People Who Make Theatre: James McDaniel in Conversation with Peter Jay Fernandez

An HB Studio alum, James McDaniel returns to HB for a conversation with Peter Jay Fernandez about their lives in the theatre, the development of their craft, and what it takes to sustain a career as a working artist across stage, film, and television.

James McDaniel is an acclaimed stage, film, and television actor, perhaps best known for his seven-season portrayal of Lt. Arthur Fancy on NYPD Blue. His theatre work includes originating the role of Paul Off-Broadway in John Guare’s Six Degrees of Separation and subsequently appearing in the Broadway production; Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me on Broadway; August Wilson’s Joe Turner’s Come and Gone; A Soldier’s Play; Balm in Gilead; and Before It Hits Home, for which he received an Obie Award and a Drama Desk Award nomination. His screen credits include Malcolm X, Edge of America, Detroit 1-8-7, Taken, and many others.

Peter Jay Fernandez is an actor, director, and educator whose decades-long career spans Broadway, Off-Broadway, regional theatre, film, and television. His Broadway credits include The Merchant of Venice, All the Way, Cyrano de Bergerac, Julius Caesar, Henry IV, Jelly’s Last Jam, and The Piano Lesson. His extensive New York theatre work includes August Wilson’s Gem of the Ocean, Suzan-Lori Parks’ Father Comes Home from the Wars, The Merchant of Venice, The Winter’s Tale, As You Like It, Spell #7, Once Around the City, Flyin’ West, and The Pain and the Itch. His screen credits include Luke Cage, Gotham, Elementary, The Good Wife, Law & Order, and Brawl in Cell Block 99. Fernandez is an Associate Professor of Professional Practice and Co-Head of Acting in the MFA Theatre Program at Columbia University School of the Arts.

People Who Make Theatre is HB Studio’s longstanding series bringing artists into conversation about the work, choices, and experiences that shape a life in the industry.