I played tight end and went to the University of Illinois as a tight end. I found out real quickly that the jump from high school to college is tough, and from college to the Pros is next to impossible, but it was always my dream to play professional football._Ryan McPartlin: Game Time: Tackling
Ryan McPartlin: Game Time: Tackling
Actor
Credits: The Nanny | CSI | Mad Men
By: Daedrian McNaughton
Ryan plays Jake Walker, a pro football star who returns home when he hears that his father, played by Beau Bridges, has suffered a heart attack.
Ryan McPartlin is a native of Chicago, Illinois, and best-known for his current role as Devon Captain Awesome Woodcomb on the TV series “Chuck.” He also played Riley Martin on “Living With Fran” and has appeared in numerous other series including “The Nanny,” “CSI,” and “Mad Men.” McPartlin’s major film roles include Will Powers in “Super Capers” and the voice of Clutch Powers in “Lego: The Adventures of Clutch Powers.” He attended the University of Illinois, where he played football for their Fighting Illini. McPartlin lives in California with his wife and their two sons.
Will we see your shirt off in this movie?
Ryan McPartlin: You don’t see my shirt off. We’re making it a family night, so there’s no bare chest going on in this, which I appreciated because I didn’t need to stay on the treadmill as often as I normally do. Beau takes his off though. No, I’m kidding.
What attracted you to this role on Game Time?
Ryan McPartlin: I played tight end and went to the University of Illinois as a tight end. I found out real quickly that the jump from high school to college is tough, and from college to the Pros is next to impossible, but it was always my dream to play professional football. And when that didn’t work out, and I decided to become an actor instead, I actually tried to get away from being branded as an athlete and just a football player because I wanted to be a multi-dimensional actor. But now that I’ve been doing this for about 11 or 12 years, it was interesting when this script came about because now it was a role regarding the end of an NFL career. An athlete that’s making the journey back home to reconnect with his family. And the father/son theme that was in the story as well. It all came together for me at a perfect time in my life. Because, I got to go back and have that farewell to football; that closure that I never really had, and I really felt that in my performance. And, there’s a lot of just great father/son and mother/son moments in the movie that I just thought were good. It was good entertainment for the family, and I really wanted to be a part of it.
Were you pleased with the line-up when you saw the castlist?
Ryan McPartlin: Actually I jumped on a plane and I got an email right before I took off and saw that Beau had signed on to the movie. I go, “Okay. Now I know this is going to be something special.” And then Catherine Hicks jumped on board and Josh Braaten, and Katie Carr. It just turned into this really special time that we all had together.
Can you draw some similarities between yourself and Jake Walker?
Ryan McPartlin: Think there was at an earlier time in my life when athletes become professional athletes and go from high school to college to the pros, there’s a certain type of arrested development. And I just don’t think that maturing process comes until you’re done with athletics and done being in the bubble and being treated like a star. So, I think that time came in my life when football came to an end for me. And I graduated college. I moved to Los Angeles and I actually waited tables for a year, so I was humbled really quickly. And I called my dad and we reconnected in a whole new way because I had such a respect once I started paying taxes and realizing how much money you actually have to make to support a family. I had a whole new appreciation for my father. And there are a lot of similarities. I just think that my growth process came at an earlier age than Jake Walker’s has come.
Going up against Beau in a game of basketball, who do you think would win?
Ryan McPartlin: Well, Beau’s probably got a mad dunk shot.
Today a lot of emphasis is based on social status than a person’s true values. Can you relate to that in any way?
Ryan McPartlin: There are a lot of self-motivation out there. And so much of them are focused on the end result and what you’re going to achieve success-wise, material wealth, and not necessarily on the character building and how you achieve it. I’ve been trying to achieve and strive for in my life is more or less work on my character and my own personal qualities first, and then hopefully success will follow. But if and when it comes the road to get there will definitely have been traveled in the right way.
Can you describe the on screen relationship with Jake and his dad?
Ryan McPartlin: We both come at it from different point-of-views. I feel that my dad in the movie, at least in the beginning of the movie, did not recognize the importance of the role that I played and tried to emphasize the team over the individual talents that I’ve achieved and the success that I felt. And, that’s the start of the journey and I think the start of the story. So that’s where I came at it from, and I actually experienced that with my own father when I was in high school and he’d tell me to take the trash out. I felt like he was picking on me versus my siblings to do some chores around the house or whatever. I’d say, “Hey. Didn’t you see that touchdown I made in the game the other day? I have other work to do. I have workouts, I got a lot on my plate right now. I got homework to do and how I’m supposed to balance all this and take the trash out?” And I can’t believe he was as patient as he was during that time in my life. And now that I’m a father, I know what to expect from my teenage sons one day.
Was there a particular scene in the film that touched you?
Ryan McPartlin: I had a lot of moments with Beau where he would share stories about his father and himself, and then his experience as a father as well that I think he was really wrapped up. And there’s a moment that we’re walking down the hall of the hospital. Yes. It was a great scene. It was just a great moment and it really captured the essence of our whole store. And, I felt that all of our times that we spent on screen and off was really brought to the forefront right there in that moment.
What’s your advice for actors?
Ryan McPartlin: Learn to be as comfortable as you are in your skin and work on yourself and work on trying to learn about what the story is, whatever it is. Its account on whatever you’re auditioning for, a play, and then just where you fit in. Whatever you do, don’t take it personally because rejection happens to us all. I’m going on an audition today that I probably won’t get, but I’m not going to say, “Oh, well I could’ve done that much better.” And it’s just I’ll feel that I’ve prepared the best I can, and if I’m not the right actor to fit into their story, I’ll just go ahead and say, “All right. I did my job and my job is done, and now I have to move on.”