Luck and persistence
Growing up in Mount Vernon, Iowa, Jefferson White ('12 performing arts) was well aware of the significance that the movie “Field of Dreams” has to the state. What he didn’t know was that, years later, he would be acting alongside that film’s leading man and one of the biggest stars in Hollywood.
White has appeared in many hit television shows, including “The Americans,” “How to Get Away with Murder,” “Blindspot,” “House of Cards,” and “The Twilight Zone” reboot; but it’s on the modern western “Yellowstone” where he has found the most success. White is in his third season playing Jimmy Hurdstrom – a professional thief turned ranch hand – alongside Kevin Costner.
“Kevin is just a sort of invincible, indomitable, creative spirit who is a real inspiration both as an actor – he's a brilliant actor – but also as a person,” White says. “He knows I'm from Iowa, he loves ‘Field of Dreams,’ and he loves Iowa and has a relationship with it because of that movie.”
Jefferson White plays the role of Jimmy Hurdstrom (center) on the Paramount Network show “Yellowstone” (photo courtesy: Paramount Network)
After graduating in 2012, White was accepted into an apprenticeship program in Kentucky at the Actors Theatre of Louisville. With the tools he picked up there, White moved to New York and immediately started auditioning for roles.
“This business is a lot about being in the right place at the right time,” White explains. “The second show I ever did, they were casting in New York, Los Angeles, and London, and they were looking for a naïve, young soldier from Iowa.”
That was the Emmy award-winning show “Manhattan,” in which White appeared in nine episodes. “It sounds silly to say – but it's really about luck and persistence,” he says.
White gets back to Iowa to visit his parents at least twice a year. But it’s in his Brooklyn apartment in New York City where he’s been social distancing due to the spread of COVID-19.
“I was working on a movie when things started getting serious with the Coronavirus, and that movie has been postponed as a result,” White explains. “Film sets or TV sets are their own bustling micro-economies, with tons of people involved. So when they shut down, it affects hundreds of people's livelihoods.”
To pass the time, White has been journaling daily, going for jogs with a friend, and watching a lot of TV and movies with his three roommates.
“I think that – even as bleak as it is right now and even though it may seem like acting or theatre are the least important thing in the world – I think, at the end of the day, we all need stories to bring us together.”
White can be found in the third season of “Yellowstone,” premiering June 17 on the Paramount Network. He is also in the upcoming film “No Future,” which debuts at the Tribeca Film Festival in April. Or you can see some of the recent projects he’s working on now through his film production company “Means of Productions.” But no matter where the acting life leads him, White traces his journey back to the campus of ISU.
“Iowa State taught me how to act,” White says. “It gave me the tools to learn and also just made me fall in love with acting, with theatre, with community, and with collaboration.”
Story published: March 2020