Before he was Dr. Cox on Scrubs, John C. McGinley studied in both the undergraduate and graduate Tisch acting programs, accomplishments he considers to be a defining factor of his work.

McGinley graduated in ’84 and moved from Broadway actor to film. In this interview, he reflects on his days at NYU and sheds light on his career as an actor and philanthropist.

WSN: What is your best memory from your time at NYU?
JMG: My fondest memory is two of my classmates Eriq La Salle and David Warshofsky. Eriq went on to do “ER”, and David is now chairman of the graduate theatre program at USC. They are probably the best actors I’ve ever worked with. I have worked with them as acting coaches since, ‘cause that’s how great they are.

WSN: Did going to NYU benefit you in acting gigs throughout your career?
JMG: What helped me out is the fundamental grounding in being able to deconstruct any text anywhere on the planet, and make sense of the text for myself, and be able to turn that around and participate in the storytelling process. What Ron Van Lieu, and Olympia Dukakis, and the other faculty did there for us was provide us with a template and a work ethic for how to approach and take apart a text.

WSN: What would you say is your best work as an actor and comedian?
JMG: On stage, “Glengarry,” on TV, “Scrubs,” on film I don’t know — there are ones that I really hooked into, “42” the Jackie Robinson story that just came out, “Platoon,” “Wall Street,” “Talk Radio.” You never get to create a play and then be in the movie because what happens — I don’t know how to sugarcoat it — is called ‘starfucking.’ Whatever role you originated and worked on, they get Diana Ross’ daughter to do it instead of you. Because it’s a bigger name. So even though we originated “Talk Radio,” we’re definitely going to get someone else that’s a star to come do it. So the fact that I got to do “Talk Radio” the movie after doing the play for a year and a half felt really good. And because you go to bring it out on stage and find out what worked and what the text supports and what it wouldn’t support, by the time you got in front of the camera you were money.

WSN: What is your next project?
JMG: There’s two in the can: one I just shot from Bogota that I just wrapped called “The Belko Experiment,” and that’s a big action thriller by the guy who did “Guardians of the Galaxy.” Then I went straight from Bogota to Nashville where I did this lovely two hander with Garret Dillahunt called “Rounding Third,” which was a play about what men do when they’re drowning in fear and inadequacy, and what we do when we are desperate and how we manipulate things.

WSN: Advice for current students who want to go into acting/comedy?
JMG: Go to grad. By the time you get out you have some tools. That’s what you gotta get: tools. Otherwise you’re dead, because when you get on a set, you’re only going to get two takes ‘cause we’re running out of light. You fucking better be able to pull a rabbit out of your ass — the tools.

A version of this article appeared in the Monday, Oct. 26 print edition. Email Aicha Fall at [email protected].