Today we’d like to introduce you to Russell Andrews.
Hi Russell, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Extremely detailed, better if told in person. That said, while employed at a state prison outside of Houston, TX, I was quitting and getting fired at the same. I gave a friend a ride to an audition at the local community theatre, and while there the artistic director asked if I would read for a role in the play. I got the role he was reading for, he got another and… 35+ years later. The subsequent journey has been gloriously difficult and rewarding.
37 years ago, I met, yet never spoke to a young boy and his family, and I write a book about him.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The “business of the business” is the worst part of the business.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Olivier Award-winning actor, director, and author A. RUSSELL ANDREWS has a storied theatrical career that spans 30 years. Andrews is also the founding member and producing artistic director of the multi-award winning Los Angeles-based stage company, StageWalkers. The company has received over 30 LA Theatre award nominations and wins that include two NAACP Theatre Awards and two LA Stage Alliance Ovation Awards for his work with Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright August Wilson’s Piano Lesson, Jitney, and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom in which Andrews received an NAACP Theatre Award for Best Actor. As ‘Youngblood’ in Jitney, Andrews, along with Wilson and the stellar cast that starred Roger Robinson, Keith Randolph Smith, and multiple Tony Nominee, Dr. Stephen McKinley Henderson, were the recipients of the 2002 Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Play performed at The Royal National Theatre in London, directed by award-winning director Marion McClinton.
Andrews is also an accomplished commercial and TV actor, appearing in hit series such as HBO’s Insecure, AMC’s Better Call Saul, CBS’ NCIS: New Orleans and TV One’s Runaway Island and Lifetime’s Michael Jackson: Searching for Neverland, both directed by Academy Award-Nominated filmmaker Dianne Houston. Andrews appeared in HBO’s Sterling, directed by Ryan Zaragoza (2019 SXSW Festival) and Kate Marks’ short film Manic (2017 Tribeca Film Festival), and Hanelle Culpepper’s award-winning short, A Single Rose. Other memorable TV and film credits include Earl in Arun K. Vir’s multi-award-winning indie film Reset; The Pastor in Straight Outta Compton directed by F. Gary Gray; The In-Laws (with Michael Douglas and Albert Brooks), The Punisher (with John Travolta and Tom Jane). Selected television credits include guest star and recurring roles in Emmy-nominated shows such as Grey’s Anatomy, Harry’s Law, The Defenders, The Nine, Boston Legal, CSI: Miami, The Bernie Mac Show, and Numb3rs.
An alumnus of Houston’s The Ensemble Theatre, Andrews is excited to announce the release of his debut short story novel SHOES, illustrated by Victor Onyenobi an art director, illustrator and designer who has worked with Disney and Universal Studios.
A longtime social activist, advocate, and volunteer for LA’s homeless community, Andrews continues to give time and service to the Hollywood Food Coalition, The Giving Spirit, and Hollywood’s “Unusual Suspects” a non-profit organization that gives second chances to at-risk youth.
What makes you happy?
My children! They’re my best friends, and I love to see them when they “get it”.
Rehearsal (stage)
Service
Volunteering
Contact Info:
- Website: www.arussellandrews.com
- Instagram: @a.russellandrews
- Facebook: Russell Andrews, Stagewalkers
- Other: www.arussellandrews.com/shoes
Image Credits
All photos owned and courtesy of Stagewalkers
