Skip to main contentMichael Cassidy has hit the big time--or at least it looks like he's just about to.
That's because last Thursday the 21-year-old Portland native made his television debut as Zach, the newest charmer on Fox's The O.C., this generation's answer to 90210 and a pop-culture force rewriting the classic male roles of rebel and geek for a more emo audience.
Which seems really weird to me, considering that when I first met the kid he had no front teeth and a cowlick to boot. You see, I've known Michael since we were in second grade together at Eastmoreland's Holy Family Elementary School, and now, all of a sudden, hundreds of teenage girls are throwing themselves at my best friend. No kidding--I saw it on Access Hollywood.
My friend, an actor on America's hottest nighttime teen soap. Who saw that coming?
I've known Michael was talented ever since I first watched him act in LaSalle High School plays. When he graduated, he joined thousands of other aspiring actors in New York, where he trained for two years as the youngest student at the New Actors' Workshop. After months and months of auditioning around Manhattan, this past summer he was flown to Los Angeles to read for The O.C. Michael must have read those lines like a champ, since he was offered the job 10 minutes later.
After four months of filming in La-La Land, Michael returned to Portland for a weekend visit. The episode that introduced his character was about to air, and I figured this might be the last time my friend could walk around town without being gawked at. I picked him up at the airport, and on the drive home I started awkwardly interviewing him, until Michael reminded me that I probably knew him well enough to dictate his answers myself. That set me at ease. Since few readers would be very interested in reading that article, we settled into the roles of reporter and celebrity-to-be, and my best friend told me about staring into the jaws of tabloid fame, the work of living in SoCal and playing a jock opposite geek heartthrob Adam Brody.
WW: This your first interview, right?
Michael Cassidy: Not quite. I've done TV Guide, US Weekly, Teen People, Teen Vogue, Entertainment something, USA Today...about 50 altogether.
Have you done Tiger Beat yet?
No, not Tiger Beat. Everyone always asks the same questions: "Are you ready to be famous?" "Who's your character on the show?" Which naturally leads to: "What's Adam Brody [who plays Seth] like on set?"
I saw you on television the other night signing autographs for a horde of screaming teenagers. I couldn't believe it.
That was for The O.C. [season] premiere. It was my first "screaming girl" event. We had to run through the kitchen of this restaurant like the Beatles. It was a lot of fun. But very little of it has anything to do with me.
Come on, haven't you always wanted to be a teen heartthrob?
Not at all. When I was 13, I was doing King Lear with Tygres Heart [Portland's now-defunct Shakespeare company], and I went to these guys and said, "I want to be an actor." One guy said, "Move to Los Angeles and cash in on your looks." And the other guy said, "Move to New York and get real training." For whatever reason, that second bit of advice sounded good to me.
Aren't you cashing in on your looks with The O.C.?
When I got this job, I thought, "This is going to be good for my career," not "I can't wait to make high art." I wanted to work. I had some standards. I wasn't going to do porno. Then again, I really love what I do. I'm 21 years old, and this is my first big job.
Whose work do you admire?
I reflect on Johnny Depp's body of work every day. And every day I reflect on particular moments in Sean Penn's performances. There's a lot of people I look up to. Brando is a personal hero.
Come on, that sounds so Hollywood.
It seems clichéd to say it, but the guy's an icon for a reason.
What makes a great actor?
There's an ability to blur the line between reality and fiction within the framework of, "I know that I'm not going to hurt anybody and I know that nobody's going to hurt me." Beyond that, everything's fair game.
That sounds intense. Is it like that on the O.C. set?
It all depends.
What's the work like?
We typically do 12- to 14-hour days and have very little free time. I was beginning to freak out yesterday, so I bought a ticket to Portland and now I'm hanging out with friends. I spend most of my time talking to friends on the phone, either in Portland or New York.
What's the biggest difference between Portland and Los Angeles?
Like everyone says, it's the people. Their mindset is absolutely alien to me. It's the same thing in New York. I'm not going to lie and tell you that I love it down there.
And so, the inevitable: Just what is Adam Brody like, anyway?
He's cool. We get along.
Watch Portland native Michael Cassidy on
. at 8 pm Thursday nights on KPTV Fox 12.
For more on The O.C.'s pop-culture ramifications, see "The Seth Effect," WW, May 5, 2004.
WWeek 2015