All photos credited to Derrin Nelson Photography
Name: Alex James
Year: Sophomore
Hometown: Fairfax, Va.
Major: Theater (Minor in Chemistry)
Campus Involvement: CNU Theater, Expansion, Barista at Einstein’s Cafe
“I was so glad this room was open,” he tells me as I sit down on one of the comfy blue corduroy couches in one of the study rooms across from the bathrooms. “It almost never is.” He leans back in his chair as I open my laptop, and he shrugs while nodding vigorously as I explain that I have questions about a little of everything.
I start running through the basic questions (Where are you from?, What’s your year?, etc.), and then I freak when he tells me he’s no longer double majoring in Theater AND Chemistry, but that he’s turned Chemistry into just a minor.
There went my most important question and one of the main reasons for wanting to interview him.
He laughs as I tell him that – Alex is constantly laughing; it’s like a trademark of his. And so I completely change my first question to ask why he decided to change it up like that. “I realized that I didn’t have enough time to put in enough effort for both things. I could either be mediocre at both or great at one.” Obviously, he chose the latter.
I move onto the next question, and he arches an eyebrow. “So, you mean like a type of performer, or an actual performer?” I know the questioning tone he has in his voice is part of his personality and part of our relationship – we work together at Einstein’s, and we’re constantly bantering back and forth. We both break out into smiles as I tell him to give me an answer for both. “Well, if I could be any type of performer, it would definitely be someone on Broadway. But if I had to choose any specific performer in the world I could be, it would be Billy Porter, because – duh – drag.” This last answer, of course, came after he momentarily blanked on the name of the performer he wanted to be, and had to quickly Google search him up.
His eyes light up as I start asking him about his involvement in Expansion, one of CNU’s a capella groups, and he sits up higher in his seat, crossing his legs. “I came for an overnight visit the February before I started school here and stayed on a hall with my soon-to-be fellow Expansion member and he was talking all about the group and them going to ICCA – you know, the competition featured on ‘Pitch Perfect’? – and I mentioned how I wanted to get involved in a capella on campus. When audition time came at the start of my freshman year, I received a few callbacks, but I just felt a really strong connection with the members of Expansion, and so I chose them.”
We have a constant running joke between us about how he refuses to discuss a capella with me after I didn’t attend Glow during Homecoming Weekend. At the game that Saturday, behind the windows of the concession stand, he was gushing about how awesome it was, and I had mentioned about how it “Wasn’t really my thing.” For the next ten minutes, Alex launched into a monologue about how a capella was the most important aspect of college life and how I was an idiot for not enjoying it.
And yet, there we were, discussing it in a study room of the Trible Library.
Normally, you can find Alex in Einstein’s, either working behind the bar or sitting at it, conversing with practically everyone who comes in. I ask him what it feels like to be known by so many people, and he just shrugs. “Well, people have always ‘known me’. I’m a very social person. It’s funny because yesterday my friend said that what’s great about me is that I love meeting new people.” He pauses. “I just… love people. It’s kinda normal to me, to have someone say hi to me. Sometimes it makes me feel like an asshole, but whatever.” He laughs then, moving around in his seat again. I asked him why he wanted to work at Einstein’s, and he thought for a moment. “I knew a few people that worked here already, but I also had previous Starbucks barista experience. I love the barista culture – which most people don’t know exists – and it’s where I fit. I’m in college; who doesn’t need money?” He also adds that being a barista is probably what he’ll do when he moves to New York to pursue theater acting.
He looks so at home there, in that blue chair, with his blazer hanging over the arm, and his neatly pressed clothes on; I couldn’t resist asking him about why he chose CNU. He smirks then, telling me that it probably doesn’t sound like the best thing, but CNU wasn’t even his first choice. “I really wanted to go out of state, but my mom forced me to apply to three schools in Virginia, and CNU was my first choice out of those. I got into Fordham in New York, but it ended up being too far north than what I wanted.” He smirks again. “It’s pretty funny, though, because one of my closest friends goes to William & Mary, and we were dead set on going out of state. It ended up being great for both of us because I always go visit her.” Alex comments on the differences between his hometown and here: “It’s super different. Being so close to D.C. – my parents work for the government – I’m used to the hustle and bustle. There are so many different cultures up there, but where I’m from is very liberal. I wouldn’t say CNU is necessarily 100 percent conservative, but it’s definitely more so than where I’m from.”
