Today we’d like to introduce you to Austin McLeod.
Austin, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I was born in Jacksonville, Florida to a small family that consisted of me, my mom, and my older brother. Since early on in my childhood, I have always been an imaginative person. It started when I would constantly read books and watch movies or tv shows. I was always drawn in by unique stories and interesting characters like from Alice in Wonderland, Roald Dahl books, or Tim Burton’s movies. These things helped me escape to a different world in my mind and allowed me to play out different characters and stories. I began to learn about acting and theatre from performing in musical showcases at school or doing little skits at Cub Scout meetings. I even performed in many Christmas plays at my local church, one of which I played one of the three wise men in the nativity scene. As a kid, I loved to play pretend by myself or with other kids. But discovering that I can play pretend for an audience was something new to me. After moving to Texas in 2011, I took a break from acting and theatre to started learning about art. I started to have a fascination with painting, drawing, and photography all throughout my middle school years. I’m still fascinated by art and I make drawings and paintings to this day. At the end of my 8th grade year, I decided to sign up for theatre classes for my freshmen year of high school as I wanted to try and get back into doing theatre. Because of this, it has led to me re-discovering theatre all over again. I was cast in plays such as “Macbeth”, “Neil Simon’s Rumors”, and “Female Transport” for the UIL One Act Play competition. I also took film classes at Miller Career and Technology Center where I acted in a couple of short films made by my friends. After high school, I went to Houston Community College where I did theatre there and starred in numerous plays. I was even cast as Peter Pan in a production of Peter & The Star-Catcher that, unfortunately, got cancelled due to the pandemic. After finishing at HCC, I went to Texas State University where I majored in Theatre Performance & Production. While I was only cast in two productions there, I was heavily active in the film club and starred in some short films, one of which was produced by the film club. I even directed my own short film based on a Samuel Beckett play entitled “PLAY”. In 2021, there was a casting call for extras for The CW’s show “Walker,” where I made my television debut as an extra in one of the episodes. After graduating in 2022, I started auditioning at various Houston theatre companies the day after graduation. In 2023. I was cast in a show called “The House of Patrick,” produced by a theatre company called Vincent Victoria Presents. I played the boyfriend to the main character, Patrick Kelly. Later that year, I participated in the Houston 48 Hour Film competition where I played a ghost rodeo clown for the dark comedy film “For A Few Chuckles More.” The film won 3rd place in best film and I was awarded “Best Ensemble Performance.” While 2023 was good, 2024 was probably my best year in acting. It was the year where I got to do my first commercial for NIKE that was directed by Robert Rodriguez and featured Travis Scott. After that, I got to work on sketch comedy videos, short films, web shows, commercials, a feature film, two theatre productions back-to-back, a music video, and act as a supernumerary in a production at the Houston Grand Opera. Needless to say, I was very much booked and busy all 2024. As of 2025, I have worked on another feature film, some commercials, a couple of short films, and a new play entitled “I Am The Blues.” Looking back on my childhood and seeing how far I’ve come, I can easily say how proud I am of all the hard work I put into doing what I truly was destined to do. I look to legends like Robin Williams and Heath Ledger as I aspire to be like them. My motto throughout life is, “Giving up is never an option.” All inspired by my mom who raised two boys all by herself. I truly wanted dreamed to be an actor when I was younger and now I’m living out those dreams. I hope to become an inspiration to everyone, everywhere. To never give up and follow your passions, no matter where you came from.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Oh, there were definitely struggles along the way. I faced many challenges, both in my childhood and currently today. As a person on the spectrum, socializing and communicating with others was very hard for me. Not to mention, I had constantly switched schools, so it was even harder to make friends or to talk to people. In 2011, everything got worse as my family were forced out of our home by corporate banks and were homeless for a while. At the age of 12, I was living in various hotels and motels until we found a small apartment we stayed at until the school year ended. We moved out to Houston, TX in the summer to be closer with our relatives, who let us stay at their house until we could find a new home. From Florida to Texas, I was bullied by other kids at school and I truly felt alone and hopeless. I experienced heavy amounts of depression and suicidal thoughts. Luckily, I went to therapy and start journaling my thoughts