Josh Stamberg :: playing sexy for laughs

Whether he's featured alongside actress Annette Bening on stage or playing the object of affection in Lifetime's hit television series Drop Dead Diva, Josh Stamberg is making a name for himself as an eclectic performer who is adept at broad comedy or more serious drama. �

In the comedic farce Female Of The Species, currently being performed at Los Angeles's Geffen Playhouse, a variety of characters (including Bening's feminist writer Margot) come together to discuss, argue and, perhaps, exchange gunshots over the idea of feminism and how men and women relate. Stamberg plays Frank, a disgruntled (and sexy) cab driver who has a thing or two to say about the way women have treated him in the past. �Reviewing his performance, the LA Times wrote: "Stamberg creates the most humorous stir, but then his character's chauvinistic outbursts�are the most�zingily retrograde�("Women want a man who knows how to handle two things for them really, really well: Foreplay. And taxes.")

EDGE's Jim Halterman was able to chat with Stamberg about his experience working with Bening as well as the surprise of being in a hit series and even his past playing a part in a threesome with a gay couple on a popular HBO drama.�

Keeping it real

EDGE: Because so much of Female of the Species is this over-the-top farce, how did you and your fellow actors keep a reign on how broad the show gets?�

Josh Stamberg: One of the interesting things about the play is that each new character that enters takes it to the next level of farce so that by the end the whole thing just unwraps. I think it's somewhat built in. I'm not sure that Joanna [Murray-Smith, the playwright] in all the other versions that had been done had seen one that got so big. I think it was kind of exciting for her that the energy kept getting ramped up...I guess it all just happened naturally based on the rhythms of her writing, based on her instincts and the willingness to explore and see how far we can push it. Really we had no idea until we were in front of people to see where people were laughing and if it was working.� �

EDGE: Had you done a farce before in your past theater experiences?�

JS: To be honest, no. I had seen a lot of farce and always enjoyed it but maybe I was always taking myself and [was looking] at plays a little too seriously so it is nice to have something to look forward to and just have a blast and know that people are coming to laugh and that that's the point. �

Working with Annette Bening

EDGE: It's easy to assume that working with Annette Bening must be a thrill. Does working with someone of her stature in the acting business 'wow' you or have you worked with enough big names that it's just another actor?�

JS: For all the stars I've worked with, and I've worked with a lot, I don't think you ever get accustomed to it. First of all, it's one of the major things that draws you to the job. To work with someone like her and the script shows up and I wasn't necessarily looking for a play at the moment but, for me, she's one of the great American actresses and it's just the best way to learn. There's a huge 'wow' factor and I went to my audition and she's there. I guess it was more thrilling than nerve-wracking because you get to perform in front of someone you admire so much and then to have her respond to it. I remember finishing that audition and having her clapping and yelling! And then I get to show up at work everyday and she is just as you'd expect - so smart, classy, sexy.� Just a great leader to have and a great person. When I'm onstage each it's night it's like you get these little lessons from everybody from watching how they work and I'm very grateful for all that.�

EDGE: There are so many opinions in the play about men, women, feminism...do you think the play settles on one opinion or is it left to the audience to decide?�

JS: I hope it's left up to the audience. The thing that I find really enjoyable about the play is that all the arguments and perspectives are so strong and clear. I think that there's something for everyone in there. You know, when my character comes in there's a portion of the audience that's really ready for that perspective after we've been hearing these women for about an hour so that's the opposite of that perspective.�

EDGE: You've done comedy and drama but is one easier or more difficult than the other or is it just acting?�

JS: They are all different challenges, I think, and I do feel like finding the honesty in there regardless of how big and broad it is, like in the case of this character, is what makes it so fun and challenging. I just truly love acting and figuring out stories and the detective work and putting it altogether. Taking it apart and putting it altogether is what is equally difficult and challenging. One of the best things that has happened to me is that I've been able to do a lot of different things. I'm not necessarily pigeonholed. It's a real blessing as an actor to be able to do all of it.�

EDGE: I was at the Paley Center for Media event in Beverly Hills for Drop Dead Diva last fall and the fans were crazy for you guys. Did you have any idea the show would take off the way it has?�

JS: When you're in LA doing a hit show, you know because you're out and people tell you or you hear the buzz about it on the street but in Atlanta the show didn't start airing until we were almost done. That was great because you got to see real live fans who are passionate right there! I was a little surprised, ya know? It's a difficult premise and it's not an easy sell. Even when I try to explain the show it sounds a little corny but it's just nice and refreshing and I'm glad that it's landing right now. It makes me very happy and has been a great surprise.�

EDGE: Have you played any gay roles in your career?�

JS: I played a character on Six Feet Under called Sarge who had the first on-screen threesome with David (Michael C. Hall) and Keith (Mathew St. Patrick). I did a couple episodes of that but that's really it. I'm open to just playing people whatever their orientation or beliefs are. It's just about compelling characters for me.�

EDGE: You have a philosophy degree when you were in school. Is there a way for that to inform your acting?�

JS: Nobody has ever asked me that question! The one thing about that degree that I loved was the close reading of it and the way you take small chunks of information and really dissemble them and that analytic skill, I think, really served me when I have to analyze text or figure out story or character. It's been really useful. I just like to muse. I wish I could tell you about philosophy [laughs]. �

Female of the Species continues at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles through March 14th. (www.geffenplayhouse.com)� Drop Dead Diva returns for season 2 on Lifetime in June.