By Lee Hurley
In 2004, a precocious Mountain Brook High School student named Mason McCulley was asked by Portico magazine about his career aspirations. “Acting and t-shirt design,” he offered. As Meatloaf sang, “One out of two ain’t bad.” Mason McCulley did indeed become an actor, and among the many roles he has played, the one he is playing most recently is himself. Carole Cook Died For My Sins, which McCulley wrote and stars in, has been called a love letter to both his late mother and to an unlikely soulmate in the legendary actress Carole Cook.
McCulley’s theatrical journey began on the stages of Mountain Brook High School in the early 2000s, where he immersed himself in a variety of roles. Beyond high school, his initial focus was theater, yet a desire to act in television pointed him toward Los Angeles. To get closer to the action, McCulley transferred from Rhodes College in Memphis to Pepperdine University in Malibu.
For two decades after, McCulley navigated the high-low hustle of Hollywood, carving out a career with guest-starring roles on various shows like Gray’s Anatomy and Young Sheldon, including an 11-episode run on HBO’s Insecure, where he became a recurring character. More recently, McCulley guested on episode 11 of The Pitt, a graphic show about an emergency room in Pittsburgh. Squeamish viewers beware.
Despite his success in Hollywood, McCulley’s life began unraveling when his mother was diagnosed with a brain disease called Frontotemporal Dementia in 2015. His confidante, muse and close friend Carole Cook helped McCulley face the reality of a dying mother 3,000 miles away.
Cook was hired by Lucille Ball in 1958 to work at Desilu Productions and was a frequent guest on The Lucy Show and many others. Her death along with McCulley’s mother’s passing— both in 2023—signaled the beginning of an ending for the actor. “Essentially, I got to rock bottom once Carole died,” he says. “I went on a two-week West Hollywood bender at all the gay bars, doing all the things—which I was no stranger to. I had done that more than several times in my life, but this time I was spiraling towards rock bottom.”
Eventually McCulley discovered “there was a little crack of light, and it was kind of met with desperation. I knew that I had to find myself, and I knew that if I started to clear debris in my life, that would help—and the first piece of debris was to quit drinking.” In sobriety, McCulley started to believe again.
A Playwright is Born
In January 2024, the sober McCulley started developing an idea for a one-man play while subleasing an apartment in New York City. Five months later, Carole Cook Died for My Sins was written. Debuting earlier this year in Los Angeles, the play drew a slew of positive reviews, and after a five-week run McCulley brought it home to the Virginia Samford Theatre where it delighted, touched and probably shocked a few theatergoers. Like the recent movie about Bruce Springsteen making the album Nebraska, McCulley’s story is direct, honest and not all feathers and light.
Churchill once said, “When you are driving through hell, keep driving.” McCulley drives right on through in the play exploring grief and loss, while also telling a story of sobriety, identity and hope. All with a sense of humor. The main character is a gay man whose journey to self-discovery includes celebratory accounts of relationships and sexuality. “My message is grief and grace and god,” he says. “And meeting your shame so that it becomes something else. Something good. We have the power to do that. My point was to get everyone’s attention and not only say, hey, I am different from you, but I’m also exactly like you.”
“What I loved so much about doing this play in Birmingham is that the audience made an agreement with me,” McCulley says. “They came and heard my story, and they were present, and though I was the one speaking there was an exchange happening. There was laughter and tears and energy coming from them.”
What’s next for Mason McCulley?
Though details are not final, McCulley expects a New York run for the play in the next year. He and his director Cameron Watson who helped shepherd this play into reality are working on the details. And the actor playwright has moved back home. “When I moved back to Birmingham, I wasn’t thinking about my career. I was thinking about my mother and thinking about finding myself again,” McCulley says. “I was in a dark spot, and I felt pulled back home. And because I ended up going towards myself, I did find myself again. I’m still able to be creative and still able to write and be the actor that I am. So, it worked. If you want it to work, it works. I’m still auditioning and all that stuff. But when we did the show in Birmingham, I said to my director, ‘I feel like the wheels are just getting off the ground.’ So, I mostly want to keep telling this story.” Mason McCulley’s story is a testament to the power of dreams, the importance of resilience and the value of hard work. Carol Cook must be proud.
