Gloria Star Ryan Spahn on the Strangeness of Offices & Why He's Not Marrying Michael Urie

Age: 34

Hometown: Troy, MI

Current Roles: An off-Broadway debut in Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ dark comedy Gloria as Dean, an editorial assistant at a prominent magazine, whose ambitions are rocked by a startling turn of events at the office. (Late in Act Two, Spahn morphs into Devin, an I.T. technician at a TV production company.)

Stage & Screen Cred: While attending Juilliard, Spahn joined pal Halley Feiffer to create, write and star in the web series What’s Your Emergency and the indie film He’s Way More Famous Than You, both directed by his boyfriend of seven years, Michael Urie.

“I’ve been plugging away for a long time. When I was 15, I called Juilliard after reading that my favorite actor, Robin Williams, had gone there. They told me to go to Interlochen, a performing arts high school near my hometown. After graduation, I moved to L.A. and did commercials. It was a rough period.”

“I cannot fathom what it would be like to go to an office every day for 30 years. There’s a specific repetition, like the movie Groundhog Day. I would go insane! I think writers and actors are drawn to [portraying] that lifestyle because it’s so foreign and bizarre to us.”

“There’s never been any competition between Michael [Urie] and me because we’re at completely different places in our careers—he was already two years into Ugly Betty when we met. Also, we care too much about the other’s happiness to have that become an element in our relationship.”

“Even if I was heterosexual marriage would not be on my radar right now. My parents got divorced when I was young, so I don’t feel the need to do it in order for people to know that [Michael and I] love each other.”

“People often don’t recognize me from my work. There must be something about how my imagination manifests itself physically or vocally that affects how my characters move and speak. I’m told I’m a transformative actor, and I like that.”

“Most of my work has been self-produced. I know a lot of actors, but I’ve never had an agent, and I don’t really know many directors. I’m hoping people come see Gloria because I love acting and want to continue doing new plays.”