Myles Bullock: cool UNC MFA student by day, PlayMakers' actor by night

Some people go into college thinking they know exactly what they’ll be doing when they graduate.

That wasn’t the case for Myles Bullock.

Bullock is a third-year MFA candidate currently playing the role of George in the PlayMakers Repertory Company production of “Intimate Apparel,” playing until Feb. 12

When he started his first year at California State University, Fresno, he had the intention of being a walk-on for the football team.

It didn’t work out, but he considers that to be the best thing to happen to him.

At the end of his sophomore year, he was in his first play.

“I fell in love with the ability to be somebody else and the ability to escape my own reality and escape into someone else’s reality and their problems,” Bullock said.

Bullock said the hardest role he has ever played is the part of Othello in Shakespeare’s “Othello.”

The difficulty of acting Shakespeare was one thing, but some aspects of Othello’s personality started to bleed into Bullock’s own.

“I found that the places I went mentally for him, I found myself being kinda stuck in his mindset and his energy and spirit, which was kinda dangerous,” he said. “The different places he goes — the jealousy, the rage, the happiness, the sense of not wanting to live, losing everything, being the reason everything was lost — bleeding in to my own personality is not OK.”

But as he’s grown as an actor, his ability to step out of a certain character’s mindset has grown.

This ability is useful for his current role in “Intimate Apparel,” where he plays a swindler.

Katie Pondiscio, a first-year exercise and sports science major, was very convinced by Bullock’s portrayal.

“He was so deep in the character that I found myself thinking that even the person was such a bad man,” she said.

Bullock said he enjoys playing the part because of how dissimilar his own personality is.

“I had to search and find a way to be compassionate for this human being — someone who people may vilify because of what happens,” he said.

First-year biology major Mallory Ward, who saw “Intimate Apparel,” was surprised when George turns out to be a pretty bad guy.

“I didn’t realize it until it came out in the play,” she said.

Bullock said his growth can be partially attributed to the faculty at UNC. One of the reasons he chose to pursue his MFA at UNC is because of the faculty who are enthusiastic.

“I want to be everything: comedic, straight, urban stuff,” he said. “I want to cover all the bases.”

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