Actor Tug Coker reconnects with his past at Riverside

Cathy Dyson- Free Lance Star

May 22, 2025

Tug Coker, a 1996 graduate of Stafford High School, has the lead role of Atticus Finch in To Kill A Mockingbird, currently on stage at Riverside Center for the Performing Arts. Suzanne Carr Rossi, Riverside Center for the Performing Arts

Almost every time Tug Coker steps off the stage at Riverside Center for the Performing Arts — where he stars in “To Kill A Mockingbird” — he’s greeted by someone he hasn’t seen in almost 30 years.

“Honestly, it’s been a blast,” he said. “It’s just a thrill to be back in Fredericksburg and see people from all parts of my life, high-school teachers or people I worked with at Red Lobster, people I grew up with. It’s getting back in touch with some of your ghosts in such a fun way.”

Coker graduated from Stafford High School in 1996, then made his way from Broadway to L.A. Film and TV credits for the 47-year-old include roles on “The Office” and “How I Met Your Mother,” “Ballers,” “NCIS” and “Law & Order: SVU.”

Before he attempted to climb inside the skin of Atticus Finch in Riverside’s production, the closest performance to his hometown was the Studio Theatre in Washington. That was after he’d earned a master’s degree from the American Repertory Theater at Harvard University, and Coker was surprised that so many people from the Stafford area made their way north to see him.

But that’s paled in comparison to the nightly shows at Riverside. Even though the Fredericksburg area has “blown up” since his days as an Indian at Stafford Senior High School, “I still think of it as a small-town existence,” he said.

And that’s one of several things he’s enjoying about the play, which is based more on Harper Lee’s book than Aaron Sorkin’s Broadway adaption.

Set in Maycomb, Alabama, in 1935, “To Kill A Mockingbird” takes the audience back to simpler times when children played outside in the summer and acted out made-up stories. The peaceful façade begins to crack when a young Black man is accused of raping a white woman and continues to erode when Finch defends the man in a trial.

Patrick A’Hearn, the producing artistic director at Riverside, had been working for several years to get the legal rights to perform the play. He knew exactly who he wanted as the lead.

“I don’t think there’s anybody more perfect to play this role,” A’Hearn said about Coker.

The two met about 15 years ago. Coker’s parents, retired orthodontist John and Linda Coker, are active in the community and performing arts, and John serves on Riverside’s board of trustees. They’ve always supported A’Hearn, he said, and they asked him to sing at their daughter’s wedding.

That’s when A’Hearn and Tug Coker met and talked about the way “we’re sort of in the same worlds,” A’Hearn said. They discussed having Coker perform at Riverside, but schedules were packed, then some years later, Coker said he liked the idea of leading a master class there, sharing insights about the business.

Then, the production rights became available for “To Kill A Mockingbird.”

“The light bulb went off and I said, ‘Tug Coker,’” A’Hearn said.

There was no audition, no casting calls. A’Hearn wasn’t looking for someone to impersonate Gregory Peck, who won an Oscar for his performance in the 1962 film. But he’d already sized up Coker and knew that he fit the bill with his 6-foot-5-inch frame and dignified manner.

“He’s really extraordinary in the role,” A’Hearn said. “I think Atticus Finch is the everyman and Tug speaks to that. He reminds me of like a Jimmy Stewart, likeable, charming, and this character is right up his alley.”

Coker and his wife, Kathryn, who live in California, also have three sons, ages 4, 6 and 9. (Coker is staying in Fredericksburg with his parents until the kids finish the school year, then the family will stay in the area another month.)

A’Hearn has seen the way nurturing comes easily to Coker as he works with the young actors in the cast.

“It’s a nice natural fit to be talking about empathy and understanding with them, because I do that every day in my own life with my own kids,” Coker said.

Grayson Lewis, who plays Jem Finch, is on the same school track as Coker. Grayson went to Falmouth Elementary School, currently attends Gayle Middle School and will go to Stafford High School.

“The quality of acting is fantastic,” Coker said about the child actors as well as other cast members who hail from the mid-Atlantic region. The production “is as good as anywhere else I’ve worked, and I’ve been to Broadway. I’m really happy to play a small part in shining a light on Riverside.”

Asked if performing in front of hometown crowds and people who’ve known him since he was a boy made him nervous, Coker said he’s been a working actor for a long time as well as a writer and producer. Those experiences help.

“It’s less anxiety and more excitement and pride to show them what I’ve been doing,” he said.

Plus, he’s been there, done that in terms of feeling pressure from people in the audience. In 2012, he played Boston Celtics legend Larry Bird, who also happened to be his childhood idol, in the Broadway play, “Magic/Bird.” It was about the rivalry and friendship between Bird and Magic Johnson of the Los Angeles Lakers.

On opening night, both Hall of Famers came to the performance.

“I’ll never be more nervous than that,” he said, even when he recites the immortal line that it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird because they only sing and bring joy.

“To Kill A Mockingbird” runs through June 22 at Riverside Center for the Performing Arts. More information is available at https://www.riversidedt.com.