If you’re a longtime local theatergoer, you’re familiar with Mike Sears.
Over the past 20 or so years, the actor-playwright has appeared onstage at virtually every theater, large and small, in San Diego County, often playing deep, introspective and serious roles.
Mike Sears headshot.
(Courtesy of Mike Sears)
Raised in South Dakota and trained in Montana and New York City, the award-winning actor reliably turns in a great performance, most recently as the aloof and cruel father in Moxie Theatre’s “Birds of North America” last spring.
But Sears is also is a veteran of film, television and commercials, and his latest work in the latter field has been drawing more attention than he’s used to from family and friends near and far.
Sears is one of five actors featured in the new United commercial titled “Screens (and Feels) Arriving at Every Seat,” which was created to promote seatback video screens on the airlines’ passenger planes. The commercial features several passengers breaking into tears over a film they’re all watching on their seatback screens.
Sears weeps so copiously over the film that he gets a comforting hand on the shoulder from a passing flight attendant. The film they’re all watching, it’s revealed at the end of the 30-second ad, is a tiny sea turtle hatchling making its way to the ocean for the first time. The commercial is airing regularly on television and it can be seen on United’s YouTube channel at youtube.com/@united.
The national ad began airing in September and in the months since, Sears said he’s been getting calls, emails and comments from people who have recognized him as the “crying guy” in the United Airlines ad. He’s quite happy with the gig, his first national commercial, which he hopes will lead to future parts (though perhaps featuring him doing more than just weeping).
“It’s great. Hopefully it will lead to more work,” he said. “I really enjoyed the experience and the people were great. All work is good, so we’ll see what happens. I enjoy making commercials and they’re very lucrative.”
Farah Dinga and Mike Sears in Moxie Theatre’s “Birds of North America.”
(Courtesy of Jennifer Thorn)
Sears said he’s filmed about a dozen, mostly regional commercials that have aired in the past on TV, YouTube and streaming platforms.
Sears has an American everyman quality that have made him a steady presence on local stages and TV screens. He co-starred in the 2021 web series “Sides” and has performed locally in nearly 25 theater productions. He has performed in four Old Globe productions including “Trouble in Mind” in 2022. He has performed in eight productions at the La Jolla Playhouse, including “Sideways,” “Hands on a Hardbody,” “His Girl Friday” and “Bonnie and Clyde.” and in 2015, he won a Craig Noel Award from the San Diego Theatre Critics Circle for his performance in Backyard Renaissance Theatre’s “Parlour Song.” He also worked in the past at Moxie, San Diego Rep, Diversionary, Cygnet, Compas, North Coast Rep, New Village Arts and Lamb’s Players theaters.
Sears is also a prolific playwright. His 2019 play “How High the Moon” at La Jolla Playhouse’s Without Walls festival was nominated for Craig Noel Award for best new play. And during the pandemic, Sears and his wife, director Lisa Berger, had another project in the Playhouse’s all-digital WOW fest, the video installation “Ancient.”
Sears said that he signed with a new agent about three years ago who has been helping him book bigger and even national gigs, including the United commercial. Late last summer, he and Berger were on a six-week vacation in South Dakota when his agent called him about auditioning for the commercial via video.
“He said ‘all they wanted to see for my audition was for me to tape myself crying. They wanted authentic crying. They said ‘give yourself something to watch or listen to that’s moving so you could cry,’” Sears said.
So with Berger’s help, he set up a makeshift studio in his mother’s basement in Rapid City, S.D., and he watched some videos on his phone that he knew would be guaranteed to make him cry authentically: videos of military soldiers reuniting with their dogs. A week later he was invited to a callback where he cried on cue for the casting directors, and the next day he was on a plane to Los Angeles to film the ad.
Sears said the commercial was filmed inside a real United passenger plane in a hangar at LAX airport with a cast and crew of about 100 people. Sears said that each of the five actors was invited into the plane one at a time to film their crying scene with little more than a camera on a dolly peeking down from the top of the seats in front of them.
Each actor was allowed to choose the music or video for their crying scene. Sears said he chose some music that always triggers him to get in touch with his emotions. The filming was kept short, under 10 minutes, in order to ensure the honesty of his tears.
“I’m able to access an emotional life and I have a technique to do that,” he said.
After flying back to South Dakota, Sears said he didn’t hear anything about the ad until he got a call from his brother-in-law, who saw the commercial during a football game broadcast in September. Since then he’s heard from several people who’ve seen the ad, including a buddy he want to college with 30 years ago and even his own therapist.
If you’re looking for other ways to see Sears perform, he said he’s been cast in an as-yet unannounced show at the Old Globe in 2024 and he’s in callbacks for another play next year at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts Theatre.