We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Christian Frazier a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Christian, appreciate you joining us today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

I first learned how to act from attending Keene State College in Keene, New Hampshire, before graduating in 2022. However, I learned how to act from a more honest and deeper level within myself by enrolling in the Lee Strasberg Insititute in New York City. It was there that I studied method acting and all of its mystical and powerful beauty. To be honest, I should have started at Strasberg much early on, as I had taken a two-year gap between graduating college in 2022 and then enrolling at Strasberg for the winter course of 2025.

I believe the skills that were the most essential was the sensory work that method acting is built upon. In the simplest of terms, sensory is a process of relaxation and being able to connect with all five senses to an emotional memory. In turn, this brings about an honest reaction from the actor- an honest reaction that the actor can use in a scene to make it “believable”.

There were simply two obstacles that stood in the way of me learning more- myself and money. Being an actor is constantly being in a contest with yourself. You always need to be practicing, and you should always strive to be better than you were yesterday. Acting is never-ending exercise for the mind, the body and the artist within you. I’m also not rich, and classes cost money. Had I had more money to my name, I would continue to study it past the winter course. In time, I definitely will.

Christian, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name is Christian Frazier. I am currently twenty-five years old. I was born in Nashua, New Hampshire and was raised in Manchester, New Hampshire. Ever since I was around six years old, I always had this joy of entertaining my friends and family. I would compete in talent shows through my elementary and middle school years. It was when I turned fourteen years old, I got a haircut. This haircut reminded a friend’s mom of the actor James Dean, and so I did some research on him. I learned about his life, his work and his legacy through books and his movies. That Christmas, my grandmother gifted me a DVD copy of Rebel Without a Cause, Dean’s trademark film. After watching it well over a thousand times, it was that exact moment I knew I wanted to be an actor. To express myself, to be bold and daring.

After that, through high school, I joined a theater club, where I performed in plays and musicals. After graduating in 2018, I got accepted to attend Keene State College in Keene, New Hampshire, with a bachelor’s degree in acting. I graduated from there in 2022.

After that, I was on that “post-college depression”, not knowing where I needed to go or what to do post grad. I was so caught up in pleasing my parents (who are divorced and are very different from each other and myself). My mom had moved to Florida with my stepdad, and my dad and stepmom, along with my three siblings, were living their lives in New Hampshire and weren’t leaving any time soon. I was caught in the crossfire and felt really low. I was scared. I was uncertain. In turn of all of that, I shamefully lost touch with what I am, what I am born to do.

I eventually moved to Georgia, trying to convince myself that would be the spot to get acting work while also living somewhere that wasn’t New Hampshire for a change. I quickly fell into a depression. I asked myself “what am I doing down here? Not acting. That’s a problem”. I wasn’t there for even a year before I did some therapy and quickly realized that I was born to be an actor, and that New York City was the place for me. I also realized through therapy that it was the fear of failure that had seeped into my head. I wasn’t giving myself a fighting chance.

Fear is the greatest enemy to man. It can cripple you. It will keep you down for good if you let it. It can totally shift you off course from doing what you need and should be doing. You are on this planet once. Why not make it the time to live for yourself? Do not rob yourself of living the life you always dream about every night and day. Especially as an artist.

Finding your purpose is hard for many as well, I think. It’s especially hard if you are seen as “different” and you are the only actor in your entire family. Through therapy, I like to think I “rediscovered” my purpose- to be an actor. NYC terrified me, but I have lived there since September of 2024, and I have not looked back since. I took a risk and quickly learnt that risks and occasional failure can bring you to newfound success and happiness, as much as that seems like an oxymoron. Now I am here and in the thick of art culture in NYC. The opportunity is everywhere you go, and it’s just the perfect fit for me as an actor.

What sets me apart from others is that I act for, through and from myself. I don’t do it for the audience, I do it for the script, the message, and the lesson to be learned, whether that be through comedy or drama. I don’t see it as a job or a status. I don’t see it as this “thing you try for a year and see what happens”. I don’t see it as work. I see it as a way of creative life. I see acting as a duty- a gift to show society why it is that we as humans behave the way we do.

I am most proud of how true and kind I have been to myself the last few years of my life as an artist. I have learnt really quick that dreams are only dreams if you don’t take risk and work for it. It might take a while, but it always plays out in the end. You will achieve greatness, and you will be more at peace with yourself as an artist.

What I want followers and fans to know about me is that I want my acting to be versatile as possible. To be able to play all sorts of characters in a wide variety. An aim where I can be unpredictable in roles that I take on. Honesty is the number one quality I make the top priority in when I perform. To me, if a scene or performance isn’t honest and personal, you’ve already lost the power and message that acting holds. You lose everything.

I’ve always had an admiration for the classical masculine actors like Marlon Brando, Harrison Ford, Paul Newman, Steve McQueen. To name some contemporary faces, I really enjoy the work of Cillian Murphy, Bryan Cranston, and Jeremy Allen White. Vulnerable, honest yet strong, complex men.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

After living in New Hampshire for nineteen years, I eventually became too comfortable to leave and take a risk in moving to an area where I didn’t know I would flourish in. I was crippled by fear. I didn’t know I was doing such a disservice to myself as an actor by not giving NYC a chance when I left college. Not giving myself a chance. It took some money, depression, therapy, and growing pains to realize that I simply didn’t fail but took a wrong turn when I moved to Georgia. I needed to grow up and give myself a chance. A real fighting chance. I needed to put myself in a place where I can actually make an honest and steady living off of acting. To make it my whole career. I had to switch my thinking a lot, come to terms with a lot, be open to some mental callousing every now and then to make my dreams become reality. I also learnt it is not fair to make yourself live someone else’s life or dream. You know what you have to do to make your dreams become true. So, do it.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The most rewarding is seeing people who watch my work sit and ponder about it. To be able to leave someone with a piece of emotion and lesson to chew on and think about is quite frankly a great feeling I get as an actor. To have that effect on someone’s life is precious and is humbling. Because that is the purpose of being an actor- to show humanity why it is that we humans say and do certain things to each other. It’s a commentary on life, a mirror to society.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: christian_frazier
• Facebook: Christian Frazier
• Other: I have an account on Backstage and Actor’s Access!

Image Credits

Caroline Hentz
Celine Peron
Ximena Esparragoza