WCU ALUM GENO SEGERS FINDS ‘PERFECT HARMONY’ IN NEW ROLE
- By topman
- Nov 11, 2019
By Denise Gideon
Former Western Carolina football All-American Geno Segers, who played from 1985-88, approaches his acting career just like he did when he was on the football field. Opportunities in his career have a kickoff, a half-time and a result.
On Thursday, Sept. 26, 2019, Segers is waiting out a proverbial halftime as he eagerly anticipates the premiere of his first network television show. He is playing the role of Dwayne in the NBC musical comedy ‘Perfect Harmony’ set for 8:30 p.m. EST.
“We are on hiatus right now, so I really see this as halftime,” said Segers. “After the episode premieres that is when we find out how the ‘game’ will go.”
“Perfect Harmony” stars Bradley Whitford who is best known for his role in “The West Wing”. Whitford plays a former Princeton music professor who stumbles into a choir practice in a small southern church. He takes over as choir director for the group of singers described “as out of tune in more ways than one.”
No stranger to musical roles, Segers will draw from his time on the stage playing the role of Mufasa in the touring production of Disney’s musical “The Lion King.”
Segers describes his character Dwayne as a quiet, mild-mannered, reserved goat farmer who is also lovestruck for his best friend’s almost ex-wife. He admits he is pulling from his experiences interacting with people from his youth growing up and living in the North Carolina and South Carolina area. He used a lot of people to build Dwayne as a character who he says is “one big ball of Southernism.”
“I am really just happy to be playing a character that doesn’t get his face mutilated,” Segers admitted referencing previous roles like on “Banshee” on Cinemax. “I was just honored to be awarded the role of Dwayne; and if you tune into ‘Perfect Harmony’, I think you will be surprised to hear what they have Dwayne perform.”
Segers relied heavily on Adam Anders, who worked on Glee, one of the most in-demand executive producers for music-driven film and television.
“I was pleasantly shocked at what Adam Anders and the music department here at ‘Perfect Harmony’ got out of me and I didn’t know existed,” Segers said. “Adam Anders is probably the most sought-after television music producer in Hollywood and his accolades are ridiculous.”
Segers may be playing the loveable and affable Dwayne, but when he auditioned, he was sure he was up for a much different role. After receiving the breakdown and script and sides from his agent, he had every intention to show his versatility and most likely win the role of the sheriff in the town.
“Right at the top of the breakdown for the character of Dwayne it says ‘goat farmer’,” Segers said. “Now, I didn’t really see myself as a goat farmer. But the show took place in the South and so I figured that I would go in and win the casting over. I would show them I am pliable and that I am able to do whatever is needed to be convincing, show them my chops and that I would eventually get the job as the sheriff in the show. I had no intentions of convincing them I was the goat farmer.”
However, casting for the show had other ideas and saw something in Segers. They noticed when he read an excerpt of the script for the goat farmer, Dwayne, he was committed to it.
“I go in trying to win the job as the sheriff of the town and 
wind up the goat farmer,” Segers explained. “They started changing the goat farmer to fit who I am and a mixture of myself and their ideal of Dwayne was born.
Segers has been making his way around Hollywood since he landed his first role in 2009 on an episode of the former USA series “White Collar” starring Matt Boomer. He went on to star in the Disney Channel original series “Pair of Kings”.
One of the more unique roles as of late was Segers appearance in the fan film “Uncharted,” based on the widely popular third-person shooter video game for PlayStation featuring the lead character Nathan Drake. Appearing online in 2018, and directed by Allan Unger, Segers played the role of Diego opposite Canadian actor Nathan Fillion, best known for the role Richard Castle on the ABC show “Castle”. The short film went on to accumulate over four million views online.
“When Allen Unger came to me and ask me if I would be interested in doing it, I didn’t know what ‘Uncharted’ was,” Segers admits. “This thing got over four million views in about two days and I had never experienced that level of fever over a project I have been involved in.”
Segers as of late has also been offering his own brand of wisdom with his Twitter and Instagram posts called Words of Wisdom on Wednesday or #WOWOW. Check out this week’s here:
To learn more about the show Perfect Harmony check out the show’s Twitter at @PerfectHarmony, on Facebook at facebook.com/NBCPerfectHarmony and on Instagram at @NBCPerfectHarmony.
