LIFE AS A
CHARACTER
south alabama living
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Sellars appears in two episodes of "House of Cards" as Govenor Olmstead.
'House of Cards' among Opp native's credits
“O
ne day, you walk into a room in New York and read some lines. “The next thing you know, you’re on a set in Baltimore with Kevin Spacey.” If landing an acting gig with appearances in two episodes of Season 5 of House of Cards, sounds easy, don’t believe it. “Life in New York as an actor is exhilarating and incredibly difficult,” Opp native Lee Sellars said. “The competition is just unreal.” A self-described character actor, Sellars appears in Chapter 55 and Chapter 56 as Governor Olmstead in the current season of House of Cards, the Netflix original series. He’s been working as an actor and musician in New York City since 1997. That he is an artist should come as no surprise to those who have known him since his growing up years. The son of the late William (Doc) and Dorothy Rainer Sellars, his mother was a dancer and dance teacher; his maternal aunts,
STORY: MICHELE GERLACH | COURTESY PHOTOS
his artistic dreams, he said. Sellars studied theatre arts at Wake Forest University, and later attended Drama Studio London in London, England, where he graduated with male actor of the year honors. “This stuff I’ve been able to do – and there’s a lot more on my bucket list – all of it has a direct line straight to them,” he said of his parents. “They said to me, ‘This is who you are and what you’re doing. Don’t be scared of it. Go to London. Go study.’ ” When he briefly considered leaving Drama Studio London, “She could not have been any sweeter,” Sellars recalled. “She said, ‘Nope. Sorry. You can come home, but you’ll regret it.’ ” Lee began his acting career in Chicago in 1994. He has appeared on stage, in Lee Sellars television, film, commercials and industwins Alice and Clarice Rainer, were profes- trial films, and has narrated books on sional pianists who performed as The Rainer tape. “I moved to Chicago ostensibly to get Twins. His parents encouraged him to pursue my union cards,” he said.
He also had recurring roles on ER and The Untouchables. From there, he never looked back. “Since then, I’ve not had any other job that wasn’t acting,” he said. “From Chicago, it was either New York City or LA, which are the two meccas for actors. At the time, I was all about theater, so I decided to go to New York and see what I could find.” Auditions in New York City are not just about New York, he said. Other theater companies come there to audition for productions. “For instance, the Alabama Shakespeare Festival comes to New York to audition,” he said. His stage credits include more than 50 plays on Broadway, off Broadway, and in regional theatres in the United States, London and Germany. Sellars said he prefers to work on the stage, but added that television is its own reward. “It’s an odd form of acting, because so much of it is not about acting,” he said. On the stage, it’s important to make sure that people in the back row can hear the dialogue. In television or film, that’s too big. “The camera is a microscope,” he said. “Every little twitch of your face seems huge. You have to pull everything back. Sometimes you just think it, don’t do it. The camera will see it.” On the stage, acting is teamwork. “You’re working with an ensemble to tell a story a writer has given you,” he explained. “The audience is another character in the play. That’s why live theater is so exciting.” Actors also have to be business managers. “You have to treat it like a business,” he said. That includes keeping resumes and reels updated; working social networks; and learning to sow
seeds for future work. An actor should go to auditions, always, to stay in practice for auditioning. Staying physically fit is part of the work “because you have to have enough breath to get the line out.” Physically fit means also keeping the mind sharp – after all, there are lines to be memorized. “Simple things, like working Sudoku and crossword puzzles, it’s all important,” he said. Sellars is also a musician. He and Max Baker formed Eelwax Jesus in 1999, and have released four CDs and one single, all of which are available on iTunes. Music also helps keep the work coming, Sellars said. He recalled a phone call from his mom. “Write me a song,” she said. “I want a song I can tap dance to." “So I wrote this piece, ‘Blues for Dorothy,’ and I recorded it for her. I’m in Opp for the Dance Review, and she pops out on stage with one of her senior class students dancing to this tune I wrote. I thought, ‘I must be dreaming this.’ It was like the Twilight Zone.” Dorothy Sellars studied dance in New York City in the 1940s, and had a lifelong love for the city. In her 58 years of teaching dance, she regularly took her students there to study dance and to be exposed to history and culture. And yes, she did get to see her son perform in her beloved city. “She and Dad came on their wedding anniversary to see me in West Side Story,” he said. “It’s one of the most incredible things that ever happened to me. They were there, just a couple of proud parents.” His advice anyone considering acting as a career? Try it. “You get bitten,” he said. “If you’re an actor, you’ll know it. You’ll soon realize there is nothing else you want to do.”■