Assassination of character

Nik Walker on the new play, sex scenes and his famous newscaster mom

INTERVIEW. Twenty-one years ago when WBZ-TV’s Liz Walker announced her pregnancy, being a high-profile, single-parent was big news. But the trailblazing anchor did a remarkable job of keeping her young son out of the headlines, until now. Between his sophomore and junior years as an acting student at New York University, Nik Walker is spending his summer vacation on his home turf playing Balladeer in Company One’s production of “Assassins.”

How did you find out your birth was big news in Boston?
[Laughs.] My mom is really protective of her family, so I never really knew until now. ... I knew she was known, but she did a wonderful job of raising me outside of her public life.

No interest in the family business?
There was a time when I was interested in writing, but it’s her world. Me, I like to tell stories to people.

So the choice to be an actor was obvious?
Mom brought me to the Wheelock Family Theatre, because I was a high-energy kid who had a hard time focusing. I loved it and knew this was pretty much it.

What drew you to “Assassins”?
It’s my favorite musical. It’s not some cotton candy fluff, it goes to dark places and lets you look at these nine people who’ve changed so many lives. John Wilkes Booth was a Confederate racist who shot a president. This isn’t someone I would want to know, but I do get the chance to hear his point of view. And people in my generation thankfully never experienced anything like an assassination or even the attempts on Reagan and Ford. This is a safe space for us to come face to face with something that has altered generations.

Will your mom be bringing out the troops for your hometown performance?
She drags everyone out. It’s the most embarrassing thing. We call it the Walker section. ... But then there’s the time I brought them to the depths of discomfort.

How so?
I did this show in New York called “Only Children.” It sold out every run because there was tons of sex onstage. I was behind the show 100 percent but it was an abrasive, very offensive show. I told my mom I was going to be fully naked, having (simulated) sex on stage. I told her she didn’t have to come, but she did and she brought my aunt and uncle. Wouldn’t you know the Walker section was the exact best spot to watch me full on naked?

Will they be coming to “Assassins”?
The Walker family has had its fill of me naked but I think they’ll be OK with “Assassins.”

‘Assassins’
Through August 9
Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts
537 Tremont St., Boston
MBTA: Orange line to Back Bay
$15 - $38, 617-933-8600
www.companyone.org