Walking in the Studio Theater, you hear many laughs and can witness many fun times in action, but this year Jeff Watson, lead actor in MHCC’s production of “Henry V”, is working hard, just as hard as he is playing.

Watson heard about the part of Henry in September, his first term here at MHCC after moving from Salem, and was encouraged to try out. General auditions were held and Watson was cast as Henry by Rick Zimmer, head of Theater Department, in January.
“He had quality stage presence, and a good strong stage voice,” Zimmer said.

After being cast for the role, Watson hit the books doing research on Henry and started the groundwork for his part. This is something that provides Watson’s role with depth and understanding, Zimmer said.

“I read books, researched English dialect, researched roles and relationships between roles and the history after the play,” said Watson.

The hard work has paid off for Watson. Zimmer said, “I think he’s doing fantastic. He has so many lines and he was so confident off-book.”

Watson, who has been acting since seventh grade, was drawn into it because of how much fun it is and because of the attention. “Actor’s have egos, I’ll be honest,” Watson said.

He hopes to gain his transfer degree at MHCC and possibly transfer to Western Oregon University for a master of fine arts degree.