A Month in the Country's Megan West and Mike Faist on Co-Star Crushes, Show Secrets & HBO vs. Netflix

Megan West and Mike Faist are spending A Month in the Country at Classic Stage Company alongside two very high-profile co-stars: Orange Is the New Black’s Taylor Schilling and Peter Dinklage of Game of Thrones. Although both young stars are new to the theater scene, Faist cut his teeth in Broadway’s Newsies and West is best known as mysterious victim Lila Stangard on TV's How to Get Away With Murder. In their new gig, West and Faist play Vera, a student, and Aleksei, a tutor, respectively, who both live in the household of Natalya (Schilling). But when both Vera and Natalya fall in love with Aleksei, things get tricky...and steamy. Broadway.com spent the afternoon with two stars to chat about TV addiction, love at first sight and secret crushes.



Q: You've been working together a few months now—when you first met, what were your first impressions of each other?

MEGAN WEST: I was so nervous about meeting everybody. I wanted to have a visual of what everyone was gonna look like, but Mike only had these baby photos online, and I was like, “How old is this kid?”

MIKE FAIST: I’m 12! [Laughs.] I’m really 23.

MEGAN WEST: I’m 24 and I thought, “Wow, maybe I’m supposed to look younger.”

Q: Are the nerves going away now, Megan?

MEGAN WEST: I’m still warming up, but I realized that these people are human beings, instead of—

MIKE FAIST: Yeah, instead of the celebrity persona. I finally went out for drinks with Peter [Dinklage] and told him that every time I see him, I'm like, [singing the Game of Thrones theme song] “Duh-duh-da-duh, duh-duh-da-duh.” I gotta stop doing that!

Q: If you could only watch HBO or Netflix for the rest of your life, which would you pick?

MEGAN WEST: That’s not fair!

MIKE FAIST: I have Netflix, so I choose HBO. The grass is always greener.

MEGAN WEST: Yeah, I love HBO.

Q: So you’re both Team HBO?

MEGAN WEST: Not that I don’t love Orange Is the New Black.

Q: Speaking of TV, Broadway.com did a musical fantasy cast of How to Get Away with Murder—could you see it onstage, Megan?

MEGAN WEST: It’d be really dark! Maybe it would be like Sweeney Todd, very emotional.

MIKE FAIST: Would Audra McDonald be Viola Davis?

MEGAN WEST: What about Billy Porter? [Laughs.] He could do it! He’s so talented.



Q: A Month in the Country is a departure from Newsies, Mike. Do you ever bust out a pirouette for everyone?

MEGAN WEST: Yes! I can vouch, we make him do it. Dance for us, fouette, come on!

Q: This play was written in the 1800s—were you surprised how salacious and sexy it is?

MIKE FAIST: It’s like a romance novel.

MEGAN WEST: It’s an erotic comedy.

MIKE FAIST: Bring out the sex! [Laughs.]

Q: Speaking of which, Mike, did you ever think you’d be making out with Taylor Schilling?

MEGAN WEST: Well, I was shocked. I didn’t know it was happening ‘til it happened.

MIKE FAIST: I didn’t know it was happening either. We started trying it three weeks into rehearsal. Erica [Schmidt, director] pulled Taylor and I aside and it was very secretive.

Q: There's a lot of unrequited love in this show. Did you ever have a crush that didn’t like you back?

MEGAN WEST: Growing up, I had so many theater crushes. When I was little I did The Sound of Music, and I was Gretl, the youngest. I had a crush on all of my older siblings! One of them kissed me on the cheek in the show. Oof!

Q: Mike, do you believe in love at first sight?

MIKE FAIST: I do. My girlfriend Alexis and I met through my friend from high school—they came to New York for the weekend and saw me in Newsies. I was instantaneously in love. Then she needed a place to stay in New York, so she asked if she could stay with me. I was like, "YES. Yes, you’re gorgeous." I was spitting all types of game, and she said no! I just kept being so obnoxious, it finally happened. Always be persistent!



See West and Faist in A Month in the Country at Classic Stage Company.