Abbott Elementary Star Chris Perfetti Teases Stage Return: 'Maybe Even This Season'

School is in session for Chris Perfetti, who plays Jacob Hill in the hit ABC comedy series Abbott Elementary. When the last bell rings, though, he's ready to return to the stage. While on break from filming the sixth season, Perfetti had a night out in New York celebrating the Broadway opening of Jon Robin Baitz's Other Desert Cities to toast his former Six Degrees of Separation co-stars, director John Benjamin Hickey and star Allison Janney. 

"I mean, who am I not looking forward to seeing?" says Perfetti, nodding to the starry Other Desert Cities cast that includes Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Lily Rabe, Joe Keery and Ed Harris in addition to Janney. "I think probably chief among them, my boy John Benjamin Hickey, who I did one of my first Broadway plays with. I love him so much. I think he's so talented. I'm so excited to see what he's cooking up here." 

While enjoying playing teacher on screen, Perfetti is itching to return to the stage. He last appeared off-Broadway in the 2020 production of Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow, which earned him a Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play. "It's home for me," Perfetti says of live theater. "It feels the most like acting. The actor is so in control on stage in a way that you're not in TV and film. It's how I trained. It's the greatest high I've ever felt."

Thankfully, it seems like Perfetti's return to the stage is just around the corner. When asked about his plans for a theater homecoming soon, he teased, "I think so. Maybe even this season. Fingers crossed."

Fingers crossed, indeed!