Actor Brian Hutchison Talks New Noir Audio Drama

Last month, New York-based actor Brian Hutchison launched I Still Think About You, a noir drama podcast based on a harrowing true story centered around a former romantic relationship.

Premiering at the 2021 Hear Now Festival and winning the Gold Selection “Mystery” award, the seven-episode series tells the story of Adam McClure, a successful New York actor who revisits a haunting incident from his past. When coincidence brings an old friend, Dylan, back into his life, Adam fears for his new relationship with Tom, his sanity, and his life. Unsettling and ominous, with twists and turns until the very end, I Still Think About You is part memoir, part psychological thriller, and part love letter to Broadway.

All episodes are now available to binge.

Hutchison is known for his several theatrical, TV, and film credits, but he is most notable for playing Alan in the Broadway and Netflix productions of The Boys in the Band, which won the 2019 Tony Award for “Best Revival of a Play” and the GLAAD Media Award for “Outstanding Film – Limited Release.” He is also an award-winning audiobook narrator with over 200 projects under his belt.

OFM caught up with Hutchison to talk more about the podcast and his passion for acting.

Can you begin by telling us what inspired you to create I Still Think About You?
I have been an audiobook narrator and an actor for years, and during the pandemic, it was just a lonely, isolated time for everybody. I was spending time on eastern Long Island, and it was mostly just me and my dog. I would take him out on long walks, and I started to imagine, with all the fear in the news and the fear of the pandemic, I started to think of things that were still kind of frightening to me. Scary things from the past, and this story kept coming back to me. It is something that is very much based on true events, and I started to imagine this person from my past. I was seeing him fully fleshed out again.

I realized over the years, I never really dealt with or talked about this much. I am a much more private and introverted actor, so I decided this might be an interesting way to tell it. I started writing and recording at the same time and had some of my friends send me bits of dialogue. After piecing it together, I realized that it was viable to me. It was something I wanted to continue with, so I did.

Because this is autobiographical, do you think that makes the podcast even more appealing to audiences and worth checking out?
I hope so. It’s billed as audio fiction and audio drama, but I think there is something based on a true story that worked for me. Not only the actual story, but also the fact that I deal with the nature of memory, coincidence, and how we remember things. Is a memory something that we create in our minds? Is it a memory of a memory? The stories we tell ourselves over the years, and this was one of those stories. I did very much tell it from my memory because I don’t have too many of the people involved still in my life.

Some of the peripheral people are, but in terms of the main characters, it was really me going from my own memory, and I think that makes it sort of universal too because I didn’t set out to write a thriller. I didn’t set out to write some psychological script that could later be made into a film. I think there’s something more accessible about that because I think it tells the truth in a way that is not hyperbolic. There’s a psychological menace about what happens to this guy, the narrator in the story, Adam, that I think is relatable and accessible to people.

Ultimately, what do you hope listeners take away from it?
I hope there are some universal truths and they, obviously, connect with the story. It is very much my story, and this is the first thing that I’ve really created on my own. Being an actor for years, I have always been a small part of someone else’s story. Putting myself out there in this way was pretty intense. Right before I released it, there was a sense of exhalation about sending it out there into the world. My hope is that people will connect with the story, but also find those truths that they might also share about being in the arts, being gay, coming of age. The things that are important to us early on may shift over time.

I Still Think About You does take place over a span of time, 20 years or more. I think there are some truths in the people that we meet early on in our career, in our life in a big city like New York, or anywhere you move to. Anytime you pursue something bigger, greater, or new, I think there is a real connection with those people that you meet early on and how they influence your life. Positive ways, darker ways—we see both in this story.

The podcast is also a love letter to Broadway and New York City?
Yes, very much so. I have worked in New York for about half my life now, and it’s been amazing to me. People ask me all the time if I still like the city, if I’m sick of it, and I will always love New York. Whether I live there for the rest of my life or not, there’s a connection that I think everybody has with New York City, or again, any town that you move to that is outside of your hometown.

