Arts & Entertainment

Warminster Parents Watch Son's Star Shine 'Under the Dome'

William Tennent grad Mike Vogel stars in the popular summer series 'Under the Dome' on CBS.

When Jim Vogel's son, Mike, told him he wanted to quit school and go into acting, Jim responded the same way most parents probably would after hearing such a bold statement.

"I thought he was nuts," said Jim. "How many people try to become an actor and don't succeed?"

Luckily, a longtime member of Jim's staff at the plumbing business he owns convinced him to support Mike's dream and let him know that he would have a job if things did not work out.

Fifteen years later, with his fair share of starring roles in big budget movies and currently headlining television's most popular new show of the summer, it's safe to say things have worked out just fine for Mike Vogel.

Mike plays the lead role of Dale 'Barbie' Barbara on CBS' adaptation of Under the Dome, Stephen King's novel about a small New England town that becomes trapped under a clear, mysterious dome. The show premiered in June to more than 13 million viewers and consistently attracted more than 10 million viewers each following week, including the most recent episode that was blacked out by Time Warner in New York and Los Angeles because of its ongoing contract dispute with CBS.

The 34-year-old Tennent grad also played a recurring role in A&E's much buzzed-about Psycho prequel series Bates Motel. It's been quite a change from last year, when ABC canceled PanAm after falling ratings.

"It's very cool to be connected to two successful projects in six months," said Jim. "We had high hopes for 'PanAm,' but ABC never really supported it. They stuck it on 10 p.m. Sunday nights and would not move it."

Shooting on the final episode of Under the Dome's first season wrapped a couple weeks ago. After a weekend of recuperating with his wife and three kids at their new home in Franklin, Tenn., Mike was back in Los Angeles auditioning.

"My wife was down there helping them get settled with the new house," said Jim. "I don't get to see them as much as I'd like. They moved a little bit closer, so I hope to make a few more visits."

Jim and his wife, Kathy, moved the family to Warminster from Willow Grove when Mike was six years old. Jim says Mike was an animated kid, but didn't show a lot of interest in acting or performing.

"He was definitely more of an athlete," said Jim. "He wrestled and played baseball for Log College and William Tennent. He also had an interest in airplanes and flying. We used to go to all the air shows at the Willow Grove base. He could tell what every plane was just by their look and sound as they flew overhead."

Mike did make one attempt at the stage, auditioning for a play as a freshman at William Tennent. According to Jim, one of the requirements for the audition was preparing a monologue.

"He went in and performed something from 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail," said Jim. "The other kids loved it, but it didn't go over well with the teacher. She came back and said they don't allow freshman to participate in the play."

Mike graduated from Tennent in 1998 and spent a year as a business major at the Philadelphia Biblical University in Langhorne (now Cairn University). While a student at PBU, he went to a model search with his then-girlfriend, Jim says. As a favor to the organizer, he walked the runway to help fill out the show. A few days later, Mike received three callbacks that led to him becoming a Levi's model. 

That's when he started making connections, getting involved in acting troupes and dinner theater shows in Lancaster. He commuted back and forth to New York for auditions and worked at Cafe LaFontana in Hatboro for a steady paycheck.

"Mike would hone his skills while he waited tables," said Jim. "He would use different voices and accents for each customer, and he would use the same voice for a particular customer the whole night."

After landing a Kohl's commercial in 2001, Mike earned a recurring role in the Fox sitcom Grounded for Life. From there, he went on to star in major blcokbusters such the Poseidon remake, the J.J. Abrams-produced Cloverfield, and was one of the few male characters in the female-driven The Help, which won the 2011 Screen Actors Guild Award for best ensemble cast. 

With all those high-profile projects under his belt, the one movie that Mike seems to get recognized for is Grind, a 2003 comedy about amateur skateboarders on a road trip to Santa Monica.

"It's his first film, and it has this big cult following," said Jim. "We were in Ted's Montana Grill in Warrington last year, and the waiter and one of the cooks were coming over and taking pictures, telling Mike how much they loved that movie." 


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