Reel World

GAMBIER, Ohio (January 21, 2004) Josh Radnor, Class of 1996, knew that he'd found his calling the first time he stepped on stage. "I thought, Oh my God, I think I need to do this," he says. "It felt inevitable."

Radnor will share how his career has evolved since that first taste of the stage when he visits Kenyon on Friday, January 23. The Department of Dance and Drama will host a talk by Radnor entitled "What Have I Done? Acting in the Real World." The talk begins at 4:00 p.m. in the Hill Theater.

Radnor's career does seem to have followed a rising arc of inevitability. High-school musicals in his hometown of Columbus, Ohio, led to a drama major at Kenyon, where he won the prestigious Paul Newman Trophy for the best performance by a male actor. He went on to earn an M.F.A. in acting from the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University.

His "big break" came early in 2002, when he was cast as Dylan Hirsch in the television series The Court, starring Sally Field. The series failed, but the connection with Field proved fateful when Radnor auditioned (three times) to temporarily replace Jason Biggs as Benjamin Braddock in the Broadway production of The Graduate. In the end, he believes, he won the starring role because of Field's recommendation to show's leading lady, Kathleen Turner.

Radnors credits also include a part as a tour guide in Not Another Teen Movie and guest appearances on ER and Six Feet Under. This spring he will star in a new television comedy on NBC, directed and produced by Rob Reiner.