IN CONVERSATION WITH CHRIS PERFETTI

interview by JANA LETONJA

Actor Chris Perfetti is best known for his role on ABC’s comedy ‘Abbott Elementary’, for which he was nominated for a Critics’ Choice Award and won a Screen Actors Guild Award. He is also known for starring on NBC series ‘Crossbones’, HBO series ‘Looking’ and on The CW series ‘In the Dark’.

Chris, the third season of ‘Abbott Elementary’ just wrapped up. How would you sum up this latest season and its finale?

I’ve never been one to sum up or surmise, usually I just strive for cogent, but I’ll start with the fact that this year was epic. It felt like Abbott Concentrate. We sort of condensed the season, following the curveball of the strikes, and tried to do the same emotional arc in 14 episodes that we’d planned to do in 22. To me, it really made the season feel like a rollercoaster, a fun one, and the last few episodes are a feat of cinema if you ask me. We shot them in very little time and I think they’re the perfect climax to kind of everything we’ve shot so far.

I’ll also just throw in that it’s been amazing to really relax into our bond as a production, as teammates who have a shorthand and can predict where the other is going or what they need. These folks are my family now and Quinta has really brought genuinely good people together. When you trust and appreciate who you’re working with, you really bring out the best in each other and I think it keeps the quality high and the bar raised. Sky’s the limit with this puppy, so I feel good and grateful.

In the series, you star as Jacob Hill, a sixth-grade history teacher. In what ways do you connect the most with Jacob?

I suppose I connect with him in all ways. I am in a long-term love affair with him. My second year acting teacher encouraged us to lift ourselves up to the character, not the other way around. I never imagined I’d be with a character this long. I think every actor has an innate thirst to do as many different things as possible, to live a million lives, to try on different skins. But I’ll say one of the interesting, and unexpected, things about getting to come back to the world of Abbott over and over is the proximity I feel to my character now.

The line between where Jacob ends and Chris begins is getting a little blurry. Even in a play, there is always a bit of distance in the sense that somewhere in the back of your mind you know someone else will play that character some day. The beauty of being with a project from its inception is you get to sort of assume that that character is you, that you’re an authority on them and perhaps you’ve wound up there for a reason to bring what only you can bring to it. That is perhaps a long winded way of saying I hope I’m nearly as loyal and enthusiastic and idealistic as Jacob is. As optimistic and mischievous and selfless. I’m certainly as naive.

For this role, you’ve won a SAG award and have also been nominated for a Critics Choice Award. What did this praise and recognition mean to you personally?

Whether they’ll admit it or not, every artist wants to feel like people are picking up what they’re putting down. And actors are brilliantly vulnerable narcissistic babies, so I try to temper my genuine excitement about the recognition with the reality that it’s all made up and the points don’t matter. I’m very happy in so far as it brings attention to my work, and surely I sleep better knowing that I’ve made people feel something. But giving an award to art is kind of like picking a favorite color.

The series has been renewed for the fourth season even before the third season started airing. How exciting was receiving this news?

It was pretty rad. I’m definitely way more acquainted with the hustle, not knowing where my next paycheck will come from or how long it’ll be between gigs. I still have trouble going into a room with free food and not eating everything in sight. The guarantee of work is one of the greatest gifts you can give an artist and so I’m very grateful to the people who support our show and the people who make it good. Getting picked up early really put a pep in our step while filming season 3. It kind of made us feel invincible and so we took bigger risks.

What do you love the most about ‘Abbott Elementary’ and how has it changed your life?

This is tough. It’s like picking your favorite child. I think I love most that I’ve finally found in film and TV what I’ve always coveted working on plays, the feeling of a company, an ensemble. No shade to TV land, it’s partly nature of the beast and partly some sort of cosmic, karmic alignment of the stars. My other favorite part is Quinta Brunson. She’s unlike anyone I’ve ever met.

Besides acting on screen, you’re also an award-winning stage actor. How do these two different mediums compare in your eyes, and what are the biggest differences between them in your own experience?

I think most people figure if you’re a stage actor, you’ve at least got the underbelly, the chutzpah, the foundation to act on camera. I suppose that’s generally true, but to me, the two mediums are not siblings, they’re more like cousins. The actor is infinitely more in control on stage, we’re responsible for telling the story in the way an editor is on film. Also, for lack of a cuter phrase, theatre just feels more like acting to me. I love getting on a ride that won’t end for 2ish hours and generally moves in order and toward a great cliff. The ephemeral nature of it adds to the high for sure and the film’s permanence tortures me. I’m making peace with it.

How would you describe your experience performing on Broadway?

There is an incredible thing that happens when you’re walking the musty, hallowed halls of a Broadway theatre. You’re hit with these waves of recognition and gratitude for all the shows that’ve been there before you. They feel like cathedrals, channels to the actor’s ancestors. It’s very humbling. And while artistically my favorite experiences have been off-Broadway, there really is nothing like it. The fact that a thousand people make this pact to gather, sit in silence in the dark together for an ancient ritual is so groovy to me. That moment the lights first dim still gives me butterflies, whether I’m in the play or in the audience.

In your free time, you’re also a fashion enthusiast. Tell us more about your passion for fashion and how has your style evolved over the years.

As much as clothes tend to be pretty utilitarian for me, I’m really enjoying these moments when we get to turn a lewk. Fashion is abstract art and I’ve always been inspired by the way clothes tell a story. I mean, I play dress up for a living.

After spending many years living in NYC, you recently became a resident of Laurel Canyon in LA. How are you enjoying the new scenery, and what made you decide on this change?

I’m finding LA, like all major cities I guess, has layers to it. And if you peel them back, you can find what is tender and gorgeous to you. There’s so many people here and anywhere there are so many people, there is gold. It’s like an amusement park and a national park had a baby. I love soaking up SoCa for now. That said, I typically flee back to NY the second they call ‘Cut’.

What is coming up next for you? What projects are you currently working on?

I’m about to play a mountain lion on a man-made island built in the Hudson River.

TEAM CREDITS:
talent CHRIS PERFETTI
creative director RYAN LUCCA
photographer VINO FELICIANO
stylist BRYON JAVAR
groomer DUSTIN VON OSBORNE
photography assistant JESSE ZAPATERO
location PROJKT STUDIOS
editor TIMI LETONJA
editorial director & interview JANA LETONJA
special thanks to COLOR&BLACK&WHITE