Christopher Briney on True Crime, Vintage Cars, and the Comedy of Dilaria

Christopher Briney has gone full actor multiverse: dreamy sad boy in The Summer I Turned Pretty, musically inclined jock in Mean Girls, and surrealist gallery assistant in Dalíland, opposite Ben Kingsley. But before any of that, the 27-year-old Pace University grad was bagging groceries at Trader Joe’s.

Now, eight times a week, he’s dissecting fake funerals and influencer pathology in Dilaria, Julia Randall’s Off-Broadway play at the DR2 Theatre, which runs through August 3rd. The show follows Dilaria (Ella Stiller), a privileged woman spiraling into obsession after the viral death of a former classmate places her at the warped intersection of social media, grief, and sisterhood in a world raised on true crime and reality TV.

Briney plays Noah (No-WAH)—Dilaria’s situationship: part therapist, part emotionally literate love interest, part guy who probably sends “u up?” texts at 2 a.m. He brings a cool calm to the story, acting as a sounding board for the titular character. On Zoom shortly after the show opened, Briney was calm, funny, and suspiciously grounded for someone who’s been memorialized in thousands of fan edits. We talked true crime, post-show meals, and what’s currently haunting his Notes app.

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OLAMIDE OYENUSI: Before we jump into it, I saw on your Wikipedia page that you used to work at Trader Joe’s. Is that true?

CHRIS BRINEY: That is true. I didn’t even know I had a Wikipedia page.

OYENUSI: Check it out. I had to bring it up because I also used to work at Trader Joe’s in high school.

BRINEY: No way! I was in college, and it was a really good job. I had a great time.

OYENUSI: What’s your favorite snack from there?

BRINEY: I like the Trader Joe’s Takis. What do they call them? Chili lime tortillas.

OYENUSI: Oh, yeah. Well, I saw Dilaria last night. It was so funny. I was giggling. How are you feeling today?

BRINEY: Thank you for seeing it. Last night was a fun show and a great audience.

OYENUSI: What does your day typically look like when you have a show?

BRINEY: I try to get a coffee in the morning with my girlfriend and just hang out. I’ve been getting back into playing some Pokemon recently. I’ll try to eat something decent so I don’t feel terrible for the show, and then I’ll show up an hour-and-a-half early and do my warmup and ground myself and all that.

OYENUSI: Do you have any pre-show rituals?

BRINEY: I mean, I have a few vocal and physical warmups that have become rituals. I used to be super superstitious, and I think I’ve grown out of some of that. But I do things in the same order every day. So in a way. I do roll downs and I just try to find my body. I warm up my face, and then I go into some technique-based Linklater stuff for my voice.

OYENUSI: Do you have a post-show meal that you like?

BRINEY: I had a beer for dinner last night, but usually I have some really good Mexican spots near me and they’re open decently late, so I’ll swing by there. With the trains and everything, it’s just too late to make food. 

OYENUSI: But it’s never too late to pick it up.

BRINEY: That is gospel. 

OYENUSI: Tell me about your character in Dilaria, Noah.

BRINEY: Noah, yeah. You got to hit the “ah” really hard. I think he’s really fun and endearing. He can be a little ignorant to things. He’s not the brightest bulb in the pack, but he tries hard, and that’s where I find the most enjoyment—the balance of someone who may not be incredibly intelligent, but is always actively trying to do the right thing. I’ve found that his comedy is in him trying really hard to be a good person and not being phenomenal at it. But he cares a lot about the pronunciation of his name because of his family lineage. I think that says something about him.

OYENUSI: Do you relate to him at all?

BRINEY: In some ways. I mean, I try to do the right thing. I’d like to think that I’m a little quicker than him and less impulsive. But I relate to him in enough ways, I think.

OYENUSI: Would you say that you’re naturally good at reading narcissists?

BRINEY: That’s a good question. I trust my radar for people, but I don’t think I could diagnose someone as a narcissist. I feel like I’m just more, “I really enjoy the company of this person, or maybe not…”

OYENUSI: What was the audition process like for Dilaria?

