Sam Page ’98 on Hollywood

His regular Princeton attire? A baseball uniform.

Between baseball practice and a full course load, Page never took part in Princeton’s performing arts scene. But 12 years after graduation, Page has had recurring roles on “Mad Men” and “Desperate Housewives.” He even recently completed a stint as Serena van der Woodsen’s love interest on “Gossip Girl.”

At Princeton, Page concentrated in ecology and evolutionary biology, writing a senior thesis on the mating habits of mosquitofish, which was eventually published in the academic journal Current Biology.

Page talked to The Daily Princetonian about life at Princeton, getting started as an actor, and going from baseball and ecology and evolutionary biology to Hollywood.

Q: What are you currently working on?

A: I recently did “Castle,” “The Event,” and I also did an episode of “Lie to Me.”

Q: How did you find your way from mosquitofish to acting?

A: I knew I wanted to be an actor. Because I was playing baseball at the same time as taking a full course load, which doesn’t leave you any extracurricular time to do any kind of film study or performing arts work, I decided I’ll figure out something that interests me for the sake of knowledge and keep me focused on doing the work, and when I’m done, I’ll pursue acting.

Q: Why ecology and evolutionary biology?

A: I took professor James Gould’s animal behavior class [EEB 311] and found it fascinating. I ended up working with him on my thesis. Part of the reason I actually chose to work on mosquitofish was so I could work with him.

Q: Without exposure to performing arts in high school or at Princeton, how did you discover your love for acting?

A: It had to do with my passion for film from my parents. When I was growing up I was always watching movies with them, less kid movies than more grown-up fare. When I was playing soccer with my friends I would pretend I was a character from “Victory.”

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Q: Coming out of Princeton, how were you able to begin your career as an actor?

A: When I moved to Los Angeles, my first roommate was the older brother of a good friend of mine from Princeton who had graduated from the University of Southern California drama department. He and all of his friends were pursuing the same thing and were quite helpful as far as what to do trying to break ground as an actor — professional classes to take, how to go about getting headshots — until I started working with a manager and an agent.

Q: Is there anything you’ve learned at Princeton that you’ve carried with you into your career?

A: The most valuable thing I learned at Princeton was how to learn. I certainly knew I could learn the technical side of acting. And at Princeton, I never would have even come close to graduating without discipline. It does seem impossible to go out and pursue acting, but I was able to make that decision with full clarity with four years of Princeton under my belt.

Q: Are there any important experiences that you’ve carried with you from Princeton?

A: My freshman year I didn’t know what my major was going to be and I was lonely. My mom said, “If you’re unhappy, just come home, you can go to school in Wisconsin or Harvard,” where a lot of my family has gone. It wasn’t until she gave me the option that I decided I wasn’t going to leave. I knew if I left I would always think, “What if I stayed at Princeton?” So I decided I’ll work as hard as I have to, and if it doesn’t work it will only be because they march me out the front gates and lock them behind me.

Q: But you still left time to relax and go out?

A: Yeah, of course. That was more the reward. I was the treasurer of Cottage Club and lived there senior year. It was nice.

Q: Do people ever bring up your Princeton education in a professional context?

A: People ask me about it a lot. They say, “Wow, you went to Princeton and studied biology. How does that affect you here?” The snarky, easy answer is that Princeton was my greatest performance.

Q: In shows like “Mad Men” and “Gossip Girl” you’ve played well-educated, intelligent and confident characters. Have you ever based your characters on people you’ve met at Princeton or a Princeton stereotype?

A: Not really. The roles I’ve played have typically been focused on some sort of business acumen that I never really dealt with at school.

Q: Would you ever want to play a baseball player?

A: Oh God, that would be amazing! Technically, you’re playing baseball and you’re getting paid for it, so that would be almost like being professional. And there’s no pressure. If you mess up, you get to try again!

Q: Other than that, any dream roles?

A: I would love to do a Western and a period war film.

Q: What has been your experience working on major television shows?

A: They’re great. “Mad Men” is particularly fun to work on because you don’t run into the same kind of thing as on big network shows where there’s a small army of executives who are making all creative decisions. The creative vision of the show starts and ends with Matt Weiner, the show’s creator. He’s very specific about what he wants, and he’s extremely adept at conveying that, which I love, and he’ll watch you do the scenes in rehearsal until he says, “Yeah, do it just like that.” You don’t get that at many other places.

Q: How was filming “Gossip Girl” at Columbia? Did it remind you at all of Princeton?

A: Yeah, it was beautiful. All the incoming freshmen were coming to campus, and it was really nice seeing all the kids at the beginning of their academic careers. But as far as campus goes, nothing is as beautiful as Princeton.

Q: Any advice for students thinking about a career in Hollywood?

A: I really feel that actual trial-by-fire experience is really valuable, which in most cases — certainly in my case — could lead to some embarrassingly bad performances. But as long as you take an approach where you just want to learn as much as possible, you can quickly turn the experience into a valuable lesson.

Interview conducted, condensed and edited by staff writer Nava Friedman.