Star on the diamond takes act to television

Steve Virgen

If Mike McLean never became famous, he would be OK with that. Just

because he has been studying to be an actor doesn’t necessarily mean

he wants fame or celebrity status.

And even though a day in his life will be highlighted on

television tonight in a program called “American Talent” on KCET, the

teenager -- one of only 20 Presidential Scholars in the Arts in the

nation -- is keeping his cool.

“If I start thinking about how huge an event is, I start freaking

out,” said McLean, 18. “I try to stay calm.”

His mother, Tina McLean, is not playing it quite so cool. She has

a 7:45 p.m. date with friends and family in front of the television

set at her Costa Mesa home to watch her son, now a student of acting

at USC, on the 8 p.m. program.

“We are giddy with excitement,” she said of the broadcast.

The show chronicles the lives of 125 national finalists of the

2004 Arts Awards. Many of the finalists were chosen as Presidential

Scholars in the Arts, an honor awarded by the U.S. Department of

Education.

Like his approach to baseball, McLean’s commitment to acting is

all for the love of it.

McLean recently graduated from Newport Harbor High as a captain of

the Sailors’ baseball team.

He was honored at the White House June 21. After graduating on

June 17, he spent a weekend in Washington D.C., took a tour of the

White House and saw some sites. He did not meet President Bush, but

he saw First Lady Laura Bush and pet their dog, Barney.

McLean’s work in acting at his school and in various competitions

helped him earn the award. Similar to his dedication to his craft,

McLean was also diligent in baseball. He earned second-team All-Sea

View League honors as he helped lead the Sailors to a fourth-place

finish in league. McLean, the Sailors’ leadoff hitter, played third

base and pitched.

Newport Harbor enjoyed one of its best seasons in recent memory by

nearly making the playoffs. The Sailors ended their season with a

loss in a third-place tiebreaker that would have gotten them into the

playoffs.

“It was really heartbreaking at the end,” McLean said. “But the

more I thought about it, I was happy to be that close. My first year

on varsity, when I was a sophomore, we didn’t win a league game. To

go from that to this past season was great.”

McLean continues to study acting through an intense program at

USC.

After catching the eye of PBS during a competition in Miami, the

public television crew followed McLean and completed a

day-in-the-life piece on him at Newport Harbor and around Newport

Beach.

McLean was one of 20 who performed at the competition in Miami

conducted by the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts in

January. He was among 125 finalists selected from a pool of 6,000

applicants nationwide. McLean applied for the competition in

November, when he sent a videotape of himself singing.

After being among the 125, the foundation nominated 50 to be up

for a Presidential Scholars award or other honors, but 20 were

selected. Those 20 were in the final competition in Miami in January.

At the competition, McLean performed a monologue from Six Degrees

of Separation and he sang, “What You’d Call a Dream,” from the play,

“Diamond,” a drama about baseball.

If McLean were ever to become famous, he said he would love to be

in a movie as a baseball player.

“It would be fun to be in some sort of baseball movie where I’m in

Yankee Stadium,” he said. “If I’m going to be famous, which is highly

unlikely, I just want to do things that are cool -- visit other parts

of the world or be a pro baseball player.”

Acting, however, remains merely something McLean enjoys doing.

“My main goal is to have a family and to be able to settle down

with them,” McLean said. “This [acting] just seems to be the thing

that I’m best at. But baseball is my first love.”

McLean’s passion for baseball will last after high school, he

said. Recently, he assisted his former coach, Joel Desguin, with a

local baseball camp. McLean also plans to compete in adult leagues,

just so he can keep his competitive fire burning.

“I always used to tell my dad not to play in those softball

leagues,” McLean said. “But now I’m saying I’m going to be out there

pretty soon. I just love it so much. To imagine not playing anymore,

I can’t see that. I’m still going to love it.”

* The Pilot’s Ryan Carter contributed to this story.