KINKY BOOTS' Stark Sands Talks Making the Leap to TV Star

Two-time Tony nominee Stark Sands starred on Broadway in AMERICAN IDIOT and KINKY BOOTS. In a new interview with Vanity Fair, the actor talks about making the leap from musical theater to a starring role on the new FOX drama MINORITY REPORT, from Stephen Spielberg.

"I'm at a stage in my career and my life where I am really up for anything. I love being able to walk the line of working in theater as well as film and television," explains Sands on his decision to make the move to TV. "I didn't want to do another musical right away because it's so demanding of your time and it really locks you down for as long as the show runs, really. As much as I loved it, I definitely left at the right time. I still loved doing it so it was such a bittersweet ending for me to leave the show. But it was definitely the right thing to do."

He continues, "The only real reservation I had was just asking my wife and my new young family to uproot and move somewhere for the purposes of work. But she's an angel and has always been very supportive. So here we are in Vancouver."

Asked about the biggest difference between live theater and television, the actor offers, "The immediate gratification of an audience, specifically with Kinky Boots. That show remains a massive hit. Of all the theater I've done I think that gets the most consistent response from the audience .Sometimes I would sing "Soul of a Man," which was my big 11 o'clock number, and I could see people in the audience crying with me at the end of that song. And it was just really visceral. So, that doesn't happen on the job now."

While he is enjoying the challenges of his current project, Sands admits he still misses the theater. "...since I left there have been four other companies that have started out across the world, of Kinky Boots, specifically," he says. "...and even though it makes me feel weird to know that so many more people will see the show without me in it, my fingerprints are still on it. Having been a part of it since the very beginning and building it up until the Broadway run, I see videos of kids in high school that are singing songs that I sang on the album. Hearing them do their versions of them and borrow my licks, that's a pretty special feeling."

Read the interview in full here

Sands recently starred on the big screen in INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS. Among his TV credits are NYC 22, GENERATION KILL, NIP/TUCK, HOPE & FAITH, LOST AT HOME and more. The actor last appeared on Broadway in Kinky Boots, for which he was nominated for a 2013 Tony Award. Among his other stage credits are AMERICAN IDIOT and JOURNEY'S END (which earned him another Tony nod).

Photo Credit: Walter McBride / WM Photos