Jeremy Bobb

Hometown: Dublin, Ohio

Currently: Leaving audiences in stitches as Phelim O'Shaughnessy, an Irish rogue with an eye for the ladies in the Broadway production of Mark Twain's Is He Dead?

From Sports to Stage: At 16, Bobb and a buddy from his high school baseball team tried out for Romeo and Juliet, but young Jeremy's reputation for mischief preceded him. "I was a bit of a cut-up in class," he admits. "I auditioned for Mercutio and our director, Mr. Coleman, wanted to cast me, but he didn't trust me, so I played the Apothecary instead." Bitten by the stage bug, Bobb swapped baseball for the stage and eventually landed at Ohio's Otterbein College to study theater. After graduation, he socked away money doing yard work his go-to summer job for a move to New York. "My redneck landscaping buddies always gave me a job when I needed one," he says fondly. "Good people to know."

Lost in Translations: After building his resume off-Broadway and regionally, Bobb made his Broadway debut last season in Manhattan Theatre Club's acclaimed production of Brian Friel's Translations. Initially cast from an open call as an understudy, he was thrust into the spotlight toward the end of the run when Michael Fitzgerald, who played the impish young Doalty, was suddenly dismissed from the production. "I didn't even have a rehearsal with the cast," Bobb remembers. "It was just like, 'You're on tomorrow! See you there!'" He recently watched a tape of his performance, courtesy of Lincoln Center's Performing Arts Library, and was pleased with the results. "It's kind of a classic New York City happenstance thing," he notes of his Broadway break. "There's a lot of luck involved, but it also favors the prepared."

Finding Phelim: In Is He Dead?, Bobb plays Phelim O'Shaughnessy, one of the rascally artist pals of Jean-Francois Millet Norbert Leo Butz who concoct a scheme to fake Millet's death and disguise him as his widow sister, causing the value of his paintings to skyrocket and make them all rich. In creating the role, Bobb studied tapes of comic legend Stan Laurel to get the lanky physicality of his character—and relied on some natural talent to create his Irish brogue. "Since I was a little kid, I've always had a pretty good knack for picking up the sounds of a person," he explains, noting that his Translations character sounded different since Doalty was from Northern Ireland. "Whether it's odd little mannerisms or an accent. I do it all by ear, mostly from CDs. Not to be too good to myself, but I'm a damn good mimic!"

Bobb's Beard and Blakemore: The cool confidence of British-born director Michael Blakemore inspired Bobb and the rest of the Is He Dead? cast. "He rarely gets up from his chair," the young actor marvels. "To him, there's no doubt it's gonna be good. It's not a boastful thing, it's just something he knows. It really breeds comfort in the actors, because he's so wise and together." Blakemore even helped shape the signature look of Phelim O'Shaughnessy. "I had this full beard going that I was really excited about," Bobb recalls, "and he wanted me to shave off just the moustache. I was like, 'That's ridiculous!' I thought I was gonna look like a Ginger Lincoln. And he said, 'Trust me, it's gonna open your face up just right.' And as soon as I did it, I was like, 'Wow, he's right!' He had a lot of moments like that: 'Do this. You're gonna be fine. Just trust me.'"

Hot Butz: The allure of co-star Norbert Leo Butz in drag isn't lost on Bobb, who confesses, tongue-in-cheek, to the toll the rampant sexual tension has taken. "Norbert and I have had a couple of different talks 'cause I kept showing up at his house," he says. "I'll follow him home, and the kids are like, 'Daddy, who is that man?' It was starting to scare them, so I can't show up there anymore." He jokingly terms the voluptuous Lady Butz "a moped girl: a lot of fun to ride, but you don't want your friends to see you with her." Laughing, Bobb says, "Thank you to my redneck landscaping buddies for that one."

Living Dead: Having opened to warm reviews and appreciative audiences, Bobb is as delighted as on Day One to be bringing the Dead to life. "When I showed up, I was like, 'Hey guys! Guess what today is? The first day of rehearsal!!" he shouts. "And they're all like, 'Yeah, we know kid, shut up.' I had to let the excitement wear off a little bit…but it still hasn't. Secretly, I'm still excited." With the show's A-list cast and creative team, it's easy to see why he's still pinching himself: "It's Mark Twain, David Ives, Michael Blakemore and these actors! I feel so, so lucky to be among this group."