As he starts to answer my next question, a student walks in, stopping in the doorway, a look of surprise on his face. “Um, I have this room reserved for about an hour…” Alex and I exchange laughs as we grab our things and trek upstairs to find another spot to continue our interview. We find a couple of seats, and sit down to continue where we left off.
“So,” I ask him, “When you wake up in the morning, what’s the first thought you have?”
Ever the dramatist, he replies with a humorous look on his face, “What time is it?” We both laugh, and he continues talking. “How much longer can I lay in this bed, actually, if I’m being completely honest here.” Which, we were.
I pull back onto the topic of his passion for theater, asking if he ever thought he’d receive a callback for a lead part in a college musical as just a sophomore. He shakes his head vigorously. “No. It was kinda like, ‘Woooah. Maybe I’m actually good at this thing that I decided to do?’.” I continue talking to him about his excitement for CNU’s upcoming take on “Legally Blonde,” asking if there were any secrets he could divulge about what we could expect to see. He shakes his head, shrugging. “Well, we’re not starting rehearsals until three days before break is over; in fact, everyone in the show has to come back early for our three-day-long boot camp where we rehearse everything. It’s gonna be three long, fun, crazy days.” So, I’m going to take that as him telling me even he doesn’t know anything juicy to tell.
I readjust myself in my seat, informing him that the questions from this point on will be a little more random. And, to kick the ball off, I ask him about his future in 10 years. He ponders for a moment, making a comment on how it would probably be easier to answer if he had kept to his original plan of being a Chem major. “Ten years is where I’m setting my limit for if I don’t break into acting, then I’ll go back to school and focus on Chemistry. Hopefully I’ll have almost my whole body in the door and be working on some shows in scenery, backstage, and costume.”
He chuckles when I ask him about his jewelry preferences. “Diamonds.” He pauses. “Well… No. Pearls are great, too. But, diamonds are made from carbon, which can be air, graphite, or diamonds. So… Yeah, diamonds. Thanks, Chemistry.”
Alex describes the theater audition process as long and stressful, “Especially when it’s all over Homecoming weekend,” referencing this past audition for “Legally Blonde.” “You sign up for a time, and then you immediately realize that if that time isn’t within the first hour, then it’s gonna be way later. For musicals, we have to sing and perform a 60 second monologue. They might ask you for more because they wanna hear you, your range, etc. The next day, the callback list goes up, and that’s when dance call usually is. Halfway through dance call, they’ll stop and inform everyone they want to continue for dance. The day after that is acting callbacks for specific roles. And then, finally, the next day they post the cast list.” But, he claims that performing is completely different. “This will be my first show out of high school, but during high school I just did theater. For me, I feel like no matter the show, I’m going to love it, because I got to do something. It’s so much fun because you’re doing what you love to do and makes me excited for when I’m in the big world.”
When Alex starts to tell me about the inscription he wants on his tombstone, he realizes that he’s quoting it completely wrong. “George Takei starred in the animated short ‘The Missing Scarf,‘ and he says this thing about life not being a linear path to oblivion, but a cyclical pattern…” he trails off, leaning over to grab his computer, which is bare and shiny compared to my scratched and stickered one. “Don’t mind my casual ‘Once Upon a Time’ viewing on here… That’s what should be on it. No, I’m just kidding.” He pulls up the video, and we watch and listen to it. Afterwards he shuts the lid, turning towards me with a smile on his face. “You know what, I just want this entire six minute video on my tombstone. Every single second of it.”
And, ya know, maybe he should.