Why does Michael Maggart ’91 look so familiar?

Why does Michael Maggart ’91 look so familiar?

Security guard, youth soccer referee, detective, hotel concierge, businessman, cowboy, police officer—Michael Maggart ’91 has been all of these things ... in Wes Anderson movies. By day, Maggart, a former math teacher, runs an online math tutoring company. But on occasion, after an unexpected invitation to an audition, he’ll be whisked away to an exotic locale, where he dons whatever costume the bit part requires.

Maggart might have a few lines, sometimes in proximity to an A-list actor, or he says nothing, happy to be the silent extra.

A recent New York Times feature, “This Math Tutor Keeps Popping Up in Wes Anderson Films,” highlighted Maggart’s relationship with Anderson, who he met at St. John’s School in Houston, Texas. The classmates became friends, and senior year Anderson was stage manager for a play Maggart wrote as an independent study project.

“That’s the last time I was telling Wes what to do,” he said in the Times interview.

Anderson, known for his visually distinct style and quirky storytelling, showed Maggart early drafts of the Rushmore script and shot most of the movie at St. John’s, where Maggart was teaching at the time. He asked Maggart to audition for the part of concierge, according to the Times—his latest part in The Phoenician Scheme follows three other films and a series of AT&T commercials.

The summons to his second part—in the AT&T commercials—came in true Wes Anderson fashion.

Four days after the audition Anderson called Maggart and instructed him to, “Go to Don’s Western Wear, get a suede jacket and bring the receipts to Prague.” Maggart told the Times, “I was like, ‘I guess I got the part.’”

For now, Maggart isn’t contemplating a career change; but he’s always willing to help a friend in need.