Being naked on stage is a scary thing.
“I was terrified,” Jesse Williams told Page Six exclusively, about stripping naked in her Broadway debut, “Take Me Out,” “but then I realized I had asked God to do it. I asked for surprise. I asked for Doing something scary and challenging that I deserve, makes me feel energized and uncomfortable.”
Williams, 41, announced in May 2021 that he would be retiring after 12 seasons on “Grey’s Anatomy.” Jackson Avery leaves. He now plays Darren Lemming, a recently out gay baseball player in the show’s 2002 revival.
Jessie Williams
The actor – who had nothing to sneeze on below when he saw the “Take Me Out” performance on Page Six – also admitted he was “a little nervous” about his stage debut, even though he was using it to play own advantage.
Enlarge Image Patrick J. Adams, Jesse Williams and Jesse Tyler Ferguson at the opening night of “Take Me Out” on Broadway.
Williams plays a gay baseball player in “Take Me Out.”
“Honestly, I just get that excited. I’m not going to let it go. I know it’s going to be alright I just have to believe that and lean forward,” he said. “Even so, I’m very humble about the whole thing. I have no business here. I’ve never done this before.
“I’ve never done a three-act play in my life. I just respect and appreciate the opportunity to try something at this level. It’s wild for me.”
Before becoming an actor, Williams taught high school for six years in the Philadelphia public school system. He is now using his teacher tools on stage.
“They are very similar,” he explained. “You have to get the attention of a bunch of people who don’t necessarily want to be there and keep them engaged and motivated. [It’s a] very similar ability.”