BRINEY: There wasn’t really one. It was a script that got sent to my team, and I read it and really loved it. I met with Julia [Randall] and Alex [Keegan], the playwright and director, and I liked their approach to it. The rest is history. We went right into rehearsals, and it’s been open for a week now. This is my first professional theater experience, but we get a decently long run, for six weeks.

OYENUSI: What’s it like doing the show this tight? Just two other castmates, no intermission.

BRINEY: It’s really fun. We’ve worked hard to whittle down the time and keep it really digestible and engaging. I would never be hired to do a musical, but I enjoy the simplicity of a play.

OYENUSI: Well, you have been in Mean Girls.

BRINEY: Yeah, but I didn’t sing or dance.

OYENUSI: You’re still in it.

BRINEY: It’s true. I got the participation trophy. That being said, I enjoy that the focus can just be on text and character, and I don’t have to have any dancing or singing skills. Ella [Stiller] and Chiara [Aurelia], who play Dilaria and Georgia respectively, are wonderful. There aren’t too many moving parts, so I think the short time we have on stage is just the right amount.

OYENUSI: Do you watch any true crime?

BRINEY: I’ve watched some true crime, but I’m not really into it in the way that the characters in the show are. Sometimes I’m on YouTube shorts and I’ll watch, like, “He murdered 19 people and was never caught.” And I’ll get a little scared.

OYENUSI: It’s always a cold case.

BRINEY: Yeah, I’m not built for it. I know it’s not horror, but there’s something upsetting about it and I don’t always love consuming upsetting media.

OYENUSI: That’s fair. The play asks if dying is the ultimate glow-up. What’s the most ridiculous thing you’ve ever done for attention?

BRINEY: Ooh, that’s a good question. God, I’m sure there are so many things. One of my girlfriend’s first memories of me—we went to college together and we didn’t date until after college—it was when we were all at our college bar and I was doing magic card tricks, trying to flex on people, which is absolutely absurd.

OYENUSI: Where did you go to college?

BRINEY: I went to Pace University. I’m from Connecticut originally, a small little town called Naugatuck. I go back for some holidays sometimes, but I’m an East Coaster.

OYENUSI: How long have you been in the city? Since college?

BRINEY: Yeah, since 2016, so almost nine years, except for a few months during COVID. I’ll give myself eight-and-a-half years of New York. I couldn’t really see myself anywhere else. I don’t know if this is everyone’s experience, but the older I get, the more fond I am of where I came from. I think as you’re going to college, you can be restless, like, “There’s nothing to do here. I’ve done it all.” And then the further away you get, you feel like there’s something nice about the ease of your younger life. I still don’t see myself leaving, but it’s fun to sleep in your old bedroom and stuff. I like driving, so it’s nice to take a little drive without the New York traffic.

OYENUSI: Do you have a dream car?

BRINEY: I couldn’t even tell you the model of my dream car. I really like the boxy BMWs from like the ’90s that Tyler, The Creator is always driving around in. They’re really cool.

OYENUSI: I love those. I saw one in hunter green and I was like, “Yes.”

BRINEY: They just have character. You don’t need A/C. You don’t need the radio to work. You just sort of need a cute little car.

OYENUSI: How do you approach a live performance differently than a screen role?

BRINEY: It’s been a lot of trial and error. There’s a lot about it that I did not expect, because live is different every night. There’s some things that you just can’t be prepared for. But I’ve been working on the longevity of it and trying to be kind to my body. I just try not to blow out my voice or hurt my ankle or something.

OYENUSI: Do you have a self-care routine?

BRINEY: I mean, I moisturize after I shower.

OYENUSI: Thank god.

BRINEY: My girlfriend always tells me to wash my face and when she reminds me, I will.

OYENUSI: Good girlfriend.

