Richard Thomas says it's a blessing that people still remember him for John-Boy | CBC Arts (2024)

Eva Zhu · CBC Arts

· Posted: Dec 18, 2023 12:00 PM EST | Last Updated: December 18, 2023

Richard Thomas is best known for playing John-Boy on the '70s drama series The Waltons. Now, the Emmy-winning actor is taking on literature's best known lawyer, Atticus Finch, in the touring production of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, adapted for the stage by Aaron Sorkin.

Thomas got his start in acting at age seven, making his Broadway debut in Sunrise at Campobello, a play about U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt's battle with polio. In an interview with Q's Tom Power, he says he was introduced to the world of theatre through dance.

"My parents were ballet dancers," Thomas tells Power. "I was raised backstage in the world of ballet. They danced for many companies, including Balanchine's, when I was little. And so the theatre was my world."

Thomas's first-grade teacher helped him secure his part in Sunrise at Campobello.

"My dad was dancing and doing some summer stock in upstate New York and they needed a kid for something," he recalls. "They asked me and I did it and I loved it. Then I went back to New York and they were casting for this play. And my first grade teacher happened to be a children's agent. So she said, 'Do you want to come in and audition for this?' I did and I got the part. That was the beginning of it."

WATCH | National tour preview for To Kill A Mockingbird:

'Goodnight, John-Boy'

Thomas has held countless roles in the six decades he's been on stage, on television and in films, but his portrayal of John-Boy on The Waltons is still the one people remember him for the most.

At curtain call for To Kill a Mockingbird, Thomas says people yell out "Goodnight John-Boy" to him all the time. While some actors might be bitter about being remembered for one particular role, Thomas says he's grateful.

"It's a wonderful thing. What greater blessing can an actor have than to have a job that, number one, is a rocket to a continuing career and also, to have a character that is so vivid in people's minds that they think he's real, that they think that's who you are."

Thomas says the whole point of performing is to have audiences believe in the character he's playing.

"We want when we get on stage and give a performance, or get in front of the camera, for people to believe in this character and to have this character have some real life for them. And that's exactly what happens when you have a success like that. It's a great thing for an actor to have."
To Kill a Mockingbird will be showing at the CAA Ed Mirvish Theatre in Toronto from May 28 to June 2 this spring.

The full interview with Richard Thomasis available onour podcast, Q with Tom Power. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

Interview withRichard Thomasproduced by Ben Edwards.