Will Hochman on How a Basketball Injury Helped Him Win His The Sound Inside Role & 'Going Toe-to-Toe' with Mary-Louise Parker

Will Hochman is making an A+ Broadway debut as gifted, mysterious Yale student Christopher in Adam Rapp’s The Sound Inside at Studio 54. He originated the role at Williamstown Theatre Festival alongside Tony winner Mary-Louise Parker, who plays his professor, Bella Baird. Hochman himself has a degree in economics from Colby College. In fact, it wasn’t until he was 20 that he decided he wanted to try acting. The Brooklyn native has since appeared in Sweat at the Mark Taper Forum, Dead Poets Society at Classic Stage Company and onscreen in Let Him Go, Critical Thinking, Paterno and more. Now, all eyes are on him and Parker in this intriguing new play. Broadway.com sat down with Hochman to discuss fracturing his foot right before his audition for The Sound Inside, which NBA star he’d geek out over seeing in the audience and more.

Late Bloomer
Though he grew up immersed in the culture of New York City, the arts were not Hochman’s focus growing up. He spent his childhood playing basketball and baseball. “As a kid, I'd be lying in bed at night and imagining myself doing the talent shows in middle school or like auditioning for the plays and never did,” he says. “I was too afraid. It took until college to gather up the courage to walk into the theater building and take an acting class.” As soon as he tried it, he was hooked. Determined to double major in theater, Hochman sat down with the chair of the theater department during the spring of his junior year: “She's like, ‘You don't have enough time left.’ I said, ‘OK, I want to minor in theater.’ She's like, ‘There are three semesters left. You don't have enough credits. You can't do this,’” Hochman says. “Earnestly I said, ‘No, I really want to do this. I love this.’ So, I took all the classes they would let me take and acted in all the shows I could possibly act in. But ultimately, I have a degree in economics.”

Photo Finish
Hochman’s first big stage moment happened during his senior year of college—and he has the picture to prove it. “I played John Proctor in The Crucible. It was a night of theater to present snippets of what we were doing for the community. It was a packed house, and I did ‘This is my name.’ I remember being backstage after doing it, and I couldn't feel my hands. My ears were bright red. I took a photo of myself. This has become sort of a documenting experience. Every time I have one of these performative moments where I feel elevated, I take a photo.” Photography is another passion of Hochman’s. “When my grandfather passed away, I got his film camera, this like old-school Pentax K1000. It says his name on the bottom: Stanley I Alperin.” Hochman even celebrated his Broadway debut by treating himself to a new Polaroid. “I've been snapping a lot of photos to reflect our experience back at ourselves,” he explains. “Theater is ephemeral and collaborative. It happens now, and then it leaves; so, something about pasting photos up on the wall feels right.”

Nothing But Net
Though he has immersed himself in the arts, Hochman’s passion for sports has not dwindled. “I love basketball. I really do. I've played my whole life. I love watching the NBA. I love watching March Madness,” Hochman says. “I grew up in Brooklyn, and so I was all excited when the Nets came to Brooklyn. I’m a lifelong Knicks fan—unfortunately. My uncle is also an assistant coach in the NBA, so I've been cheering for whatever team he's been a part of. I've had these three teams to juggle.” Which basketball star would he geek out about seeing if they paid a visit to The Sound Inside: “LeBron James, come on down.”

Break a Leg Fracture a Foot
It’s a performer’s job to connect with the material that they’re given. For Hochman, The Sound Inside has come into his life with a series of strange coincidences. “There's been magic with this play the whole time,” he says. “So, go back to February 2018 last year: I wake up in the middle of the night and I'm like, ‘I need a typewriter.’ For no good reason. My birthday was coming up, and I got a typewriter.” A few days later, drinks with friends from Dead Poets Society brought up an opportunity that sparked Hochman’s interest. “They're like, ‘We both have chemistry tests with Mary-Louise Parker for this play.’ Adam Rapp is one of my favorite playwrights. I call my manager. He sends me the script. Three pages in, no script I've read has hit me as hard as this script hit me. Christopher Dunn is writing his novella on a typewriter, and he's an athlete.” Hochman sent a self-tape before the weekend of Passover; over the holiday, he played basketball with his brother: “I fracture my foot. I go to Yale hospital and get my foot put in a boot. The play takes place in at Yale. I've got the typewriter, and my foot in a boot that says ‘Yale’ on it. I hobble into the chemistry test with Mary-Louise Parker. This is my part.”

MLP’s Hot Take
Hochman is thrilled to “go toe-to-toe” with Mary-Louise Parker eight times a week: “The first performance, my heart was pounding. I open the door and look at Mary-Louise. I say the line to her, and she says the line to me, and I calm down. Breathe into it. We do our lines. The show ends. People clap and Mary-Louise and I squeeze hands. She gives me this look. It was something like, ‘Here we go,’” he says. “She is a special one. She's a titan. [I’ve learned] so much just from being on stage and rehearsing with her. The things that I can soak in are unbelievable.” One of the biggest takeaways yet from his on and offstage teacher? “Mary-Louise Parker once said that she thinks all cupcakes should be mini,” Hochman says. “I like that a lot.”

Photos by Caitlin McNaney | Video directed and edited by Kyle Gaskell