Windsor Actor Makes His Way from the
Walkerville Collegiate Stage to the Warner Brothers Lot in Los Angeles
Story by Matthew St. Amand
Photography by Gene Schilling
It looked like the worst day of a young man’s life: whisked into a hospital emergency room upon a gurney, moaning in pain, bloodied head and neck ensconced within a head immobilizer and neck brace, after suffering blunt force trauma from a fireworks explosion. It was bad—except, it all took place on the set of the hit TV show The Pitt.
The man on the gurney was Windsor actor Shane Devon Nelson, and all things considered, he was excited to be there in this career-building role. It was a whirlwind experience.
“The episode was filmed in November,” Shane explains. “I was in L.A. for two weeks and on set at the Warner Brothers studio lot for four days. They had to create an entire cast of my head for a prosthetic wig for my character’s injury.”
Shane continues: “The entire set is in the same warehouse, linked by branching hallways. I felt like I teleported through the television and was on set with all these characters I love!”
Unlike many other TV shows and movies, The Pitt is filmed in chronological order because of the prosthetics used to simulate wounds on the injured characters. There are also actual ER doctors on set to advise the injured characters about their breathing or moaning.
“The cast and crew were super friendly,” Shane says. “After shooting, I went up to Noah Wyle and said ‘This has been a dream come true. I used to watch you on ER with my mom back when I was a kid and it was one of those shows that made me want to be on TV one day…’”
It was a long way from King Edward Public School and Walkerville Collegiate Institute. Shane was born and raised in Windsor. His father, Terry, is a retired auto worker who came from Amherstburg, and his mother, Cathy, is a freelance writer who originated from Niagara Falls, New York.
How did Shane get from the stage of Walkerville Collegiate to the Warner Brothers lot in Los Angeles?
“I entered talent shows when I was a kid,” he says. “I was part of the school choir and I enjoyed public speaking. In grade school, I was part of a staged reading of Peter and the Wolf, touring the county with the Windsor Symphony Orchestra. I read from the story in between musical selections. We performed in front of hundreds of kids. That’s where I fell in love with being on stage.”
He goes on: “I had a lot of energy, as a kid, and Walkerville nurtured that energy. What I found there was the seriousness of studying theatre—reading plays, exploring characters and their backgrounds, and losing myself in a role.”
Shane didn’t suffer from nerves when performing because he understood that, onstage, he played a character and he had the protection of another, fictional personality protecting his own.
“My mom also encouraged me to audition for musicals,” he continues. “Following one audition, the Walkerville musical director, Ms. Maynard, said: ‘We should get you into the Vocal program!’ I asked when I could audition for that and she said: ‘You just did!’”
One of the highlights of Shane’s high school years was participating in the Sears Ontario Drama Festival (now the NTS DramaFest), where students wrote and performed their own material. Past alumni who participated in this festival include Keanu Reeves, Rachel McAdams, Margot Kidder and David Cronenberg, among others. This was one of the first occasions where Shane composed work for the stage and witnessed firsthand an audience’s response to his writing.
Following graduation from Walkerville Collegiate, Shane received a half-tuition scholarship to Wayne State University where he studied Fine Arts and Theatre Acting.
“Wayne State did not only have shows every semester,” Shane says, “but they made students work backstage once a year, for experience. We had to sign up for costume shop, set building, or as stage manager—all in order to get the full experience.”
He continues: “I acted in SubUrbia by Eric Bogosian and played Jerry in the classic Edward Albee play, Zoo Story. There are only two characters in Zoo Story. My character was insane and had a five-page rambling monologue about a neighbour’s dog with whom he had a rivalry. The role really pushed my ability at a young age.”
In June 2016, after earning his Bachelor of Fine Arts from Wayne State, Shane was part of a study-abroad program at the prestigious Moscow Art Theatre in Russia.
“It was a unique program—only three universities in North America participated: Wayne State, the University of Windsor and a school in Moscow, Idaho. It was among the most formative training I had undergone, walking the halls where Chekhov and Stanislavski once walked.” Anton Chekhov being one of the most revered playwrights and short story writers in world literature, and Konstantin Stanislavski, whose method for actors was sublimated by Lee Strasberg into “method acting” used by such notable actors as Marlon Brando, Julie Harris, Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Ellen Burstyn, Daniel Day-Lewis and Marilyn Monroe.
“We had acting classes five days a week,” Shane continues. “We took ballet classes, worked on Russian Movement, which is like acrobatics, balancing your weight with partners, lifting people. We took history classes. And we saw shows. In thirty days, we saw twenty-five shows.”
It was a profound experience. Unfortunately, the program was discontinued soon after.
“After I graduated from Wayne State, I signed with a Talent Shop,” Shane explains. “They got me auditions for Comedy Central’s Detroiters, Mayor of Kingstown, and Chicago Fire, and I landed roles in each of these.”
Last summer, Shane also booked roles on Murdoch Mysteries and Sheriff Country.
Each acting job is a personal and professional milestone, and there are plenty on the horizon.
“I will be appearing in the TV show The Westies this July,” Shane says. “It’s about the Irish mob in Hell’s Kitchen, New York in the 1970s, starring J.K. Simmons and Titus Welliver. My role, originally, was supposed to be in one episode, but they liked my work and found ways to get me into six episodes of the eight-episode season.”
As Shane continues working to hone his acting skills, he has also continued writing, and was named this year’s winner of the annual Windsor Essex Playwriting contest through Windsor’s Shadowbox Theatre.
“My play is called The Pet, and will be performed at Shadowbox in October,” Shane says. “I won’t be in it, but I’ll certainly be in the audience.”
Follow developments in Shane’s acting career via his Facebook page: www.facebook.com/shane.nelson.376258.
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Published in the Summer 2026 Edition.
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