Fords in Four: Pearce Bunting '77
1. What doesn’t our community know about you?
"I have Haverford School to thank for my acting career! My parents sent me to Haverford when I was in seventh grade and I didn’t want to go. I felt out of place and stymied by private school and its rigid conventions (coat and tie??? No girls???) and I couldn’t relate to the studious guys or the jocks or the art department or the wood shop or the maroon and gold tie around my neck. But I auditioned for the seventh-grade play, got in, and found my people - the place where I belonged. Things got better after that."
2. Note a memorable Haverford School experience.
"In that same seventh-grade play, "Tiger At The Gates" by Jean Giraudoux, there was a row of 20-foot tall columns lining the back of the stage, made out of tin. Jonathan Hart was playing Hector and delivering a long speech to the audience downstage center one night, and one of the columns started wobbling … and wobbling … and finally fell over straight toward him. He didn’t have any idea but the audience screamed as it came crashing down, just short of squashing him. I always thought that he must have felt that he really killed that speech that night, until he turned around. Now THAT’S theatre!"
3. What inspires you?
"Good work. Courageous undertakings. Underdogs. Children. Truly kind people. Empathy. Wit. Laughter. Patience. (I’m really impatient, but patience inspires me.)"
4. What is the secret to finding success as an actor?
"What everyone tells you (and what I‘ve finally realized for myself) is that you’re successful if you’re doing what you love. If you’re inspired by what you do and your good work gets you more work and you get to keep doing it and your work gets better, and if you keep your mind open and keep saying 'YES' in your soul and try to be fearless, then you’re successful. And you’ll find yourself doing things you never dreamed of doing. It ain’t always about the money - at least that’s what I keep telling myself … "