Jennifer Dundas: The Many Flavors of an Actor/Entrepreneur's Career

Sarah Paulson's favorite flavor of ice cream is strawberry. A very close second is Culture Real Frozen Yogurt, a more guilt-free indulgence. Lily Rabe loves strawberry, too. Chandler Williams is into chocolate—Fair Trade 70% Ghanaian Chocolate, to be exact. How do I know this? Well…

Last January I was fiddling around, engaging in the yearly ritual of sitting on my hiney awaiting the commencement of pilot season commonly referred to by my L.A. actor friends as “Lemming Season”, when I bumped into my friend Alexis at a party. That's where she hit me with it: “Jennie, I've had a revelation. It all began earlier this week when I couldn't find ice cream anywhere.” She'd already lost me. Why would she be looking for an ice cream cone in mid-January? Before I had a moment to ask, she continued feverishly, “I live in the most child-oriented part of New York City: Cobble Hill, Brooklyn. It's practically a Bugaboo convention every time I walk out of my apartment! How can there be no ice cream shop in my neighborhood?” I still wasn't sure where she was going. “We have to take matters into our own hands,” she said with utter confidence. “We have to open an ice cream shop.”

Thus was triggered the transition in my unpredictable life from actor to actor/entrepreneur. We set to work immediately, and in just a few months had secured financing, found real estate, and were beginning to develop the space. But it was an insane idea! I am an actress. I'm a working actress. By that, I mean, I work. I'm one of the lucky ones who actually has an income, and a career I am proud of and continue to look forward to. So why, when Alexis hit me with this pop out of left field, was I completely intrigued, energized and on board hook, line and sinker to veer my boat in a totally different direction?

The answer says a lot about the complexities of an actor's life. Although I do work a lot, the down times are a drag. Our challenge is to stay alive and stimulated when we're unemployed, to keep developing ourselves so we have something to bring to the table when we are working. Let's face it: There's only so much yoga you can do.

Another factor is that doing theater in New York is a lean business. While there are actors who make a living wage on Broadway, very few of us make enough money to survive on theater alone. We all do television, films and commercials when we can. But there's a point at which this hodge-podge feels like it isn't worth the effort. Most fulfilling to me is doing plays, but in order to stay on the boards, you've got to find a way to finance your own career. Look at a theater actor and you see a person who has financial resources. Whether it's a spouse, another family member or a part-time career in some secret field, we all have to have something that feeds our habit. What's feeding my habit now is…well…ice cream.

My most recent good fortune is getting to play Lenny in the Roundabout's revival of Crimes of the Heart, a production that began at the Williamstown Theatre Festival last August. Wouldn't you know, a week after I'd told my agent that I wouldn't be taking any acting jobs all summer due to opening the shop, he called me with the offer for this show. I was elated. While Alexis spent the summer in the city hustling with contractors, vendors and the NYC Department of Buildings, I spent six weeks in Williamstown with Kathleen Turner and our awesome cast investigating Beth Henley's brilliant Pulitzer Prize-winning dark comedy. Delving into the world of this quirky southern family during the day, I would return home to analyze sales projections, market research and architectural drawings. It was somewhat dizzying, but incredibly invigorating.

Now, doing the show in New York, my most pressing task is to conserve enough energy to live fully as Lenny eight shows a week. So far, it's been a manageable challenge. And my cast enjoys the perks. For the record, the favorite ice cream flavors of the cast of Crimes of the Heart are: Mint Chocolate Chip Jessica Cumming, Mango Sorbet Patch Darrah, Mora Sorbet Mycah Hogan, Brazilian Rainforest Coffee Kelly Mares, Culture Real Frozen Yogurt Sarah Paulson, Sweetart Strawberry Lily Rabe, Pistachio Almond Jessica Stone and Fair Trade Ghanaian Chocolate Chandler Williams. You can check out all the choices at www.bluemarbleicecream.com.

I guess the first thing I'll be asking folks on all my jobs from now on will be… “What's your favorite flavor?”