The full interview with Segers will air at halftime of Saturday’s Catamount Sports Network broadcast at Chattanooga. LISTEN LIVE
- By topman
- Nov 11, 2019
By Denise Gideon
Former Western Carolina football All-American Geno Segers, who played from 1985-88, approaches his acting career just like he did when he was on the football field. Opportunities in his career have a kickoff, a half-time and a result.
On Thursday, Sept. 26, 2019, Segers is waiting out a proverbial halftime as he eagerly anticipates the premiere of his first network television show. He is playing the role of Dwayne in the NBC musical comedy ‘Perfect Harmony’ set for 8:30 p.m. EST.
“We are on hiatus right now, so I really see this as halftime,” said Segers. “After the episode premieres that is when we find out how the ‘game’ will go.”
“Perfect Harmony” stars Bradley Whitford who is best known for his role in “The West Wing”. Whitford plays a former Princeton music professor who stumbles into a choir practice in a small southern church. He takes over as choir director for the group of singers described “as out of tune in more ways than one.”
No stranger to musical roles, Segers will draw from his time on the stage playing the role of Mufasa in the touring production of Disney’s musical “The Lion King.”
Segers describes his character Dwayne as a quiet, mild-mannered, reserved goat farmer who is also lovestruck for his best friend’s almost ex-wife. He admits he is pulling from his experiences interacting with people from his youth growing up and living in the North Carolina and South Carolina area. He used a lot of people to build Dwayne as a character who he says is “one big ball of Southernism.”
“I am really just happy to be playing a character that doesn’t get his face mutilated,” Segers admitted referencing previous roles like on “Banshee” on Cinemax. “I was just honored to be awarded the role of Dwayne; and if you tune into ‘Perfect Harmony’, I think you will be surprised to hear what they have Dwayne perform.”
Segers relied heavily on Adam Anders, who worked on Glee, one of the most in-demand executive producers for music-driven film and television.
“I was pleasantly shocked at what Adam Anders and the music department here at ‘Perfect Harmony’ got out of me and I didn’t know existed,” Segers said. “Adam Anders is probably the most sought-after television music producer in Hollywood and his accolades are ridiculous.”
Segers may be playing the loveable and affable Dwayne, but when he auditioned, he was sure he was up for a much different role. After receiving the breakdown and script and sides from his agent, he had every intention to show his versatility and most likely win the role of the sheriff in the town.
“Right at the top of the breakdown for the character of Dwayne it says ‘goat farmer’,” Segers said. “Now, I didn’t really see myself as a goat farmer. But the show took place in the South and so I figured that I would go in and win the casting over. I would show them I am pliable and that I am able to do whatever is needed to be convincing, show them my chops and that I would eventually get the job as the sheriff in the show. I had no intentions of convincing them I was the goat farmer.”
However, casting for the show had other ideas and saw something in Segers. They noticed when he read an excerpt of the script for the goat farmer, Dwayne, he was committed to it.
“I go in trying to win the job as the sheriff of the town and wind up the goat farmer,” Segers explained. “They started changing the goat farmer to fit who I am and a mixture of myself and their ideal of Dwayne was born.
Segers has been making his way around Hollywood since he landed his first role in 2009 on an episode of the former USA series “White Collar” starring Matt Boomer. He went on to star in the Disney Channel original series “Pair of Kings”.
One of the more unique roles as of late was Segers appearance in the fan film “Uncharted,” based on the widely popular third-person shooter video game for PlayStation featuring the lead character Nathan Drake. Appearing online in 2018, and directed by Allan Unger, Segers played the role of Diego opposite Canadian actor Nathan Fillion, best known for the role Richard Castle on the ABC show “Castle”. The short film went on to accumulate over four million views online.
“When Allen Unger came to me and ask me if I would be interested in doing it, I didn’t know what ‘Uncharted’ was,” Segers admits. “This thing got over four million views in about two days and I had never experienced that level of fever over a project I have been involved in.”
Segers as of late has also been offering his own brand of wisdom with his Twitter and Instagram posts called Words of Wisdom on Wednesday or #WOWOW. Check out this week’s here:
The full interview with Segers will air at halftime of Saturday’s Catamount Sports Network broadcast at Chattanooga. LISTEN LIVE