Star Interviews - Tom Vaughan

Those who have followed me for some time know that I am all about sliding doors, serendipity, and the eternal possibility of the now. Nothing brought that home to me more than the unlikely opportunity I had to interview an old college friend.

Twenty-five years ago, I was a student at University of Houston and working with a fiery young playwright in the Edward Albee Playwright's Festival. He was smart, funny, pretty sure of himself, as I remember, and on his way to what I was sure was a successful writing career.

Fast forward and while both of us have been in different cities pursuing our respective careers, we have found ourselves back where we started. Yet each standing in very different places. You guys know my story, actress turned mommy turned writer/occasional actress. You don't know Tom, though.

Or maybe you do.

He has worked on quite a few Hollywood projects (IMDB) as a work-a-day screenwriter but topped the board with last year's Winchester starring Helen Mirren (yes, that Helen Mirren) and Sarah Snook (Succession). Over all these years, he has kept typing and kept working, mostly in the L.A. area.

Until life happened.

Oh, how I know that plot twist, all too well. Sadly, Tom lost his father and chose to move back home to help his mother who was coping with life without her partner of 45 years. If you are feeling the lump in your throat, it's okay. I am, too.

Now, Tom had always dreamed of teaching at our alma mater. And yes, you guessed it. By moving home, he was available when that window opened. Before I wax too rhapsodically on the proverbial closed door-open window paradigm, I have to add another element. One of my best friends in college was a beautiful actress named Jeanne, and the two of them had one date in 1993. Now if you can't figure out where this is going, you wouldn't know meet-cute if it spilled coffee on you as you walked out the door to the life changing meeting ... yeah, yeah, yeah. You get it. And he got the girl.

So why have I shared his unofficial bio? I know you could have googled and found all you really needed to know on IMDB or Wikipedia without all the excessive metaphors.

That brings us back to my serendipitous interview moment. Tom will be at Scary Dad's Haunted Halloween Show hosting a panel on Sunday. As I was invited to cover the event, I received the press release with his name and here we are.

So if you'd like to meet this great guy who went to LA and back again to find his 2nd act, head to the Crowne Plaza Hotel Houston Galleria this weekend. In the mean, pop in "Winchester" or download it (legally, please) and you'll see the talent I saw a quarter century ago.