Ever since he burst forth as Vanessa Williams' devious assistant Marc St. James on the ABC series Ugly Betty, Michael Urie has enjoyed a career that moves easily between stage and screen.

The Texas native, back on stage in the acclaimed revival of Once Upon a Mattress at the Hudson Theatre, made his Main Stem debut as a replacement in the role of Bud Frump in the 2011 revival of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. He has subsequently been seen on Broadway in the 2018 revival of Torch Song, Bess Wohl's Grand Horizons, Douglas Lyons' Chicken & Biscuits, and the 2023 revival of Spamalot.

It was the 2013 Off-Broadway premiere of Jonathan Tolins’ Buyer & Cellar, however, where Urie was able to display the true breadth of his comedic talents, playing Alex More, a struggling actor who takes a job working in the mall beneath Barbra Streisand's Malibu home. For his work in the solo show, Urie wound up winning the Drama Desk Award, Clarence Derwent Award, the Lucille Lortel Award, and LA Drama Critics Award as well as nominations from the Drama League and Outer Critics Circle.

He is now bringing those comedic gifts, as well as a heartwarming naïvety, to the role of Prince Dauntless, who is searching for a perfect wife despite the interference of his overbearing mother, in the aforementioned Mattress revival. The production, first seen at New York City Center as part of the long-running Encores! series, is directed by Lear deBessonet and also stars Sutton Foster, Nikki Renée Daniels, Ana Gasteyer, Will Chase, Daniel Breaker, Brooks Ashmanskas, and more.

Urie, whose numerous screen credits also include Younger, Modern Family, The Good Wife, Workaholics, Hot in Cleveland, Single All the Way, Maestro, Swan Song, and Summoning Sylvia, will be seen in the second season of AppleTV+’s award-winning dramedy series Shrinking, which returns October 16. Later this year, he will appear alongside Michael Keaton, Mila Kunis, and Andie MacDowell in the new film Goodrich. The actor, producer, director, and host is also the co-founder of NYC’s Pride Plays, which celebrates and elevates LGBTQIA+ voices in the theatre.

In the interview below for the Playbill series How Did I Get Here—spotlighting not only actors, but directors, designers, musicians, and others who work on and off the stage to create the magic that is live theatre—Urie shares that time he smoked marijuana for his day job, and why he'd do Buyer & Cellar again.

Where did you train/study?
Michael Urie: The Juilliard School of Drama! I also had incredible teachers in high school and community college.

Was there a teacher who was particularly impactful/helpful? What made this instructor stand out?
I was a very shy kid and found the middle school drama department super intimidating and for the cool kids. I wanted to get involved but didn’t have the guts. I was obsessed with movies and really wanted to pursue show business, so when I got to high school, I figured I’d need to get over my shyness. First day of theatre class, however, I found not only was the teacher on maternity leave, the students were completely unserious about theatre. I expressed this to the substitute, and she put me on the phone with the regular teacher, Mrs. Colvin. We spoke for a while, and she put me in the advanced class with students who were much more serious. She told me it impressed her that I had the courage to ask for what I want and told me to never lose that instinct. To this day, some of my favorite jobs were the result of simply asking to be considered. In this business, sometimes it can feel like enthusiasm isn’t “cool,” but I think tenacity and hard work are vital components to an artist’s staying power.

What has it been like revisiting Prince Dauntless for Broadway and with several new cast members? Do you have a favorite moment in the show for him?
Playing this show in the intimate Hudson Theatre is so cozy (City Center is stunning but massive)—it kind of feels like 1,000 people all crawling into bed together to hear a story. The new cast members are all wonderful: I’m loving playing with my brilliant new mom, Ana Gasteyer; Brooks Ashmanskas is the funniest person I’ve ever met; Daniel Breaker has been my hero since he was a year above me at Juilliard; and Will Chase is totally dashing as Sir Harry. Lear deBessonet has encouraged me to explore the ways in which Dauntless grows up during the course of the show, and it’s become a very rewarding character arc!

What have you discovered about physical comedy working with Sutton Foster?
You mean my Gumby girlfriend?! She’s the most inventive and fearless scene partner I’ve ever had—her onstage joy is an extension of her offstage kindness—when we are out there together, it feels like we share a brain. And dancing? She is so good at it, it’s like she’s dancing for both of us—she can tell if I don’t know what’s next, and she’ll subtly steer me where I’m supposed to go. I feel safer out there with her than I have with anyone ever.

