Learning curve

Actor/comedian Nate Corddry honed his craft as an apprentice at Williamstown Theatre Festival. Now he's back, and a rising star.

''There are so many memories in every corner of this campus,'' Nate Corddry says of Williamstown. (Caleb Kenna for the Boston Globe)

WILLIAMSTOWN - During the four summers he spent toiling in the actor-training programs at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, Nate Corddry received an intimate lesson in paying his dues. As an apprentice, he spent countless late nights hanging lights from the grid. He worked with actors to read lines. He made long drives to the airport in Albany to pick up talent. He helped build sets and create costumes. He worked on the set-up crews for the main-stage shows.

Despite the grueling schedule and bleary-eyed nights, Corddry did it hoping that one day his hard work and dedication would be rewarded, as it was for such famous names as Christopher Reeve, Sigourney Weaver, and Gwyneth Paltrow, who all got their start in theater at Williamstown.

That day appears to have arrived for the 30-year-old Weymouth native. Not only does Corddry boast a TV and film career that's just starting to heat up, but he's back at Williamstown this season, in the world premiere of Ellen Melaver's play "Not Waving."

"To come back as an Equity actor and have an apprentice to run lines with, I just appreciate everything so much more," says Corddry during a recent interview at Williamstown's theater complex. "I have such regard for that path because I hit every step on the way up."

After a stint as a correspondent on "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart" and a co-starring role as Benjamin Braddock in a national tour of "The Graduate" with Morgan Fairchild, Corddry landed his breakthrough gig: a starring role in Aaron Sorkin's much-hyped NBC series "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" in 2006. Despite its cancellation last year after just one season, the show put Corddry on the radar. In the coming year, he will be seen in the "Band of Brothers"-style HBO miniseries "The Pacific" and the films "Shelter" with Julianne Moore and Ricky Gervais's directorial debut, "This Side of the Truth."

"There's a hundred doors to open in the film world," says Corddry, who is affable and quick-witted, with a touch of New England acerbity. "I'm just now getting to the point where I can start cracking it a little bit and take advantage of any heat that I've generated from other projects."

Still, Corddry hasn't forgotten the place where he first honed his acting chops in such plays as "Philadelphia, Here I Come!" and Eric Bogosian's "Red Angel," which earned him his Equity card. Last season, he returned to Williamstown to play F. Scott Fitzgerald in the world premiere of "Villa America."

In "Not Waving," whose title was inspired by the famed Stevie Smith poem "Not Waving but Drowning," Corddry plays Matt, one of six people who've come to a sun-drenched beach to relax and renew themselves in the sand and surf. Instead they're reminded of a man who drowned at the beach the summer before as each of the three couples - mother and son, boyfriend and girlfriend, husband and wife - confront their most deep-seated fears. Corddry's character is a funny, slightly neurotic, good-natured guy, but inside he's grappling with the two recent miscarriages of his wife.

"They're joking around and are very comfortable with each other. Then all of the sudden the rug gets pulled out from under them," Corddry says. "To see two people just get everything stripped away and be really human and have to take care of themselves. . . . It's really about how two people who love each other process loss."

Melaver, the playwright, praises Corddry's approach to the part. "Matt is a character who is sort of neurotic and funny, but then on a dime is kind of heartbreaking," she says. "Nate has all of that. And he brings a real simplicity and honesty to it."

The play's director, Carolyn Cantor, has known Corddry since their formative years at Williamstown, when she was a directing intern and he was an acting apprentice. She singles out the depth of feeling Corddry brings to his character's journey. "That's been something of a revelation in the play," she says. "Although it doesn't surprise me that Nate would go there."

Corddry says the play spoke to him because, at its core, it's a family drama: "I love plays about fathers and sons, husbands and wives, boyfriends and girlfriends - and how they deal with the challenges of life and the dynamics of family. That's something that everyone in the audience can relate to. We all have families. We all come from somewhere."

Corddy's own family connections helped him land his first toehold in TV. After graduating from Colby-Sawyer College in New Hampshire in 2000, the Weymouth High School alum packed his bags and moved to New York.

His first break in TV came in 2005. Big brother Rob Corddry, a regular correspondent for "The Daily Show," urged him to audition for the Zeitgeist-defining satirical news show when it began looking for new contributors after Stephen Colbert and Steve Carell left. He even put in a good word for Nate with one of the producers. Nate Corddry ended up doing about a dozen dispatches for "The Daily Show," including an outrageous "Brother vs. Brother" debate segment that devolved into a childish sparring match between him and his older sibling.

The experience of doing live comedy on "The Daily Show," Corddry attests, was great preparation for "Studio 60," which centered on the inner workings of a sketch comedy show inspired by "Saturday Night Live." Penned by "West Wing" creator Aaron Sorkin and featuring a starry ensemble that included Matthew Perry, Bradley Whitford, and Amanda Peet, the series was suffused with the revered TV savant's trademark hyper-articulate dialogue, crackling repartee, and speed-demon pacing. Corddry made an impression as the geeky, wisecracking Tom Jeter, one of the "big three" cast members on the show-within-a-show.

"Every time the scripts arrived at my apartment, it was like opening up a present on Christmas morning," Corddry says. Sorkin "had a lot of mouths to feed on that show. But I really lucked out and got some great storylines. . . . You just sing the words and get the hell out of his way."

Corddry acknowledges that adjusting to the hyperkinetic tempo of "Studio 60" was a challenge at first.

"I was doing one of my first walk-and-talks with Matthew, and Timothy Busfield was directing," Corddry recalls. "I said, 'I think we're going too fast, man.' And he was like, 'No, no, no. That's what you want. You want the audience on the edge of their seats, to feel like they need to get closer to the TV to catch every word.' "

Despite some early raves for "Studio 60," the inevitable backlash took hold, with the blogosphere attacking the show's inflated treatment of the entertainment industry compared to the global high stakes featured on "West Wing." Before long, the ratings began to sink.

"The hype was insane. I thought, 'We're going to be on the air for five years, and I'm going to have a house made out of gold,' " Corddry says. "Everyone kept on saying, 'There's no such thing as a sure thing' and 'Don't count your eggs before they've hatched.' Then the roller coaster came to an end."

The series, however, served as a springboard for Corddry's career, as it was watched by all the power players in Hollywood. "If I'm in an airport in Sheboygan, no one's gonna know who I am. But if I'm in a coffee shop in LA, people will be more prone to recognize me. It's helped me to open doors," he says. "TV [offers are] starting to come faster now. And I'm having a little bit of power to say, 'No,' which is great, because that's kind of the only power you have as an actor."

Amid it all, Corddry is thrilled to be back in one of the places he feels most at home as an actor. "There are so many memories in every corner of this campus," he says. "I just love coming back. If I could return here every summer, I would."