Podcast Ep. #14 with Steppenwolf’s Francis Guinan on Being Blue Collar, Slightly Undisciplined and Soldiering On
We continue with season two and today on the show is Francis Guinan, a Chicago-based actor who has been a part of the Steppenwolf Ensemble for over 30 years and been in more than 40 shows with them.
Francis chats about:
- The process of working on the show Boss
- His approach to auditions and what he’s learned over the years
- The discipline and focus required to be an actor, and that “it ain’t all glamour”
- How they kept performances fresh over runs at Steppenwolf
- One of his failings as an actor
Plus, Francis works on a piece from THE REMBRANDT, which had its world premiere at Steppenwolf!
Click here for the full show notes and links to everything mentioned.
A brief bio:
Francis Guinan has been an ensemble member for 30 years with the Steppenwolf Ensemble and a few notable productions with them include Balm in Gilead, True West(directed by Gary Sinise, and with Jeff Perry, Laurie Metcalf and John Malkovich), The Grapes of Wrath and August: Osage County, (both of which went to Broadway), and The Seafarer. He’s also performed at numerous other theatres in Chicago including the Goodman, Court, and Victory Gardens Theatres, as well as at the Mark Taper Forum in LA. He has over 85 credits in film and tv, including as the Governor on Boss with Kelsey Grammar, the movie The Last Airbender, and as a series regular on the show Eerie, Indiana. He went to Michigan State and then did graduate work at Illinois State in theatre. He was also part of the inaugural group as a Lunt-Fontanne Fellow.
Excerpts from the podcast:
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