You have your own sense of your memories there. You have the places that you remember, the places that you will visit and come back to, the apartment buildings, the landmarks, the people, the phone calls, the news that you got on that corner, the breakup that you had in that building, the party that you went to there. There are all these things about New York that I think of all the time that are singular to me, and you realize that everybody that lives there has those places.

Being an actor too, it really spans the career of this guy, Adam, who is very much based on me. What life is like when you first move to New York and don’t know anybody, don’t have any contacts, and you want to be an actor but don’t know how to do it yet. Then, looking back after six Broadway shows, a dozen more Off-Broadway shows, and a lot of TV and film, you realize how far you’ve come in a way. Reflecting, taking it all in, and being grateful to New York and the Broadway community.

Have you always had a passion for acting?
Absolutely. I’ve been acting since I was a kid and started acting sort of professionally when I was 12. Then I continued with it throughout high school and college. I knew in the back of my head that it was something that I could do, even if I wasn’t very good at it at the time. It was when I got enough positive reinforcement where I thought, maybe this is something I should continue with.

When I was young, I had a fear of speaking in front of people, and I wasn’t comfortable with it. I think acting gave me the ability to do that because when you rehearse something, you practice and know how to do it, and I think it gives you the confidence to do it in front of people. I was able to use my voice in a way through acting. I loved being on stage, and I really felt at home doing plays. I’m glad that I didn’t give it up. It’s a tough business and there can be a lot of disappointments, but all the good stuff has outweighed the downside.

How did you get involved with narrating audiobooks? You have voiced over 200 of them.
It started as a supplemental part of my job. I was doing a play on Broadway called Exit the King and an audiobook producer saw me in that and asked me to audition. I immediately kind of took to it. I’ve always been a good reader in terms of cold reading, so reading out loud was sort of new to me, but over time, I’ve gotten better at it. It has become a huge part of my career now, especially during the pandemic when not much was happening.

I have a studio at home now, and I can produce the audiobooks myself, and I sometimes work with independent authors. It has been very rewarding. Sometimes, it’s a multi-narrator thing where I’ll do certain chapters or stories, then maybe a female narrator or multiple people will do the other stuff, but I do most of the books on my own. I think it’s made me a better actor in ways because you have to make quick choices about who the characters are, and you have to differentiate them. It kind of made me faster on my feet.

One of your most notable roles is Alan in the stage and film production of The Boys in the Band. Would you say that has been your magnum opus?
It has certainly been one of the most rewarding things I have done, and probably will ever get to do. Having a relatively short run on Broadway and then doing the film, it has been like a three and a half year journey. I’ve never really spent that much time with a play. Most things I do last for maybe a season or a year. I haven’t done many long running shows, and this one was very special to me because it was the 50-year anniversary of The Boys in the Band.

No one knew how it was going to be received. That play has a tricky history in terms of how gay people wanted to feel represented and how people kind of put it aside and didn’t want to be reminded of it for years. So, it was interesting for the 50-year anniversary to have a group of all gay actors and be received in the way it was and win the Tony Award for ‘Best Revival.’ Then to do the film for Netflix. It was such an exciting time, and I am very proud of it.

What advice can you offer to young actors who hope to make it big on Broadway?
If you want to do this, you must be prepared to work hard. You may not be able to do anything else. I felt like I wasn’t competent at other things. When I wanted to be an actor, I was like, I’m all in. I want to make this work. That said, I think what makes you the most interesting actor, whether it’s musicals, straight plays, theatre, or film, is if you have a varied life.

If you do different things with your life. Pay attention to your hobbies and what you’re good at. Waiting for the phone to ring is the biggest mistake people make because all you’re doing is letting your life slide by. You do have to put the time and effort in, but you have to keep growing as a person because that’s ultimately what people are going to respond to.

To stay up-to-date and connect with Hutchison, follow him on Instagram. I Still Think About You is available Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and all other digital streaming platforms.

Photos Courtesy of Luis Cortorreal and Brian Hutchison