Tristen Brown is an actor and aspiring stuntman at Texas Wesleyan.

Brown arrived at Wesleyan in the fall of 2016. Born in Germany, Brown moved to Dallas along with his family when he was six years old. He has spent his college career at Wesleyan and will graduate with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting in theatre arts this December.

Brown began his theatre career in third grade and took a break in middle school before resuming his career in high school. Brown auditioned and was accepted into the Theatre Wesleyan program. However, Wesleyan wasn’t his first choice.

“At first, I didn’t give much thought to Wesleyan,” Brown said. “I went and did my audition and visited the campus and instantly fell in love because of how beautiful the campus was and how friendly everyone is.”

As well as being an actor, Brown also works behind the scenes. In 2019, Theatre Wesleyan did a production of Avenue Q. Brown was the sound engineer and live mixed the show while the performance was happening.

For Brown, narrowing down his favorite production is not an easy task. His first production was also his favorite to participate in at Theatre Wesleyan, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike.

“I had to play a young actress and do an actual strip tease on stage and that was so fun and such a barrier to break since it was my first show in college,” Brown said.

Brown’s greatest accomplishment was winning the Trail Blazer Award at the Rammies in 2019.

“It was nice to see that people recognized the work that I did and to know that left an impact and to see that people appreciated my work,” Brown said.

The biggest piece of advice that Brown would give to any incoming Theatre Wesleyan students is to try absolutely everything and develop a good work ethic.

“That’s how you move up in the theatre world,” Brown says. “As long as you have a good work ethic, continue to be yourself, and just trying new things you’re going to keep moving up.”

Throughout his career at Wesleyan, Jeanne Everton, associate professor of theatre, has played a large role in Brown’s success. Everton has been with Brown since his first day with Theatre Wesleyan.

Brown said, “She’s the type of person that makes you grow by making you think inward and internalizing your own problems so that you can change your perspective on them.”

Brown is certified by the Society of American Fight Directors in broadsword and single sword combat. He dreams of playing large stunt roles in combat films such as Black Panther or Spider-Man.

After graduating, Brown plans on continuing to work at Medieval Times as a Squire with hopes of becoming a Knight. With Covid-19 regulations, large theater productions may be on hold for a while. However, Brown would love to get back into large productions as soon as he can.

Story by Mallory Marks