Quick Chat: Acting Apprentice Christian Wilson

The Quick Chat series is where we dive into the life and times of APT’s finest. Each interview will supply insights ranging from the obviously relevant to the vaguely strange. This week features APT Acting Apprentice Christian Wilson who is playing Costar Pearmain in Recruiting Officer, Duke Fredrick Lord 1 in As You Like It, and Friar Peter in Measure for Measure this season.

APT: Tell us about yourself: Where you’re from, where you live now and how your path led you to APT?

Christian: I was born in Florida but raised in New Orleans, and after Hurricane Katrina my family and I moved to Dallas, Texas. I first heard about APT from a very close friend, Wigasi Brant, who got to work up here after graduating from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. I joined their MFA the next year and made it a goal to be able to come up here to continue training. I saw how his work and the work of a few other UIUC students improved while they were here and I wanted that type of training. 

APT: How did you fall in love with theater?

Christian: Shortly after moving to Dallas, I started attending theatre classes in Lancaster, Texas as a sound technician. My teacher did an amazing job of helping me feel like there was space for my voice there, and my classmates honored my thoughts in a way that I’d never experienced. I instantly knew that they were my tribe. 

APT:  This is your first season here! What’ve been the best and most challenging parts of your experience thus far?

Christian: The best part of being up here is probably the most challenging as well: being on that stage up the Hill! The first day we (the first years) got to go up there and speak on that stage, I was full of excitement and anxiety. “Oh my God I get to speak here!” and “Can I be heard?” cycled through my head in a loop. It’s challenging, because it’s my first time working in an outdoor space, but exciting to be able to exercise my acting muscles with such an amazing company of actors who will always offer support and advice on how to grow.  

APT: What has surprised you about APT?

Christian: The amount of diversity I see here! I believe APT, like all companies, still has room for growth. However, the strides that APT’s artistic leaders are taking to have conversations about gender and race and how it affects the story - that’s something I never thought I would get to see at a theatre of this caliber, and I’m grateful

APT: When you’re not on the stage, what are your hobbies and how do you like spending your time?:

Christian: I spend a lot of time on the river, it’s my happy place. I grew up near a river, and when I find myself feeling alone or lost I can go there and plug back in. I also love reading fictional books that have a bit of magic in them. Currently, I’m rereading Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles.

APT: What is next for you?

Christian: I’m not sure exactly, I’m planning to move to Chicago and hoping for a library day job. All I can say that’s definite is that I want to be able to support the people I love, while doing what I love. Theatre is what I love doing and I believe Chicago is a great city to do it in. 

APT: What food would be the best to make a house out of and why?:

Christian: That's a good one, I believe fruitcake would be great. Hardly anyone wants to eat it so you know it will last, and I’ve never seen one go bad.

APT: Anything else you would like to add?: 

Christian: Not really, aside from a thank you for letting me do this interview, and please come out and see some of the shows! Blood Knot especially!