As a kid, this KC native moved to LA to pursue acting. Now he’s a Hollywood star

Actor Alex Neustaedter felt apprehensive before throwing out the first pitch at a Kansas City Royals home game on June 26. So the Johnson County native headed to a field at Shawnee Mission East High School the morning prior so he could practice firing pitches from the mound.

“I was so terrified that I’d fail … and would feel like a fool for throwing it to the backstop,” says Neustaedter, whose family had lived mostly in Prairie Village before moving to California for his acting career. He played baseball throughout high school and was even named a California All-State shortstop.

Fortunately, the 26-year-old rose to the occasion, made a decent pitch, then witnessed the Royals win 5-1 over the Miami Marlins.

Neustaedter will enjoy an even bigger platform next weekend after landing one of the key roles in the upcoming feature “It Ends With Us,” an adaptation of the insanely popular 2016 Colleen Hoover novel. The film stars Blake Lively (known in these parts as one of Taylor Swift’s best friends and suite mate at Kansas City Chiefs games) and Justin Baldoni (who also directed the picture).

Neustaedter portrays Lively’s character’s estranged love interest, Atlas Corrigan, in the movie’s flashback scenes.

How is acting comparable to playing baseball?

“Both require a lot of mental toughness,” says Neustaedter (pronounced nu-sted-ter).

“You have to be willing to fail a lot. In baseball, you’re a Hall of Famer if you hit over .300 — which is failing more than succeeding. The resiliency to forget the last at bat or the hitter that you were just facing or an error you just made, and then focus on the present moment, the next play, the next pitch — this is really comparable to both the auditioning process and going from take to take.”

Interviewed over Zoom from his home in the South Bay region of Los Angeles, Neustaedter is gearing up for his most high-profile project so far. He’s already established a loyal following for his starring role of Billy Poe alongside Jeff Daniels and Maura Tierney on the Showtime/Prime drama series “American Rust.” But he knows taking part in an adaptation of a beloved multimillion-seller comes with its own demands from fandom.

“I try and stay offline as best as I can. So I haven’t experienced it a lot yet personally,” he says. “It’s amazing that the fans are so passionate about the story … and I’m really interested to see what they think because I know they’re very excited and passionate about it.”

According to Publisher’s Weekly, Hoover’s “It Ends With Us” was the bestselling book in both 2022 and 2023 and has been published in 43 languages. The story is based on the dicey relationship between Hoover’s own mother and father. Kirkus Reviews notes the novel “powerfully illustrates the devastation of abuse — and the strength of the survivors.”

“I haven’t personally dealt with family abuse,” he admits. “There are other reasons that connected me with this film along those lines — kind of outside my family — that are really personal to me. I connected with this message of finding ways out of abuse, and knowing that if you can reach out to somebody there is a chance you can get away from those situations.”

While the book ties into undeniably potent themes, the movie gives off a Hollywood sheen — it might even be considered a “chick flick.”

“If women love to watch it, that would be amazing,” he says.

“But I also think there are a lot of much deeper, realer undertones present throughout the film that are reasons why I wanted to get involved. I hope it can reach deeper than just a chick flick. But at the end of the day, it’s a movie and I hope people enjoy it one way or another.”

Most of Neustaedter’s scenes happen opposite Isabela Ferrer, who portrays the teenage version of Lively’s character and shares an uncanny resemblance to the star. Because of the flashback nature of their roles, the younger pair didn’t get to interact much with their older counterparts during production. In fact, Neustaedter never encountered Brandon Sklenar (of the TV series “1923”), who plays the adult Atlas.

“Justin, our director, showed Isabela and I two scenes so we could see what (Lively and Sklenar) were doing. If there were gestures or anything we could take to kind of seamlessly blend the performances,” he says.

“I didn’t actually meet (Sklenar) until a month ago when doing some promo stuff.”

Does Neustaedter believe he’ll eventually end up looking like his counterpart?

“I wouldn’t be upset by it,” he replies, laughing.

One thing that sticks out when viewing Neustaedter’s film and TV roles is how often the handsome and athletic actor is involved in either a fight scene or a love scene. As such, he’s becoming an expert on the particulars of filming both.

“The challenge with fight scenes is really selling it to make it look real,” he says, noting the pilot episode of “American Rust” hinges on an increasingly violent parking lot brawl.

“If it’s for a love scene, what’s most important is chemistry and how your relationship onscreen transpires. I think you can get away with fight scenes sometimes easier than love scenes. There’s another element there with a love scene that’s sometimes even harder to fake.”

One of Neustaedter’s earliest forays into big-screen acting came in 2010’s “Last Breath.” The horror thriller was written and directed by Ty Jones and shot in KC.

“What I remember most is the audition,” Neustaedter says.

“It was a scene where a rat had come into the house, and I needed to be screaming and freaking out. Ty said, ‘What you just gave me right there was like a 3 in intensity. Now I want you to give me a 9 or 10.’ … It somehow clicked with me. At the end of the day, filmmaking is the most fun when you get close with everybody and you’re collaborating together and trying to do your best. It was a huge learning experience for me at such a young age to watch them make a movie.”

Jones recalls, “I loved working with Alex, and he really had the work ethic to do whatever was needed even at such a young age.”

The KC-based filmmaker adds, “I’ve worked with kids, and it can be a challenge dealing with a younger person. Like they say, ‘Don’t work with animals or children.’ Well, Alex never brought any issues. He also had an inherent willingness to try anything I asked — which is a director’s dream.”

“Last Breath” helped convince Neustaedter’s parents, Teri and Jeff, that a career in acting wasn’t just a pipe dream.

When he was 13, his family decided to relocate to Los Angeles to be closer to the industry. His last year of school in Kansas City came when he was in seventh grade at Pembroke Hill School.

“They’re incredibly supportive and have a ton of faith in me,” the actor says.

He landed some commercial work and a few guest spots, including a part on “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” But things were still moving rather slowly until his “big break” came in 2015 when he earned an audition for the lead role in the Meg Ryan-directed drama “Ithaca.”

“I told my mom before the audition with Meg, ‘If I don’t get this, I feel like I might want to take it easy on continuing,”’ he remembers.

“I was on the audition grind for three or four years in L.A. and not really finding much success at all. Booking that film gave me the confidence and showed me what on-set time was like, and what it’s actually like to prepare for a full script and interact with talented artists like Sam Shepard and Tom Hanks.”

“Ithaca” led to a starring role on the USA Network’s sci-fi series “Colony” (2016-2018). “American Rust” followed in 2021.

However, it was just announced last week that “American Rust” got canceled. There will be no third season.

Neustaedter appears unfazed.

“I’m more excited now that I don’t have anything,” he claims, echoing that baseball-like composure to be able to move on to the next pitch, the next batter.

“I’ve been connected to ‘Rust’ for like four years. It’s been a very big part of my life. But I’m really excited to find and do something new.”

Jon Niccum is a filmmaker, freelance writer and author. His new book is titled “Power Up: Leadership, Character and Conflict Beyond the Superhero Multiverse.”