Your Broadway career has been a consistent mix of plays and musicals. What is the challenge/reward of performing in a musical versus a drama or comedy?
In a musical, we are always finding pains and bruises we can’t explain. When singing, there are certain notes that have to be hit. Speaking is different—it’s much easier to adapt if your voice is tired or raspy for whatever reason. So, the physical demands are certainly greater in a musical, but the rewards are sweeter. Firstly, you’re surrounded by fabulous music all the time—whether it’s this lush Mary Rodgers score, the hilarious and sweet sounds of Spamalot, or the timeless bops by the Four Seasons, these are great tunes to have in your head all day. Plus, the people…in a musical there are so many more people around—musicians, sound techs, stage hands, wardrobe folks, dancers, and singers.

Do you have a dream stage role?
I’ve been very lucky to play a lot of my dream roles (Hamlet, Prior Walter, Mozart) plus some roles I didn’t know were dream roles until I got them (Arnold Beckoff, Prince Dauntless). There is one that I’ve wanted to play as long as I’ve known about theatre, and it’s Tom Wingfield in The Glass Menagerie. I’ve had a lot of great moms as an actor, so imagining who could play Amanda Wingfield is dreamy. Judith Light? Jean Smart? Charles Busch?

Can you share one of your favorite stage mishaps?
One night in Torch Song, a prop orange rolled off the stage and into the audience. I texted Harvey Fierstein about it, and he wrote back, “That always happens in prop shows.” I’d never heard that term before, “prop shows,” and I thought, “I learned a new theatre term from Harvey Fierstein, now I’m in the big time!”

Once, a woman took the long way to the restroom during a performance of Buyer & Cellar and had to walk in front of the stage right beneath me the exact moment I, as Barbra Streisand, was pantomiming pushing a cup of yogurt upside down into a vat of sprinkles. I said, as Barbra, “Oh, watch out for the sprinkles!” 

What do you consider your big break?
Ugly Betty, for sure. I played Vanessa Williams’ assistant, and the plan was for her to be such a demanding boss she’d have a new assistant every week. But Vanessa liked me, and so our chemistry bloomed, and by the end of the pilot, they’d decided to keep me.

What is the most memorable day job you ever had?
I once did a medical research study on the effects of medical marijuana. I’d go to a hospital, smoke a little, and take these computerized tests. Then I’d have to wait around until the effects wore off and munch on hospital food.

Is there a person or people you most respect in your field and why?
I think Bill Irwin is the theatre maker I most look up to—from musical comedy to Albee to Chekhov to Beckett, to say nothing of his out-and-out clowning, he’s just a genius.

Tell me about a job/opportunity you really wanted but didn’t get. How did you get over that disappointment?
The hardest losses are the ones that feel like they were yours to lose… I was in the workshop of How to Succeed with Daniel Radcliffe and afterwards offered the part of Bud Frump. Six months later, one of the rights holders asked to see me do it, so I had to go back in and audition. I lost the part that day. It was definitely the hardest single rejection I've ever experienced because I’d been counting on it happening for so long, and it was basically mine to lose. Eighteen months later, they asked me to come in as a replacement—so the story has a happy ending! 

But, I’m very grateful for that low. Our highs and lows are (I think) the most important moments because they eventually cancel each other out, and you can find an emotional middle ground to navigate it all.

What advice would you give your younger self or anyone starting out?
I think it’s impossible for one not to compare themselves or their careers to others, but it really is silly to do so. No two artists have ever had the same trajectory. There’s no one right or wrong way to do this crazy business, and we all spend too much time worrying about how we compare when there’s just no real way to compare.

What do you wish you knew starting out that you know now?
That this business is a marathon, not a race. That the comparisons I am making about myself are mine and mine alone: Everyone else is busy making their own comparisons about themselves and not actually thinking about me. That “who you know” is real, but those connections might take years to bear fruit.

What is your proudest achievement as an actor?
My second biggest break and greatest gift has to be getting to perform Jonathan Tolins’ brilliant solo play, Buyer & Cellar. It’s so rare to find a role that is so good and original and fun, and then to have it be a hit... I did it over 600 times (including in our apartment on Broadway.com as a benefit for BC/EFA during the pandemic lockdown) and would do it again in a heartbeat.

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Photos: Opening Night of Once Upon a Mattress

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