… If you’re looking for trouble… You came to the right place…”(No, But Seriously)
“… it’s important for her to know,the world is one that we make… ”
Todd Stashwick is a proud nerd. While you may be familiar with Stashwick from his recent role as Captain Liam Shaw in Star Trek: Picard, he is no newcomer to acting. A Dungeons And Dragons adventurer and trained comedian, Stashwick is a down-to-earth kinda guy.
In his hometown of the windy city, Stashwick built his acting career on a foundation of improv. His time in improv lead to a successful career in comedy, and where do successful comedians in Chicago go? Second City Improv. Determined to make his mark, Stashwick worked his way up from ticketing to touring for the improv theatre, joining the likes of Tina Fey.
Breaking into the industry is no small feat. Making the right connections and nailing the right performances is challenging,especially for new actors. Stashwick is all too familiar with how inaccessible the industry can be. When the industry was tough on him, he found alternative paths to his roles. “I used to say I always used to have to go in through the back door, the industry was not letting me in the front door”.
While doors may have been closed for him, he is opening them up for the next generation of artists. Stashwick asked himself, “Why don’t I just go build my own? So I created my own shows and my own theater spaces and my own schools of improv or my own book.”
After years of preparation mixed with some opportunity,Stashwick landed his first major role in the live comedy show, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. The series jump-started Stashwick’s career as it took a more dramatic approach to the slapstick comedy dominating TV. But, as a lover of all-things comic books and D&D, it was a matter of time until Stashwick broke into Sci-Fi projects.
During our conversation, Stashwick was in Wisconsin for the annual Dungeons and Dragons convention. The role-playing game colored Stashwick’s childhood and inspires him through his adult life. D&D is nothing to take lightly. Stashwick and his fellow adventurers have been building the same story for the last five years. A story of that length requires creative world-builders. Stashwick says,”But, so I think all that stuff and playingStar Wars and playing D&D and playing Star Trek, I think all of that wet my appetite for wanting to be an actor in the first place. Cause I really loved diving into telling stories and divinginto characters”.
Stashwick’s history in fantasy role-playing smoothed the transition into his role as Deacon in the post-apocalyptic show,12 Monkeys. Initially, his role was scripted for two episodes but,showrunner, Terry Metals saw an opportunity with Deaconand made the character to a series regular. After four seasons,Stashwick found a real footing in 12 Monkeys and built synergy with the writers.
So much so, that Terry Metals made sure to keep him in mind for his next show, Star Trek: Picard. Stashwick explains, “And Then when he [Metals] told me about the character of Shawin, in Star Trek: Picard they had already had me in mind for the role and were already tailoring the character to what I do as an actor long before I even showed up the first day”.
Starring in a show as iconic as Star Trek, attracts a lot of eyes.Stashwick told us his thoughts on the uptick in publicity he has been experiencing.
“But it is interesting that you know, you cross into a threshold of, of an IP that has such visibility, like Star Trek, and then it does tend to make people go, hang on, where’d that guy come from? I’m like, no, I’ve been here the whole time”.
With 30 years of acting under his belt, Stashwick has learned a thing or two about the industry. Though, recent developments in AI could shake up how the show-biz operates. In the last month, we have seen major developments in AI technologies.The most concerning of which is the improvement in AI picture and video generation. With technology like this, sci-fi fantasies don’t seem too distant. As a sci-fi enthusiast, Stashwick had thoughts on this possibility.
“I would love to own my digital image and, then after I die,that it goes to the estates so that people cannot just use it,manipulate it however they want.There’s very little in this world that is ours and this is mine”.
While the future may be unsure. Stashwick is working to make it brighter. Following the loss of a Second City member’s daughter to cancer, he wanted to make a difference in her honor. Since then, Stashwick has run several half marathon raising money for cancer research.
But, his work to improve the future starts at home, with his two kids.The family makes an effort to engage their children in activism.
“We have taken our daughter on the women’s marches, we have exposed her to activism and to show her what’s really at stake. And,it’s important for her to know, the world is one that we make”.
Raising a good human takes a village, and Stashwick credits his wife for some of that work.
“My wife definitely is too fisted in that fight to make sure that the future she has is protected. And to teach her that if it isn’t[protected], then it’s your job to fight too”.
Looking to the future of his career, Stashwick isn’t stopping anytime soon. In fact, he says, “And, you know, I’ve said this before, I’m 54 years old, and I’m just getting warmed up”.