Star Magazine,
1987
Although he is one of the newest additions to Fame, Michael Cerveris is fast
becoming a favorite. His character "Ian" is a pretty mellow chap from
England, but what may surprise you is that Michael is actually from West Virginia!
Since he has a varied background in performing and did many different dialects
for the stage, Michael was already trained to come across believeably as an
English student, but to fine tune his voice, he got a little extra help. "I
was originally doing a little bit of Liverpool and a little bit of Manchester,
so they had someone come in and work with me," explains the black-haired
actor. "And the hairstylist on the show is from England so whenever I have
a question about a word, I can go and get a right pronunciation from her."
Nowadays, Michael is feeling comfortable with his new home and job in California,
but when he first moved out there, things were a little scary and lonely. Luckily
one of his castmates helped him feel more at home. "Carrie Hamilton ("Reggie")
is really great at organizing things," says Michael. "She's like the
cruise director. One night she'll have everyone get together for bowling, and
another night the movies." Michael and Carrie have also become good friends
because of their common interest in music. "We formed a band and played
at Fame's Christmas party," he explains. "We'll play stuff that each
other has written and we'll give each other advice. We keep talking about sitting
down and writing together, but we just haven't had the time.
When Michael does manage to get some extra time to himself, he'll go out of
his way to answer his fan mail. "Maybe there will come a time when I just
can't answer it all, but for now I do and I really enjoy it," he says.
"I used to be, and still am, starstruck. I always used to go backstage
after a show to tell somebody if I thought they were particularly terrific.
Now, when I'm recognized, I really enjoy it when people come up. I love meeting
them and talking with them."
