Hi, Hi, Birdie! Nolan Gerard Funk Gets His Big Broadway Break
Age: 23
Hometown: “Just outside Vancouver, in Canada.”
Currently: Making his Broadway debut as the hip-swiveling, not-so-“Sincere” title star in the first ever Rialto revival of musical classic Bye Bye Birdie.
Canadian Achin’: An accomplished athlete, Funk is used to aches and pains—a broken foot before the Canadian nationals ended his career as a gymnast, and he later sustained more bumps and bruises as a competitive diver. It was an oral affliction, however, that ended up changing his life. “I went to a dentist for a toothache, and it turned out his kids were in an acting school,” Funk recalls. “We talked about it, and I decided to enroll at the same school.” Soon thereafter an agent saw Funk in a performance, and the rest is history. “I was 14. I guess you could say I just got lucky.”
Rolling Along: Like any good diver, Funk jumped into acting head on, booking his first gig in a Canadian Hot Wheels commercial. “It was a story that truly needed to be told,” he jokes. “I was very excited about a race car.” Guest roles on Canadian television and commercials followed, as well as trips to L.A. and New York for auditions, until he landed a small part in a big movie: X-Men 2. “I spent a month working alongside these huge actors,” he says of playing a student. “Hugh Jackman. Patrick Stewart. Halle Berry had just done Monster’s Ball, and I was like, ‘WOW.’ But I got to know them as people and not celebrities. Having been exposed to that cast is the reason I don’t get starstruck now.” The exposure led to bigger and bigger roles, including American hits like The L Word, Smallville and Aliens in America.
La-la Land: While Funk was grateful for acting jobs that came his way, the commutes—from Canada to the two coasts of the U.S.—were killing him. One day in Los Angeles, he decided he’d had enough. “L.A. was warm and sunny, and Canada was cold and rainy, and I just didn’t want to go home.” So he didn’t. “I called my family and said, ‘Hey, I need to be here.’” The transition wasn’t seamless: “I was in the country illegally; I didn’t have a job; I had no car. I slept on five different couches my first year. And I wasn’t getting work because people kept saying my ‘look’ wasn’t right. L.A. can really mess with your head!” Then came the turnaround. Ignoring negative comments, he got his working papers after landing a role in the film Deadgirl. Then a little company called Nickelodeon came calling.
A Spectacular Arrival: Funk got his break as leading man Nikko, a bad-boy rocker who brings a failing high school choir into the spotlight when he joins their group, in the Nickelodeon TV musical Spectacular! The flick featured songs by the musical team behind Disney’s High School Musical, giving Funk the opportunity to show off his singing and dancing skills to a broad audience for the first time—a chance he’s still thankful for. “That movie was everything that I’d ever wanted to do all at once. I was just so stoked, and I was finally making it on my own.” He’s grateful, as well, that Nick didn’t force him to flaunt a goody-goody image. “If you’re one of the Disney kids it’s like you have to talk about having a promise ring, you know? Nickelodeon isn’t publicized the same way [as Disney], so there was a lot of creative freedom. It was a great job.”
Bring In the Funk: Armed with a Spectacular! reel, Funk came to his Bye Bye Birdie audition with a fresh take on Conrad, the cocky, Elvis-like superstar who uproots the citizens of Sweet Apple, Ohio, with a farewell publicity stunt. “I’d never actually seen the show,” he admits, “so I went into my audition blind. It ended up working, because I wasn’t imitating anyone else. I made the choice that he really comes alive when he sings.” Though he plays the role of a jaded rock star, the real life Funk is anything but. “John Stamos, Bill Irwin, Dee Hoty, the ensemble—Broadway is where the tops go, so this whole thing feels out of this world,” he says. “I’m learning from such smart, cool people. I’m really honored to be doing this!”
