If you’ve been a fan of American television for several decades, you probably already know who actor Timothy Busfield is. After all, he made a name for himself during the running of the television show 30 Something. He was, for all intents and purposes, the lead actor of the entire show. Even before that, he had been doing some acting in bit parts and had done a few television movies. However, it wasn’t until 30 Something that he became a household name, someone who you had a name recognizable to almost everyone, even if they’d never sat and watched the show themselves. He was fortunate in the sense that the show was fairly long running and it truly did give him a platform to pursue other options once it did end.
Eventually, he went on to play in other heavyweights of American television such as the West Wing. He also continued doing movies. Some people will remember him from the Stephen King movie that has cats running all over the screen every time you look at it. This was immediately after the 30 Something days and it proved that he was capable of doing not only both television and movies, but also that he was able to do different types of roles and make them work. That’s not the easiest thing to do, especially when you’ve gotten used to playing the same character over and over again over the course of several seasons.
Slowly but surely, he started to fade away from the public eye. If you fast forward several years after the cancellation of 30 Something, you’ll find that he hasn’t really been in that many television or movie projects, at least not as an actor. However, that doesn’t mean that he’s disappeared or he’s retired from the business in its entirety. A lot of people have the tendency to think that because he isn’t in front of the camera, he’s given up on everything as far as having a career in show business but in fact, quite the opposite is true. He’s been very busy over the last several years, it just hasn’t been with roles that require him to act on camera.
As is the case with a lot of actors, he eventually decided that his talents could be better put to use as a director and a producer as opposed to merely acting. It isn’t that he was disenchanted with the idea of being an actor. It’s more about his desire to become involved with other facets of the process. As is the case with a lot of actors, once he got a taste of directing, he discovered that he was far more drawn to being on that side of the camera. It is another way to express one’s creativity. At any rate, he’s been directing and producing various projects for a number of years, not the least of which include This Is Us from 2017 and Designated Survivor, a project that he started working on in 2018 and continued to work on this year.
He’s also been busy doing one of the things that he’s always loved to do most, acting in the theatre. There’s just something about stage acting that draws people in. Sure, acting in a major motion picture or television production is a goal of many professional actors, but it’s completely different from acting on stage. When you’re on stage, everything is happening at a very fast pace. You can’t stop and do the scene over again if someone makes a mistake and you can’t simply cut and take a break. Everyone has to keep moving, know their lines and be in the right places at the right time or the entire production falls apart for the whole audience to see. It’s also different because actors have to project themselves differently when they’re on stage than they do when they’re acting in front of a camera. In order for the audience to hear what’s actually going on, it’s necessary to adapt one’s style of acting when they’re on stage so that they’re able to carry the emotion of the scene with them and then translate that to the audience, even those in the far back row. This challenge attracts a lot of actors because it gives them the opportunity to flex their muscles and do something different. Moreover, many actors on film and television actually got their start in the theatre and they come back to it time and again. Busfield is no different. He has continued to act on stage throughout his career and these days, you can find him there quite a lot.
If you think all of this means that he’s completely stopped acting in front of the camera, think again. As recently as earlier this year, he signed on to continue a role that he started several years ago in a television show called Sleepy Hollow. He may not be acting as much as he used to, at least not for television and film, but that doesn’t mean that he’s sitting on a porch in a rocking chair, either. It simply means that these days, he has the ability to pick and choose his roles, obviously choosing to work on projects that excite him as opposed to being forced to take virtually everything that comes along just because it’s his livelihood.
Last but certainly not least, he’s decided to pass on the things that he’s learned as an actor to other individuals who are interested in pursuing similar careers. It’s not uncommon to find him teaching a class at Michigan State University. There, he’s preparing actors of the next generation by giving them real life tips and tricks of the trade. Most students would consider it something of an honor to have a professor at the ready so familiar with various forms of acting as Busfield. By all accounts, he seems to be as fond of the academic experience as his students are.
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