Backstage 5 With...
Dean Winters By Allie Volpe
Although his face is arguably one of the most recognizable in the country thanks to over a decade of Allstate commercials (playing the devious character Mayhem), Dean Winters has only ever been in one other commercial, in the mid-1990s. Winters’ career has taken him from drama with “Oz” and “Rescue Me” to comedy with “30 Rock” and now, “Girls5Eva.” Here, Winters discusses how commercial work changed his career and how he almost bailed on his audition for Tina Fey.
ILLUSTRATION: NATHAN ARIZONA/PHOTO: RON ADAR/SHUTTERSTOCK.COM
What came first for you: commercials or TV? I was cast in a Colt 45 commercial back in 1995, and I got my SAG card doing that. That was the only [other] commercial I ever did in my whole career.
Center for the audition, and when I go into the room, I see 20 guys. I recognized all of them; they were all comics. They were famous guys. I was a drama guy. I’m like, What am I doing here? I signed the list, I sat down, looked around the room, and I’m like, I don’t have a shot in hell. And I got up and I left. I walked to Central Park, and there was a guy selling beer, so I ordered two Buds and sat down, enjoying my day. My phone rings. My agent was in Europe, but his assistant was covering the audition, and he goes, “If you don’t go back there, we’re going to drop you.” On the walk there from the park, I figured out how to do the audition. The way that I played it apparently was different from the other 20 guys that had gone in. The way I played it was exactly how they wanted it, which was: This guy believed in everything that he said, no matter how audacious it was, and [he said it] with a straight face. So that’s how I got the job, and three episodes became seven years. That was a little gift.
What advice would you give your younger self? You’ve got to keep your eye on the prize. You’ve got to stay focused, because you are going to get knocked down so many times that it’s almost laughable. You just can’t sit around and rest on your laurels. You’ve got to attack it. It’s really survival of the fittest. If you’re not doing your best, there’s somebody right next to you that’s going to lap you. What’s your worst audition horror story? I had an audition very early in my career that I worked on for a couple of days. I was in there with the producer, casting director, and the director. I remember the director, while I’m reading and I’m being taped—I was off-book on five pages of lines, doing my best—and this guy is in the back on his phone, texting [and] eating a sandwich. I remember taking my script and throwing it at him, hitting him in the face. I walked out of the room. I didn’t get that one.
What performance should every actor see and why? It’s really the obvious answer, but I don’t think it gets much better than Al Pacino in “Scarface.” If you watch that performance, I dare you to show me that Al Pacino is Tony Montana. There’s nothing about Al Pacino that’s in that character.
What’s the wildest thing you ever did to get a role? I get a call from my agent that “30 Rock” is looking to cast this guy for a couple episodes—Liz Lemon’s ex-boyfriend. I go to Rockefeller
“I try to make every spot a little bit different than the other one. That’s the challenge.”
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06.24.21 BACKSTAGE
