This week, Her Campus ND was lucky enough to hear from none other than Warner Huntington III! Just kidding! We got something even better – a chance to interview Chris Siemann, the actor who played Warner in PEMCo’s most recent smash hit! Chris had plenty to say about Notre Dame life and what it’s like to play the token jerk up on stage. This transfer student hasn’t let anything stop him from doing what he loves! Thanks for taking the time to key us in, Chris!
Year: Junior
Dorm: Dillon
Major: Theology with an Environmental Geosciences Minor
Hometown: Naperville, IL
Campus Activities: Folk Choir, PEMCo., Glee Club
Lookin’ good, Chris (Photo by Nicole Toczauer)
What does it mean to be a domer? It means that I am part of a family who continually strives to achieve their wildest dreams with the help and support of every other family member.
What is your best ND memory so far? Being able to spend my entire summer on campus serving as a Mentor for Notre Dame Vision.
What is the #1 item on your ND bucket list? Bookstore Basketball. I am an atrocious basketball player, but I feel like it would be really fun regardless!
What are the best and worst things about ND? The best thing would have to be the people. The amount of incredible and inspiring human beings that are on this campus amazes me every day, and I look forward to meeting as many of them as I can in my time here. The worst thing is probably all of the worrying. I feel that this campus can sometimes facilitate unique pressures that cause a whole lot of worry in the student body about all sorts of different things. If everyone could drop their anxieties and trust God with these burdens, there would be a heck of a lot more smiling around campus, and that cannot be a bad thing.
Best class you’ve taken/professor you’ve had at ND: Transfiguration in the Fiction of C.S. Lewis with Professor David Fagerberg.
Favorite spot on campus: Anywhere around that statue in front of O’Shag.
What did you think you were going to do when you came in as a freshman? At Purdue freshman year, I thought I was going to get a Bachelor’s in Aerospace Engineering.
Favorite Domer – dead, alive, or fictional? My sister, Amanda!
If you could go back to freshman year and tell yourself one thing you know now, what would it be? I know that you’re at Purdue right now, but don’t worry, you end up at Notre Dame!
Ideal academic and professional endgame? I would love to get my Theology degree, participate in the Echo program to get a Masters in Theology, and end up teaching Religion at the High School level!
In 25 years you will be… Happily married with a beautiful family, hopefully teaching at a high school. And rocking a premature beacon of white hair, just like my father.
Tell me a little known fact about yourself. I have a life-size cardboard cut-out of Davy Jones in my room. And have no shame about said cut-out.
What song could you play on repeat right now? Legendary by The Summer Set.
Who is your celebrity crush? Evangeline Lilly.
What are three words that describe you? Compassionate, Joyful, Unpredictable.
What’s your favorite pick up line? In true Theology-major form: Unfortunately I can’t perform miracles and I’ve only got enough bread and fish for 2 people.
Chris, as Warner, and Emily Nash, as Elle Woods!
You recently appeared in PEMCo’s “Legally Blonde”! We want to hear about it! Hooray!
Why did you choose to audition for “Legally Blonde”? I thoroughly enjoyed performing in past PEMCo shows, and I was familiar with “Legally Blonde” and knew that it was an incredibly fun and upbeat show that could bring forth so much joy from the cast and audience, alike!
What was your favorite memory from this show? It would have to be performing two sell-out shows on Friday and Saturday. The audiences were super engaged and seemed to really love the show. As a performer, it is an unexplainable experience when you get to share the gifts God gave you with so many people. It truly affirms the fact that I need to stay involved with theatre throughout my whole life, regardless of whether it is at a professional or community level.
What was your biggest challenge in preparing for your “Legally Blonde” role? As I prepared for my role, I realized that Warner is a self-serving jerk, yet provides comic relief at certain times during the show. The challenge was making sure the audience did not really like Warner but liked him (or pitied him) enough to laugh at him later on in the show.
How did you get started in theater? Why is theater important to you? My mom made me try out for the school musical, “Once on this Island Jr.”, when I was in 6th grade. I did two more musicals in middle school and joined a community theatre the summer before my freshman year in high school. I have been consistently doing shows ever since! Theatre is important to me because it is such a visceral and joyful way for so many different people to share God’s gifts with others. I do theatre for what the applause represents, not for the applause itself. To me, the applause represents the love and joy shared between strangers brought together for a few hours to experience a story—and maybe learn a thing or two at the same time. I could ramble for hours on this, but I will spare you!
What are some of your favorite characters (to play and to watch)? A few of my favorite characters that I’ve been able to play previously are Fagin in “Oliver!”, Roger in “Rent,” and Bud Frump in “How to Succeed…”. All of the characters in “Into the Woods” are probably my favorites to watch because of how unique yet connected they are throughout the show.
Any advice for guys in the theater biz? Don’t give up and learn to sing high.…but actually, don’t let anybody tell you you’re not good enough. If you love doing theatre, then you deserve to do it. Keep working, keep auditioning, and keep sharing joy.
Thank you so much, Chris!
HCNDxo
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