“To infinity & beyond”

Soooooo when I was a kid I would spend countless hours pretending that I was an astronaut – so much that I grew up wanting to be an astronaut.  I mean I would put my arms through the handles in a grocery store bag and I would pretend that I had to abandon the spaceship and dive back to Earth.  As an adult I realize this is not possible but my imagination knows no limits. 

As I aged I realized that what I wanted to do also changed –

  • at age 9 I wanted to be the first Black President (Thanks Barack Obama for foiling my plan)
  •  at 12 I wanted to be a Millionaire (didn't really plan how that would happen just wanted it to happen)
  • at 15 (when I realized I wasn't a Millionaire I got bored and decided that I wanted to literally be Simba in the film Lion King
    • (Fun fact: I can recite pretty accurately the entire film by memory – I watched that film daily as a child).
  • in high school I wanted to be a professional Saxophonist ( I mean I had been playing since 5th grade so I assumed I was on my way)
  • and then in college I wanted to be a Doctor
    • The reason? I had a crush on my TA who was premed and so I enrolled and took ALL of the needed classes for medical school except for TWO.

And then one day, while I was signing up for the college choir I bumped into a woman named Margaret Larlham who would turnout to be my wonderful friend and mentor.  While talking with her I realized that I had been playing roles my whole life and so I gave acting a shot. I instantly went to work preparing materials for auditions and after hours and hours and hours of studying the craft of acting I landed my first paid summer job, and was able to do so every summer of my undergraduate life.  One summer, while at Williamstown Theatre Festival I came to the realization that this, acting, was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life, no matter what.  And so I decided on that day that I’d be an actor full time – and it’s been a crazzzy ride but I’ve enjoyed every moment of "this business that we call show". 

After spending a little over a year in the Midwest (Minneapolis) I applied and was accepted into UC Irvine's prestigious and highly competitive MFA Acting program.  During my 3 years in the program I was given the gift of being able to intensely focus on nothing but my craft as an actor (both on stage and in front of a camera) as well as strengthen my love of musical theatre performing.  In the Spring of 2015 I graduated from UC Irvine with honors and immediately went to work at the Utah Shakespeare Festival.

Since graduating from UC Irvine I've worked at several theatre's across the country as well as in several different venues in my new home city of New York City.  I've described my relationship with NYC (thus far) as an abusive relationship, but I know that my determination, my skills, and my talents as an actor - I am optimistic that my future will be bright!

Thanks for taking the time to learn a little about me! I hope you enjoy browsing my website and please feel free to contact me with any questions.

- Anthony Simone