Artist Profile: Ames K. McNamara ’28 on Netflix, On Thin Ice, and the Lowell Housing Day Video

While you may know him by the bars, “Lowell speeches we eloquent / Sweet treat at tea so decadent,” the star of the Lowell Housing Day video — Ames K. McNamara ’28 — experienced his rise to stardom long before housing week.

As a sophomore at Harvard College, McNamara has poured himself into the performing campus arts, participating in On Thin Ice — one of Harvard’s improv comedy groups — and the Harvard-Radcliffe Dramatic Club McNamara is a dynamic and captivating actor on stage, a skill he has developed since his childhood.

His journey began at age five when his mother signed him up for the local district musical in his hometown of Hoboken, New Jersey.

“The first play I ever did was ‘Seussical The Musical,’” said McNamara in an interview with The Crimson. “I loved it.” He offered a wry grin while reflecting on the experience.

Following his “Seussical” beginnings, McNamara joined Hoboken Children’s Theater.

“Then I started doing a summer camp with them, and just gradually did more and more local theater and musicals just because it was an activity that I just really enjoyed and started doing almost on a whim,” said McNamara.

McNamara soon transitioned from Hoboken to Hollywood — his entrance into professional acting on a similar whim.

“It was also very natural when I started auditioning professionally. The director of the Hoboken Theater was like, ‘Oh, I know an agent. Why don’t you meet with her?’ I was like, ‘Sure, why not?,’” McNamara said.

It wasn’t long before he booked his first role on ABC’s reboot of “Roseanne.” After three rounds of auditions, McNamara flew out to LA for his final round where he auditioned at ABC headquarters. “Five minutes after that audition, one of the directors came out and said, ‘Oh, yeah, you got the job.’ And I was like, ‘Awesome,’” he said.

McNamara starred as Mark Conner-Healy, son of Darlene Conner, on the “Roseanne” reboot “The Conners” for eight seasons. These seasons lasted from 2018 to 2025. Dedicated to his academic study, McNamara remained a diligent student in Hollywood.

“My family always made sure that school was number one,” said McNamara in testament to his work ethic.

McNamara stayed on track with his classmates.

“I would take the test on the same day as them. I would do my assignments on the same day as them,” said McNamara.

While school and acting were on opposite coasts for McNamara throughout middle and high school, coming to Harvard meant his two passions would be in one home.

“When I was in high school and middle school, school and acting were very separate,”McNamara said.

But Harvard is different for McNamara — both arts and academics feel intertwined.

“It forces it to come together in a really great way. So I think I was always excited to join the art scene at college and get involved with that,” he said.

McNamara has done more than simply involve himself in the arts scene. Rather, he thrives with an enchanting stage presence. While his experience with HRDC builds upon his early beginnings in Hoboken Children’s Theater, McNamara had never done improv before On Thin Ice.

“Even the thought of doing improv was a foreign concept to me,” McNamara said.

After doing a production of “Sketch” in his freshman spring, he found that his acting peers were involved with improv. This compelled him to audition for On Thin Ice in his sophomore fall.

Though once a completely new field, McNamara is now devoted to On Thin Ice.

“That’s become my most significant, consistent arts commitment here at Harvard. I love OTI,” he said.

Differing from his experience as the sole child actor on “The Conners,” Harvard arts has brought a new sense of camaraderie and bond for McNamara.

“It was mostly me and grown adults, who had also known each other for 20 years, or anything. So obviously that’s great, but it's not the same as when you’re acting with people your age,” McNamara said.

In addition to forming a rich community, McNamara’s experience with On Thin Ice, specifically, has expanded his acting abilities beyond “The Conners.” McNamara compared the expectations of a scripted show and improvised comedy.

“Part of [these standards] came from growing up on a set where it is kind of rigid, in the sense that there’s always a fixed schedule. You say your line, you hit your mark,” he said.

For On Thin Ice, the expectations are different.

“By joining improv, you have to be free. You can’t be stiff. So I think as I continue to do improv, I genuinely do believe it will improve everything,” McNamara said.

Just as On Thin Ice offered a newfound freedom to McNamara, he also spent his freshman summer in an acting environment that diverged from scripted Hollywood. In Avignon, France, he spent his summer studying at a French theater program.

“To get to perform in French for the first time, it’s just great,” he said. “I have never been surrounded by a place where everyone is just there to make art, and it was just such an incredible, inspiring experience.”

McNamara's experience in Avignon deepened his love for acting, and also provided a preview into what he might want to do in the future.

Referring to his study abroad professor, McNamara said, “Our professor/director, you could just tell he loved what he’s doing, like he does. French theater is his life. And I had this thought of, whatever I ended up doing, I just want to enjoy it as much as he did.”

McNamara does not yet know what the future holds — though he mentioned that acting on Saturday Night Live would be a dream. In the meantime, however, McNamara is happy to be at Harvard.

Closing the interview, McNamara said, “I mean, genuinely, everyone here is incredibly talented. And in the future, who knows what will happen for my pursuit of the arts, but I think I’m lucky, very lucky, here to be able to pursue one of my greatest passions with some of my best friends.”