Nearing the end of an episode of the Emmy Award-winning “Barry” on HBO, an actor’s face looks familiar.

And not just in that way an actor’s face usually looks familiar in a TV show or movie, where your mind automatically tries piecing together other movies and TV shows featuring the actor.

No. This actor looks like someone from more than just another TV show or movie.

This actor looks like a guy who once performed in Valdosta State University Theatre & Dance productions.

Rewind to the scene. Yep, the character of the old boyfriend Sam sure looks like him. Fast-forwarding to the credits confirms it. 

Joe Massingill.

In the early 2000s, Valdosta audiences could watch Joe on the stages of VSU’s Sawyer Theatre and Lab Theatre playing roles in productions such as “Sugar Babies,” “Equus,” “Shadowlands,” and George Bernard Shaw’s “Arms and the Man” as the hunted soldier Capt. Bluntschli.

Now, Valdosta audiences and audiences across the nation can see him in a supporting role on a couple episodes of the second season of “Barry” on HBO. He also has a role in the current TV mini-series “Catch-22.”

In between, he’s had roles in the Clint Eastwood movie “The Trouble with the Curve,” “A Good Day to Die Hard,” etc. 

Massingill is only one of many talented folks who have come out of the VSU Theatre program to work professionally. Another recent example is Lindsay Calhoon Bring, a VSU Theatre & Dance alum, who is a writer on the Netflix show “Sabrina.”

Their stories and the stories of numerous other VSU Theatre graduates are worth remembering as Peach State Summer Theatre opens its 2019 season Friday night. The 30th anniversary season shows are “Mamma Mia!” “Little Women: The Musical” and “Crazy for You.”

Seeing Joe on “Barry” is a reminder of the great performances available by watching PSST! live shows or the shows of its parent organization, VSU Theatre & Dance.

Audiences can see professional shows through PSST! and professional-level performances at VSU Theatre & Dance. What an amazing thing to find in a small South Georgia town.

And who knows you may see a future star of stage, movies, screen and streaming in one of the live shows this season and beyond.

A face you will see in a movie or on TV some day and say, now, wait a minute, where do I know her from?

Dean Poling is an editor with The Valdosta Daily Times.