I grew up in Washington State and spent most of my childhood outdoors playing some sport or game like capture the flag or hide-n-go-seek. I am first and foremost, a nerd. I love all things Superman and love nothing more than just binge watching cartoons. I grew up eating cereal and watching Looney Tunes on Saturday mornings. I discovered my love of performing by entertaining my family around the holidays with skits that I would put on with my brothers & sister. However, it wasn't until Junior High that I found myself on stage for the first time. When I got to High School I kind of fell off the performing arts track as a large majority of the plays at my school were musicals, which just isn't me. I still played sports and ended up on the Varsity Swim Team for my Junior & Senior years, being named Captain in the latter. It was also in High School that I found my leadership skills and my love of teaching. I taught swim lessons to 3-10 year olds and for my Senior Project taught a 3rd/4th grade class Japanese, which I took all through High School.
I was halfway through filling out applications for the big "State" colleges in WA when I came to a realization: I don't know why I'm going to college. In my generation, it became the status quo that everyone had to have a college degree to get a job and if you didn't know what you wanted to be, you just figured it out along the way. That's a really expensive way to figure out your journey in life while not really making any true progress. So I decided to take a page out of my Stepdad's book and joined the military, with one minor improvement. I decided to become a Marine. I have always been very easy going yet determined when I set my mind to a task, so I knew I could be a Marine. I was nervous going in as most people are, but soon found that I wasn't going to be brainwashed but rather turned into the best version of myself that there was at the time. I spent my six years of active duty in California, Florida, Arizona, North Carolina, Texas, Maryland, and Iraq...twice. After all I experienced during my time in the Marines I wouldn't change a thing. Every decision I have made and every step I've taken has led to me to where I am today, New York City.
I was halfway through filling out applications for the big "State" colleges in WA when I came to a realization: I don't know why I'm going to college. In my generation, it became the status quo that everyone had to have a college degree to get a job and if you didn't know what you wanted to be, you just figured it out along the way. That's a really expensive way to figure out your journey in life while not really making any true progress. So I decided to take a page out of my Stepdad's book and joined the military, with one minor improvement. I decided to become a Marine. I have always been very easy going yet determined when I set my mind to a task, so I knew I could be a Marine. I was nervous going in as most people are, but soon found that I wasn't going to be brainwashed but rather turned into the best version of myself that there was at the time. I spent my six years of active duty in California, Florida, Arizona, North Carolina, Texas, Maryland, and Iraq...twice. After all I experienced during my time in the Marines I wouldn't change a thing. Every decision I have made and every step I've taken has led to me to where I am today, New York City.
My active duty service ended in December of 2010 and I started school at Marymount Manhattan College here in NYC at the end of January 2011. I thought I was going to be so far behind having spent six years outside of academia however, I wasn't the oldest one in school nor the only veteran. I soon began to feel right at home and found myself traveling the world with the amazing woman that would one day be my wife. In the summer of 2013 we embarked on a two month backpacking trip that took us to 19 countries in Europe. It was on that trip that I discovered my love of photography! I was so happy to be seeing the world and pursuing my dream of acting for a living! I auditioned for a few projects while in undergrad and actually worked a few but nothing major until after Marymount. I graduated Magna Cum Laude in May of 2014 and immediately booked a National Tour of a brand new show, Basetrack Live. I kept pinching myself because this doesn't happen. I was lucky enough to tour the country with an amazing cast & crew for 6 months on such a beautiful show.
After finishing up the tour I knew it was time to continue my training, because I still felt physically stiff on stage from my years in the Corps. My wonderful wife (then fiancee) found a list of the Top Drama Schools in the World and suggested I look into them. I narrowed my focus to the UK, which had about 5 of the top 10, because all of the actors I admired were coming over from the UK. I auditioned for a few of the international MA programs and was accepted into Drama Centre; of Michael Fassbender, Emilia Clarke, & Tom Hardy fame. So off to London we went for one of the longest, most grueling, yet rewarding years of my life. Not only did I find the training I was looking for but I also found the wonderful experience of living in London, which is another one of the greatest cities in the world.
So welcome to my site! Here is where you can track my progress and stay up to date on upcoming projects. For those of you who know me, thank you for your support thus far and for those of you who do not, I really appreciate your interest in my work. Thank you again and stay tuned!
- Tyler