BRINEY: She’s the best. I floss, which I’m pretty proud of. I think. I didn’t floss for a while, but I floss now and my gums don’t bleed when I floss, which makes me really happy.

OYENUSI: I’m sure your dentist is happy too.

BRINEY: I haven’t seen him in a long time, but I’m sure.

OYENUSI: What got you into acting in the first place?

BRINEY: Just the joy of it. I didn’t want to act for a lot of my childhood because everybody in my family really liked theater. It was based in nothing besides rebellious fantasies. So in high school, I took this acting class and really enjoyed it. I feel blessed to have some wonderful teachers in high school, and there was a big emphasis on the fun and play of it and enjoying the feeling of being an ensemble and creating something with people. That still rings true today for me.

OYENUSI: Were you a Hamilton kid?

BRINEY: Dude, Hamilton‘s great. Hamilton‘s a really good show. My dad got me tickets as a high school grad gift.

OYENUSI: It’s so good. What’s your favorite musical and play?

BRINEY: My favorite play is probably Long Day’s Journey Into Night. It was one of the first plays I ever really loved. I had a monologue from that that I auditioned for colleges with, and I didn’t get into any. And then the musical… Hamilton‘s pretty good. I did a community theater production of Heathers and it was really fun. I like American Idiots, and Spamalot, absolute gas.

OYENUSI: Would you ever want to direct or produce in the future, or are you content with acting?

BRINEY: I definitely want to direct. If I could only do that forever, I’d be a really happy person. And I love acting, but I think the reason I fell in love with acting is because I love the process of making movies. I’ve directed a lot of shorts, and I’d love to keep pursuing that. 

OYENUSI: What’s the last good movie that you saw?

BRINEY: Sinners was really good. I was blown away. I didn’t expect to like it as much as I did. I thought it was phenomenal.

OYENUSI: In Dilaria, you have great comedic timing. Do you like comedic roles?

BRINEY: I think I’ve always enjoyed comedy, period. My dad introduced my sister and I to the Marx Brothers and Monty Python when we were young. I’ve always appreciated humor, and I don’t know how funny I can or cannot be, but I’ve been enjoying this play. Noah is a silly character and he’s different from anything I’ve been able to do. I just love to just work on things I’m excited about.

OYENUSI: When you’re not working, what does your ideal day off look like?

BRINEY: I would love a 48-hour day, which doesn’t exist.

OYENUSI: Starting off strong.

BRINEY: Yeah, we’re breaking the rules. I would love to just spend a day with my girlfriend. Go to the park, take her to dinner, watch a good movie, and go golfing. That sounds like a great day.

OYENUSI: You have a lot to fit in. What’s the weirdest thing in your notes app right now?

BRINEY: There’s some weird shit in here. I have my frequent flyer information. I have a lot of payouts from little poker games, so a bunch of numbers. Some of these are good out of context. One of them says, “Bop, fizz, and tinkle.” 

OYENUSI: Do you play a lot of poker? I feel like that’s really big right now.

BRINEY: Yeah, there’s a big surge of people playing poker. I’m not super good, but I enjoy the idea of it. I’ve made some money and lost some money playing it in card houses and casinos, and I don’t get a huge thrill from that, especially because last time I went, I lost money. But it’s fun to have a range of talent there. 

OYENUSI: What’s your current screen time average?

BRINEY: I’ll check it. [Looks at phone] Oh, this isn’t bad. Three hours, 38 minutes.

OYENUSI: Oh, that’s phenomenal. What’s your most-used app?

BRINEY: It’s YouTube. I don’t have a lot of other apps on my phone or social media, so I’ll just watch YouTube videos.

OYENUSI: And what would be the dress code to your funeral, if any?

BRINEY: Wear whatever you want. I don’t think my ghost would be offended, but I’m a traditionalist. A black suit or whatever. But if you want to wear sexy black like Dilaria, if you want to wear a t-shirt, I don’t care. Just have a good time. Do a shot for me, chug a beer over my grave. I don’t know.