Colin Donnell on Stripping Down for Broadway’s The Shark Is Broken: ‘The Gym Was My Friend’ (Exclusive)

Colin Donnell never thought he would appear on Broadway in just Speed.

The Chicago Med student and theater veteran is currently treading the boards again The shark is brokena comedy show that dramatizes the behind-the-scenes shenanigans that took place when the cameras stopped rolling between shots of Steven Spielberg’s classic 1975 blockbuster, Jaws. But when he first read the script before auditioning to play the late Roy Schneider — one of the three Jaws stars, along with Richard Dreyfuss and Robert Shaw, who are the focus of the show — was surprised to learn that he might have to show a little more of himself.

“I certainly didn’t think my first play would require this,” he recalls to PEOPLE. “But there’s a scene where Roy strips down to his Speedo and starts tanning while filming is on hold, and when I saw that added, I thought, ‘Oh… maybe it’s time to really get into the gym.'”

Turn it on Donnell. Fans who follow Arrow the Instagram star saw the transformation unfold in real time, in a series of workout videos he shared. “I’ve been focusing on getting in shape for a while, but nothing motivates you more than being exposed to an audience like that,” he jokes. – After that, I definitely kicked things into high gear.

Colin Donnell. Colin Donnell/instagram Colin Donnell shares photo of his impressive ‘#DadBod’, says he’s in ‘best shape of my life at 40’

The high speed meant stepping up his exercise routine. “I didn’t go the Ozempic route, but that would certainly have been a little easier,” he laughs. “But no, the gym was my friend. I worked out a lot. And I like to work out so I just tried to have fun with him – hiking, walking, swinging kettlebells around, stuff like that.”

Changing his diet was also key to his success. “There’s that old saying that abs are made in the kitchen, and it’s a shame they’re right,” he says. “It really came down to diet. I don’t have a secret sauce to it; I used an app called Macro Factor, which helped me track my diet. And then I stayed focused on that and really built a routine. This is the first time I’ve I’ve been back doing theater since I had kids and now I live an hour out of town, so in order to do this and still do all the things I needed to do every day, I had to make a schedule and really stick to it. And turns out I really like having a schedule.”

“Fortunately, my wife [Patti Murin] he supported me so; I would be completely remiss if I didn’t shout her from the rooftops,” he adds. “The fact that she was able to hold back and give me the space to do what I needed to do and focus on work. it was simply amazing. So I have to give credit where it’s due because her help was everything.”

It also helped that Donnell’s body could fit into an aesthetic that matched Schneider’s at the time he made it Jaws. “Men in the 1970s were slimmer,” he says. “Roy was definitely a long, tall, skinny glass of water. And even though I’m not a naturally thin guy, when my body started to transform and I suddenly got abs, I was like, ‘Oh…I love this! This is turning me on!’ ”

Body switching wasn’t the only way Donnell transformed into Schneider for the show, though he did explore Jaws, surprisingly, was not one of them. “It’s not about me playing Roy – or even Richard or Ian Jaws” says Donnell. “We’re actors playing the actors who played the characters in the movie. So we’re trying to play people, not roles.”

To do this, Donnell looked again Jawssure, but he primarily focused on old interviews with Schneider that were shared on YouTube.

Colin Donnell at the premiere of ‘The Shark Is Broken’.

Lev Radin/VIEWpress/Getty

“Fortunately, Roy was so famous at one time that there’s a wealth of information to draw from,” he tells PEOPLE. “There was one particular interview, it wasn’t from the 1970s, it was from an appearance that Roy did on The Graham Norton Show in the nineties of the last century. And I just kept going back to it and studying his mannerisms. There was a certain way he sat and tended to sit in all interviews. He was a very upright, cross-legged man in complete control of his body. He spoke a certain way, laughed a certain way, gestured a certain way. It just perfectly described who I felt he was.”

Richard Dreyfuss visits Broadway’s Jaws-Thematic game The shark is broken48 years after acting in the film

“I mean, he was such a confident person,” Donnell continues. “Even that Speedo scene, that was him. He had no problem ripping off his clothes and sitting on the deck, soaking up the sun. There’s a director friend of mine who sent me a picture of Roy’s beach house somewhere on Long Island, and he told me this story . He said: ‘I never passed that house without seeing Roy dressed in black or completely shirtless, standing on the balcony, staring out at the sea with a cigarette dangling from his mouth and soaking it all in.’ And I said, “That’s perfect. That’s who this guy is.’ Roy always just watched and watched and did his thing.”

The shark is broken began performances at the John Golden Theater in New York on July 25 before opening on August 10. Before Broadway, the comedy — directed by Guy Masterson — had acclaimed runs at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and London’s West End.

Tony nominee Alex Brightman, who portrays Dreyfuss, stars opposite Donnell in the play. Ian Shaw, who is making his Broadway debut with the project and plays his father in the play, co-wrote the play with Joseph Nixon. The actor-playwright, now 53, was only 8 when his father died aged 51 in 1978, but created the play with the help of his dad’s diary, which chronicled the English actor’s lifelong struggle with alcoholism and his agonizing attempts to stop drinking

‘Jaws’ star’s son Robert Shaw on ‘Firing’ to play his dad in ‘The Shark Is Broken’ (Exclusive)

The action takes place on the set of the Orca, a fictitious ship on which three actors are waiting Jaws‘ famous mechanical sharks that need to be fixed in order to shoot. And while loyal fans will walk away with a deeper understanding of their treasured film, there’s plenty for those who may not be as familiar with the film.

Alex Brightman, Ian Shaw, Colin Donnell in ‘The Shark Is Broken’.

Matthew Murphy

“We have people at the stage door who have seen the movie hundreds of times, as well as people who don’t know it. And the thing about this show is that it offers all the behind-the-scenes mishegos that went into making this movie that has miraculously survived almost 50 years , so it works on all levels,” says Donnell.

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“I’m going to miss it,” he adds, playing the play. “From the moment I read it, I was really struck by how funny and surprisingly touching it was. Ian made this beautiful tribute to his father and it makes the piece more about what it seems on the surface. And doing it with Alex and Ian was a dream . Obviously I’ve done a lot of musicals, but I couldn’t have asked for a better experience for my first place.”

“Maybe next time, I’ll keep more clothes on.”

The shark is broken now plays until sunday. Click here for tickets.

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Source: HIS Education