5 Questions with Timothy Busfield

How did you discover that you wanted to pursue acting? 

I was six years old and went by myself to see Burt Lancaster in a pirate movie. I came home and announced at the dinner table, “I’m going to be a movie star.” My family nodded, and then we went back to eating. I didn’t know what an actor was; I only knew movie star. My freshman year of high school, we adapted A Charlie Brown Christmas in our English class, and they brought in all the K-3 students from East Lansing to watch the play. I fell in love with that audience. At the end of my senior year, I did Guys and Dolls, and I was at home on that stage. Then I went to East Tennessee State, auditioned for a play, got a part, and it took off from right there. I dug in and I gave it my all, and it was there that I transitioned into becoming an actor. 

What brought you from East Lansing, Michigan, to East Tennessee State University?

I went into the military and got the GI Bill® so I could pay for school. My brother, Buck, had taken a job in Legal Services of Upper East Tennessee in Johnson City, and he rented a house for us on Sinking Creek Road. We spent two of the best years of our lives there. 

What did you learn at ETSU that helped you succeed in your career?

I had a teacher at ETSU named Bud Frank. He taught me the Stanislavsky system, what they call “the method” in acting. I left East Tennessee State when I was 22, joined an acting company with Kathy Bates and Chris Cooper, and did my first movie at 23. I did not have to spend years studying acting; I was ready when I left East Tennessee State. I didn’t struggle as an actor because of that foundation.

Do you have a favorite role?

On stage, it’s hands-down Lt. Kaffee from the original company of A Few Good Men on Broadway. That’s where I met Aaron Sorkin. On television, it’s thirtysomething, where I won an Emmy. In movies, it would be Poindexter in Revenge of the Nerds because I was able to create that character from the ground up. 

What advice do you have for ETSU graduates who are just beginning 
their careers?

So often, when success doesn’t come right away, it can make people want to give up. Too often, we slow down at the thought of failure, and it keeps people from pursuing dreams because they want their dreams to come true right away. Craft requires repetition and failure. I think patience is the most important thing, and it can only go with perspiration.