Rusty Ross

Age: "I'm a little older than our Cindy-Lou Who and a little younger than John Cullum, who plays Old Max in the show. That probably narrows it down enough!"

Currently: Displaying undying loyalty to the mean, green title character as canine sidekick Young Max in Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas!.

Hometown: Houston. "Every time I tell people I grew up in Texas, they say, 'Where's your accent?' My parents and my brother still have accents, but I don't recall ever having one."

Precocious Preschooler: Ross got his first shot at stage fame at age three when he won a role in The Music Man at Houston's Theatre Under the Stars, but he turned it down to start nursery school with his friends. The experience obviously made an impression: "I've been told that my preschool teacher was going around the circle asking everyone what they wanted to be when they grew up," Ross says now, "and when they got to me, I said, 'I want to be a stage manager.' I think I just knew I wanted to work on a stage, whatever that meant!"

Doctor, Doctor: When Ross says, "I have a long history with Dr. Seuss," he's not kidding: On display in his apartment is a copy of The Sneetches and Other Stories inscribed "To Rusty from Dad on birthday number two." Recalls Ross, "I fell in love with Dr. Seuss' stories and the extraordinary visual world he created in his books. In high school, I produced my own one-man show based on three of his stories, including The Lorax. I had puppeteers and intricate lighting and a crew of 10—it was actually pretty technically complex." After such an impressive display, it's no wonder he headed off to Northwestern's famed theater department.

Here, Max! After tackling a variety of parts in regional theater, including the title role in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the New York-based Ross auditioned in 1998 for the Old Globe Theatre's new holiday production of The Grinch, created with the blessing of Dr. Seuss' widow, La Jolla resident Audrey Geisel. "The next thing I knew, I was wagging my tail in the middle of Balboa Park," Ross jokes of spending the Christmas season in sunny San Diego. His reviews as Young Max were so good, Ross returned to the role for the next seven years, and he became the only San Diego cast member invited to participate in the Broadway production.

Man's Best Friend: It's hard to resist canine metaphors when describing the gusto with which Ross attacked his role, so we'll just let him tell you about it himself: "I tried to start feeling in my body how a dog would move. What traits of a dog could I translate to the human body and make them 'read' onstage? Taking that a step further, I'm playing a dog that's also a creation of Dr. Seuss's imagination, so there's a distinct style of movement involved in creating that world." For inspiration, Ross spied on dog owners interacting with their pets: "People talk to their dogs as if they're human and the dogs almost always respond," he observes. "Very complex 'conversations' take place. Seeing that helped me explore the dynamic between Max and the Grinch, and the unconditional love that I as Max give him."

Eyes of a Child: Although adult theatergoers have been known to cringe when faced with an audience filled with children, Ross insists it's heaven for a stage performer. "Kids are a wonderful audience because they are exceedingly honest," he declares. "If they're bored, or if they don't believe what you're doing as an actor, you'll hear it. They don't let you get away with anything, which keeps you on your game."