From the midfield to the centerstage
LaVar Veale shows his passion for football and theater
By Antoinette Vega
Skiff Staff

Whether he’s on stage or on the field, LaVar Veale is familiar with being in the spotlight.

His name has appeared in programs for plays around campus and in the Metroplex and one might recognize him from his days as No. 11 on the Horned Frogs football team.

Photo by Molly Beuerman/SKIFF STAFF

At age 23, Veale has it all figured out. He knows what he wants to do today and for the rest of his life: He wants to be an actor.

But this wasn’t always so. When he planned to leave his home in San Antonio after graduating from East Central High School, TCU was last on his list of choice schools.

“I never intended on coming to TCU,” Veale said. “It was between New Mexico and Texas Tech; schools with better football teams.”

According to Veale, it was God that changed his mind about TCU.

In the fall of 1998, he came to TCU on a full scholarship for football. He believed that playing for the NFL was far-fetched so he intended to major in broadcast journalism to become a sport broadcaster.

“Many guys continue playing to get into the NFL but this was never a goal for me,” Veale said. “I just planned to be involved with sports in other ways.”

But his mind would soon change about this as well.

To satisfy his curiosity, he took a theatre class his sophomore year .

“One of my friends was a theatre major and said that I should try taking a class,” Veale said. “The class was fun and I really enjoyed it.”

Others enjoyed his performances too.

George Brown, associate professor of theatre, watched his scenes in the class. He met with Veale and told him to try out for a part in his upcoming production of “Macbeth”.

Veale did and got the small part of Angus, a nobleman.

“My first impression of LaVar was that he had marvelous raw talent,” Brown said. “We had to work around his football schedule but when the opportunity arose to try out for ‘Macbeth’, I encouraged him to take it.”

Veale said being on stage was something that felt natural to him.

“After ‘Macbeth’, I changed my major to theatre,” Veale said. “Without question, I knew that acting was something I wanted to do for the rest of my life.”

However, Veale could only try out for plays during the spring semester, due to his football commitments. He couldn’t wait for his football career to be complete so he could audition for commercials and plays outside of school.

Veale’s priorities had changed. When he came to TCU all he could think about was football, but what he wanted now was to act.

Special to the Skiff

And he received support from the coaching staff, trainers, and teammates about his dedication to his acting.

“At times, I would have to leave practice early in order to make it to an audition,” Veale said. “The coaches understood about that stuff.”

Football head coach Gary Patterson said he remembers Veale’s determination for acting and how he never slacked in football.

“Acting was what his education was driven toward so I supported that,” Patterson said.

“He was strong in both places, on the field and on the stage.”

Veale said at first his teammates gave him a hard time about acting.

“They would associate theater with being gay and wearing makeup,” Veale said. “They didn’t understand how serious I was about acting until they came to see my plays.”

Veale has had the opportunity to expand his versatility as an actor by playing diverse characters in TCU plays. He played a rapist in the production “Extremities” and a king in William Shakespeare’s “Love’s Labor’s Lost.”

“I enjoy playing the mean, aggressive person or reciting Shakespeare,” Veale said. “I don’t want to be limited to one type of character.”

In fall 2000, Veale’s four years of playing football for the Horned Frogs ended. He was then able to pursue acting opportunities outside of school. In May 2000 he began to work with agent Suzanne Horn. A week after he started working with her, he was called for two auditions for commercials. Veale has acted in national commercials for the companies Radio Shack, ITT Technical Institute and DPI Teleconnect.

“I was very nervous for the first auditions,” Veale said. “Many times I had to audition in front of eight to nine people, which was something I wasn’t used to.”

While auditioning for the commercial advertising the doll G.I. Joe, the director rewrote the script specifically to include Veale.

“In the commercial, there was originally only supposed to be one soldier,” Veale said. “I didn’t get that part, but the director liked me so much that he rewrote the script to include two soldiers.”

Veale has also gained experience from performing at the Jubilee Theatre in downtown Fort Worth. Under the direction of associate theatre professor Be Boyd, Veale starred in “Hedy Understands Anxiety” at the theatre.

“From directing him in various productions, I noticed LaVar’s ability to take on the essence of a part with ease,” Boyd said.

Veale is currently playing the lead role Romeo in the production “Romeo” at the Jubilee Theatre. The production is a modernized version of Shakespeare’s “Romeo & Juliet” set 100 years ago in New Orleans. For this role, Veale was sought out by the director of the play, Rudy Eastman specifically to play the part of Romeo.

“The director watched a show I had done and asked me if I would be interested in playing the lead in ‘Romeo,’” Veale said. “He said that if I wanted the part it was mine and he would not audition anyone else for it.”

Veale is still active in TCU productions with two roles in the radio-TV-film department soap opera, “Almost Legal.” He is also reading over the script for the lead in “Blue Orange,” a student-directed play expected to debut in March under the direction of Jamie Castaneda, a senior theatre major.

“The part in ‘Blue Orange’ will be one of the hardest roles I have ever played,” Veale said. “But that is the main reason of why I like it.”

Veale graduates this May with a bachelor’s degree in fine arts in theatre/film. He plans to move to Los Angeles by June with his girlfriend Cindy Chiu who will graduate from TCU in May with a degree in business.

“We are going to (Los Angeles) during spring break,” Veale said. “We have to look for a place to live and other things like that.”

Veale’s ultimate life goal is to make a living doing what he loves.

“I don’t want to make millions of dollars, I just want to act in film or television and be good at it,” said Veale. “I hope to one day be as great as Denzel Washington, my role model.”

Antoinette Vega
a.c.vega@student.tcu.edu

credits

TCU Daily Skiff © 2002