By Shari WeissPLAY Writer
Man, these guys are gonna shit their pants,” Nick Kanellis says while painting his face. Kanellis is in the men’s dressing room of the Louis Theater at Northwestern. He’s preparing for … a dodge ball game?
The 21-year-old Communication senior is supposed to be doing a crew run through for last fall’s production of Asphalt Beach. Instead, he’s busy painting his face to look like a ferocious cat. He plans to play an intramural dodge ball game later that night and thinks the face paint will be intimidating.
“I was performing for the kids at Project Pumpkin earlier (as a kitty cat),” he says. “I’ll go from kinda cute to kinda mean (for the game).”
Kanellis has a knack for going from kinda this to kinda that. Some might call it his trademark. The Iowa City native immersed himself in the world of improv, sketch comedy and acting during his years at NU.
In addition to roles in scripted shows, Kanellis is a member of one of the most well-known performing groups on campus: Mee-Ow. He starred in the short student film Fly, which won awards at several film festivals. He was also recently named Homecoming King.
“He’s lovable,” says Sarah Hayden, a Mee-Ow enthusiast and Communication junior. “He’s funny without being over the top, engaging without being obnoxious.”
Though Mee-Ow didn’t begin its six-days-a-week rehearsals until Winter Quarter, Kanellis’ life is consistently dominated by theater. That’s the way it’s always been, he says. Kanellis was in the first grade when he started watching Saturday Night Live with his parents, and soon after, he began imitating his favorite characters.
He tried to be well-rounded in high school: a little wrestling, a little football, some forensics and, yes, acting. But in his senior year, he quit the football team to be in the school musical. The increased focus on acting resulted from the previous summer, when he spent five weeks at NU in the National High School Institute’s Theatre Arts Division. It was there that he met his role model, Kate Mulligan, then one of the program’s instructors and a sophomore at NU.
“He was one of those kids that was so rare,” Mulligan says. “He wanted to learn everything you could possibly teach him. He asked questions constantly. He was a sponge and could not absorb enough.”
During fall of his freshman year at NU, Kanellis was quick to join the Titanic Players, the school’s long-form improv troupe. He is still a member as a senior.
“The training is really fantastic, and I owe a large piece of myself to Titanic,” he says.
Now, Kanellis is also a member of Griffin’s Tale, a group that performs at elementary schools in the Chicago area.
Though he had performed in a musical and stage plays in high school, he realized improv was where he felt most comfortable. It didn’t all come easy for Kanellis, though. He was at first rejected by Mee-Ow and booed off the stage when he emceed an event for the Graffiti Dancers.
“They didn’t think I was funny,” he says, “and they let me know it.”
Determined, Kanellis auditioned for Mee-Ow again during his sophomore year. This time, he was accepted. He says he secured a spot because of his increased confidence, a few connections and stronger talent. The group has been his claim-to-fame ever since.
“It kinda took over my life, as Mee-Ow does,” he says.
The 2007 Mee-Ow main stage show will be held Feb. 22, 23 and 24 in the McCormick Auditorium. Mee-Ow also tours during Spring Break, performing in Florida, Texas and other states.
Things seem to be falling into place nicely, but the road isn’t always so smooth.
Former Mee-Ow member and NU graduate John Dixon says he’s seen Kanellis at his best but also at his worst. Dixon recalls a production of Time of Your Life last spring, when Kanellis was under the direction of his acting professor.
“He tried awfully hard to impress him,” Dixon says, “(and he) was really insecure about acting for him. He had a hard time with that role.”
Kanellis admits he was self-conscious throughout the show’s production.
“It was absolutely not my best performance. (The director was) my Mr. Feenie,” he says, alluding to the admired mentor in the ’90s hit, Boy Meets World, which made him feel intense pressure.
But Kanellis insists he’s never been embarrassed by a role or a skit.
“I could make something up and say I had a boner once,” he jokes.
It’s no surprise that Kanellis’ first instinct is to make something up. Improvisation, he says, is one of his favorite aspects of performing. With improv, he says, you never know what character you’re going to be. But the most rewarding activity for him is performing for children.
“I would definitely do a kids’ show for the rest of my life,” he says, “and love it more than anything.”
Kids are more willing to believe, he explains.
He sometimes acts like a kid himself.
Kanellis pauses to look in the mirror. The 5-foot-9-inch, brown-haired actor growls at himself, looking to see if he’s fierce enough.
“Hit me! Hit me with the dodge ball!” he yells. Seconds later, Kanellis seems to remember he’s being interviewed.
“Sorry,” he says with a shy smile.
That shy smile accompanies his sincere modesty. He says he was shocked when he was not only nominated for Homecoming King last fall but then won the title. He had to write an essay, attend Homecoming week events and complete an interview to qualify, but ultimately the decision rested in the hands of his classmates. Although he won, Kanellis has no royal duties as King.
“I got this cool crown and this cape,” he says. “When I’m home, I’ll put it on and just look at myself in the mirror. That’s about it.” To prove his point, he wears the outfit when I visit his apartment a few weeks later.
His playful confidence stems from knowing things can go wrong and life goes on. He has a willingness to go along with anything and a gift for both improv and traditional acting. Kanellis says that’s because he has a better grasp on “knowing what’s gonna happen and acting like you don’t, versus not knowing and acting like you do.”
His favorite example of putting himself out there, no holes barred, is a skit he performed with Dixon last year. They played two straight-laced men auditioning for Brokeback Mountain. They misinterpret all the stage directions in a sex scene, and hilarity ensues.
In the spring, Kanellis will travel to New York City to perform in a showcase in front of acting agents. He says he hopes his first post-graduation job will come from that.
“It’s a really good opportunity to try out for agents when I really have no other connections,” he says. But, it can also lead to nothing.
That’s why, Kanellis says, he’ll miss the security of college the most. For now, it’s a mystery what will come after graduation.
“I’m still trying to figure it out. It’s just like what Bon Jovi said,” he says with mock seriousness. “‘It’s now or never. I’m not gonna live forever.'”
He says he thinks one of two things will probably happen: He’ll act for a few years and have success, establishing a career – or he’ll act for a few years, starve and look for food. The ultimate gig, he says, would be his own sketch comedy show on Comedy Central. If not, he’s willing to do retail to pay the bills.
One thing he refuses to do, though, is be type-cast.
“Fuck type,” he says, “My type is try hard.”
Medill sophomore Shari Weiss is a PLAY writer. She can be reached at [email protected].