We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Austin Peyton. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Austin below.
Austin, appreciate you joining us today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?
For most industries it seems as though there is a clear cut method on how to become successful in your field. Acting isn’t like that at all, in fact it feels like quite the opposite. Everyone’s process is different, everyone’s education is different, everyone’s background is different. I started in musical theatre at a very young age and that is how I feel in love with this industry. I threw all of myself into musical theatre. I worked at a community theatre as a choreographer and assistant director all through middle school starting at 12 years old. I then decided to attend a performing arts high school that was an hour from my house, so I would take the train to school and home every day. However, like any artist, my interests involved and towards the end of high school I began to fall in love with tv and film. When I started applying to colleges, I decided I wanted to be in LA and pursue screen acting, which lead me to the school I am at right now, The California Institute of the Arts. I’ve also trained many other places. I spent 5 summers training at Stagedoor Manor, a performing arts summer camp. I also spent a summer training in Shakespeare at The Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London. In order to hone my craft as a screen actor, I have done numerous short and student films to learn the differences between stage and screen and really prepare to step into the professional world.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I grew up in the suburbs of Chicago as the only gay boy I knew in my suburb. It was quite an isolating experience, but the arts provided an escape for me. I put everything I had into musical theatre and acting and attended an arts high school as a musical theatre major. Covid hit during my junior year and I filled my time in quarantine with content creation. I started posting videos on Tiktok and quickly grew a large audience of over 2.4 million followers for my acting and lifestyle content. I then moved to LA following high school to pursue a BFA in acting from The California Institute of the Arts. I am now in my senior year of college and working hard towards a career in screen acting.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
The most rewarding aspect for me is the messages one can spread through acting and the lives that a story can change. The arts started as an escape for me because I grew up in a place that wasn’t always accepting of me as a young gay boy. The arts always accepted me and provided me a home. It became my therapy and allowed me to process the things I was going through in my personal life. As I’ve grown, I’ve come into myself more and learned to love and accept myself. Through my art and the roles that I play, I hope to empower those who are stuck in the same place I was in to continue chasing their dreams.
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
I began posting on social media when I was 17 years old at the height of covid because I was frankly bored and needed an outlet for my creative expression. I quickly gained a large following of over 2 million followers in less than a month and as exciting as it was, it also became very overwhelming. There can be a lot of negativity and hate that comes with a social media presence, especially when you are just posting as yourself and not for a business or one specific type of content. Because of that, I stepped away from social media while in college to focus on my craft as an actor. I have now stepped back into posting with a whole new perspective on using it to grow my career and with a better understanding of the negativity and how to avoid it.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @austin_peypey
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/austin-peyton-651881104?lipi=urn%3Ali%3Apage%3Ad_flagship3_profile_view_base_contact_details%3BJsyBsokfTViSUuXq3jlv4A%3D%3D
- Youtube: @AustinPeyton
- Other: Tiktok – @austinpeyton
Image Credits
paulsmithphotography