we got to go to Scotland – which was kind of a seminal trip and moment for me. I had been a full time resident cast member at The Second City Northwest theatre and we lost the lease on the space. I had also been up for “Saturday Night Live” at the time. They flew me out for auditions. I didn’t get the part – but two of my cast did – Dave Koechner and Nancy Walls – but it seemed like this was my cue to move on. So we go to Scotland to perform at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival which was a really amazing adventure. We hung out with Rich Hall and a bunch of other really talented comedians. I hooked up with a troupe called Reject’s Revenge that really inspired my next moves.

What was your next move?

I made the leap to New York. I had representation right away, which was great. But I had the itch to continue improvising. So I hooked up with a friend named Kevin Scott and we formed an improv troupe. It was kind of cool because in New York we had the luxury of absolutely no reputation – unlike Chicago where the community is so well known. At the time, improv in New York was almost all short form games. UCB was just starting, so our group made a kind of impact on the scene. I had called my friend Adam McKay from Second City – he was now the head writer at “Saturday Night Live” – but he was too busy to direct us. He recommended his girlfriend (now wife) Shira Piven. I knew Shira from reputation – her Mom and Dad ran an improv school in Chicago and were important figures in Second City history. Her brother was Jeremy Piven who was pretty well known by that time. The group was called “Burn Manhatten.”


You had another famous member of that troupe, right?

Yea – Kate Walsh was a cast member for a year and a half. Then she faded into obscurity – I really should call her. She was replaced later by Spencer Kayden who people might know from the Broadway musical “Urinetown.”

And then…?

The band broke up. We all moved on. I booked a job in LA playing Jeremy Piven’s best friend in a pilot that also featured Ayre Gross and Jamie Gertz. That didn’t get picked up but I was lucky and kept finding work. I was a recurring character on “Still Standing” and I played a plethora of Demons and evil people on shows like “Angel” and “Buffy The Vampire Slayer.” One of my favorite roles was one in which I gave my worst performance. It was “Diagnoses Murder” and I was just so enthralled to be performing with Dick Van Dyke that I never focused on my role. I just inundated him with questions about “Mary Poppins” and working with Carl Reiner. I couldn’t have cared less about the show we were shooting.

Other favorites?

I did about two years of bit parts on “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” which was a lot of fun. Basically, friends of mine on the writing staff would write bits for me and call me up to do them. The whole scene there reminded me of Sid Ceasers’s “Your Show of Shows.”

“The Riches” is really a great show and the role of Dale is so compelling.

It’s the best role that I’ve been fortunate to play. And it couldn’t be farther from who I am personally. I’ve played a plethora of unsavory characters on “CSI,” “Law and Order” and other shows, but Dale is deeper.

Is that hard?

Yeah – sometimes. I have an acting coach named Lesley Kahn that I still work with. Even though I bring comedy to the role, it’s a dramatic piece. Doing a half hour comedy sitcom you can focus on the math of the jokes and you know your role from the beats of a particular scene. For Dale, I have to draw on different things. It really makes me lean on my Shakespearian training more than anything else. But it’s great and Minnie Driver and Eddie Izzard are great to work with.

What’s next?

I play a gearhead stoner friend of Matthew McConaughey in a film called “Surfer, Dude” which was produced by Tom Hanks’ company Playtone. I also show “Live” with Eva Mendez and a film called “The Air I Breathe” with Sarah Michelle Gellar, Andy Garcia, Kevin Bacon and others. Not a bad life, huh?