Interview: Tim Bagley, Peak TV's Secret Weapon, Makes His New York Stage Debut

Tim Bagley is the epitome of the Hollywood “That guy!” You’ve almost certainly seen him in something, even if you may not immediately remember where: his IMDb page boasts a whopping 173 acting credits, which, taken as a whole, amount to a kind of unofficial history of contemporary American television, from the sitcom boom of the 1990s to the peak TV landscape of today. Among the many shows on that list are The Nanny, Seinfeld, Will & Grace, ER, The X-Files, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Desperate Housewives, Monk, Shameless, Hot in Cleveland, 2 Broke Girls, Transparent, Grace and Frankie, Hacks, Somebody Somewhere, The Comeback, and the upcoming Prime Video series adaptation of Carrie.

Bagley has done theater before, but it was pretty much entirely in Southern California. He did early work with the Groundlings, and, he says sheepishly, even earlier work at the Lawrence Welk Dinner Theatre. “I sang this really slow version of ‘You Are the Sunshine of My Life’ to a baby doll and I remember thinking, ‘I should be making fun of people like this. This is not who I am.'” That largely ended his theatrical career, until, much later, he did plays like Sarah Ruhl’s Stage Kiss and Christopher Durang’s Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, as well as a few of his own solo works.

But Bagley has always had a dream of doing a play in New York, and now, at 69, he’s finally getting the chance in the Public Theater’s world premiere of Ryan J. Haddad’s Good Time Charlie. It’s given him the opportunity to feel like a young actor again, baby doll and Stevie Wonder song not included.

He credits the idea to his New York agent, who, he admits, he “doesn’t really talk to that often” (he works primarily on the West Coast, after all). “She was telling me how much she loved The Comeback, and I said to her, just kind of casually, that I’ve always wanted to do theater in New York, especially an original play.” Within a few weeks, he got the script for Good Time Charlie, auditioned, and landed the role of Lou, longtime partner of the titular Charlie.

Bagley identified with the dynamics at play from the first page of Haddad’s script. “In the very beginning, there’s this young boy and he’s doing theater in his backyard, and his family is kind of like his playmates. I remember, as a kid, my dad took me to see Lady Sings the Blues with Diana Ross, and the first monologue I ever learned was when Scatman Crothers says, ‘Lorraine done sent me this fine dinner, young and tender, this is where her head was, won’t be there when I get through, ’cause, see, I’m from the city and I’m gonna kiss this little titty.’ I was a kid and I set my family up in the family room, and I said it, and they’re like—”

What’s wrong with this child?

“Yeah, exactly. But they laughed. And then I dragged my little brother into doing ‘Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy,’ and we would dress up in little vests and perform for our family.” Bagley instantly recognized the universality of the story, which he not only “loves telling,” but is particularly happy to be telling here.

After a career like his, it’s perhaps surprising how much of this experience still feels new. “I had my first bus ride and I heard this come out of my mouth: I said, ‘This is my first time on a bus,’ and the driver goes, ‘Really?’ And then I got off the bus and I thought, ‘Oh, Tim, don’t be that guy.’ But it’s all exciting and new for me. I had never been on the subway. I ran into RuPaul one day, whom I had worked with [on AJ and the Queen]. Every single night I see somebody on the street that I know.”

Working in New York is what he describes as a fantasy, although he’s also keenly aware that he is, in fact, one of those recognizable character actors whom nobody knows how to place. “I’ve had the kind of career where people feel like they know me personally and not from TV and film,” he remarks. “If I say I’m an actor, they’re like, ‘No, that’s not it.’ And then they start listing their gay friends, like, ‘Do you know Tommy and John?’ I’ll say, ‘Well, I just did The Comeback,’ and they’ll say, ‘No.’ ‘Oh, well then maybe Will & Grace.’ ‘No, I never watched Will & Grace.’ And then I’m the guy listing my credits and I don’t want to be that guy either.”

He’s luxuriating in the process of doing theater, which is much more drawn out than the work he’s used to doing in front of cameras. “A lot of times, you do one rehearsal, they bring an extra in to do the lighting, and then you’re filming it. [Here] you get to spend time figuring out the complexities of the character, and it’s just heaven. It’s the fun part of the process for me. There were challenging things in this for me as an actor. I love when I see something and I think, ‘I have no idea how to do that.'”

Bagley hopes that his first outing isn’t his only outing. He says he’s only ever had one other audition for a New York theater production, and suffice it to say, he did not land that replacement gig as Amos in Chicago.

“I think I would want to be specific about what I do, so I can have the experience of figuring it out. But I love it here. I feel very comfortable here. The streets are just full of energy and people. I don’t know. It’s like a big party.”