Bloglander

It seemed like any other college screening night. About 50 to 70 Gonzaga students, in their dorm sweatshirts and pajama pants, gathered around the ol’ video projector in the student center Wednesday night, and watched two episodes of a new television show.

Except there were two TV stars, watching themselves on screen, lounging in the back.

That doesn’t happen every day. 

“Hey, dude, come to Spo — BAM!” Terriers actor Donal Logue told the crowd, standing beside his co-star.

That’s how fast it happened. Turns out actors have the same sort of let’s go-on-a-road-trip-whim as we do. He’s picking up a pickup truck in Idaho. He’s slightly distressed about the low ratings of his latest show. And then comes that epiphany: Why not swing by Spokane tomorrow? Screen the TV show. Create some buzz. And get a chance to share the passion of the actors’ craft.

Even back when Logue was at Harvard, he says, they rarely had actors swing by. In between episode, he takes questions from the audience. Is it weird watching yourself on-screen?  someone asks.  A bit, the actors reply. “[It’s like] when you hear your voice on an answering machine, ‘Whoa, that’s not me,” Logue says.

They cheer when he mentions he got his pickup truck at Dave Smith Motors.  After the second episode finishes, a young man walks up to me. Tell them thanks, he said. He’s a young aspiring actor.