out. That’s where I developed a love for art as I started drawing out sketches and various characters from the books I read. After deciding to go back into theatre in high school, theatre started to become a safe space for me. I met a lot of new people because of theatre, some that I’m still friends with today, and it has let me be creative in a physically way. Aside from watching movies and tv, I started reading different plays. I was more drawn to Absurdist theatre with plays like Rhinoceros and The Bald Soprano. During my sophomore and senior year, I got to go to New York City where I got to see some plays and musicals and ventured around the city. After graduating high school, I wasn’t so sure what I truly wanted to do. But I remembered the one thing I wanted to be ever since I was a 14, I truly knew wanted to be an actor and dedicate myself to be one. The more I understood theatre, the more I realize how much it saved me. As a child, I played pretend or watched movies to escape the drudgery of the world, but acting and theatre helped emphasized my escapism. It also gave me an understanding of the human experience and human nature itself. Whether it’s fictional or real, it gave me a sense on how people communicated with each other and how stories and cultures were told from different time periods and from different countries. Acting itself helped me be more open with myself, to live in the moment, to share a connection with one another, and to not be afraid and instead be more fearless than I ever was. The journey was hard, and it still is, but knowing how I faced many challenges and obstacles without giving up, I couldn’t be any more prouder of myself than I am now. Giving up is never an option, and to this day, it still isn’t.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am mostly known for being an actor, both in theatre and in film. I have worked on two web shows entitled “Chasing Lies” and “After Ours: a lil show”, both produced by In the House Media and After Ours LLC. Also, with In the House, I have worked other short films and sketch comedy videos. I am also known for starring in films such as “The Dichotomy of Hattie McDaniel” which has won several awards including “Best Feature Film” at the Charlotte Black Film Festival, and two short films “Introvert Club” and “Fanboy”, to which they both been screened at dozens of festivals including Los Angeles, New York City, and New Brunswick, New Jersey. There are more films and tv shows I appear in that will premiere soon so be on the lookout for those. As for theatre, I have appeared as a supernumerary for two Houston Grand Opera productions including “Il Trovatore” and “La Bohème”. This year, I have worked on various film projects and I starred in a new play entitled “I Am The Blues” that ran at MATCH Theatre August 8-10th. Not only do I act, but I have also directed my own short film entitled “PLAY” that had a short film festival run. You can view it on YouTube with title “PLAY a short film by Austin McLeod”. I also dabble in graphic design and have made posters for various short films and still open to doing so. It’s hard for me to choose which I am most proud of because I am grateful for every experience and every opportunity given to me. So I would say I am proud of everything I have accomplished. The thing that sets me apart for others is my interest of doing all things. I have worked many crew jobs including Sound Board Operator, Script Supervisor, Production Assistant, and Food Runner. I like to explore different things and learn new ways of creating art and other forms of media. I want to get into photography as I like to take pictures on my phone of different landscapes and unique scenery. I do try to keep my mind occupied, but for now, acting is my main passion.
What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
I think about this question from time to time. With the rise of Ai and how it’s effecting everything, I just hope there will be films that will have human actors as humans can truly convey emotions and connect to one another. Same goes for theatre. Theatre and Film have such a lasting impact on my life and on everyone’s life as we are moved by visual storytelling. I can’t see an Ai robot do that. I hope there will be more original stories to be told, more opportunities for everyone, and more things to inspire the children. Someone to look up and make others want to follow their dreams and goals. That is mostly what I want to see in the next couple of years. I want others to live out their dreams no matter who they are or where they came from. I want more people to have the courage to make believe, create art, connect in any way, and play pretend in front of audiences. I really do believe there will be a resurgence of people tapping into their imagination and being able create in the most humanly way possible.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://sites.google.com/view/austinmcleod/home
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_austinmcleod_/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/austin.mcleod.39741/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@austinnotthecity
Image Credits
Personal photo: Andrew Vaughn Addition photos: Tasha Gorel, Sean Gentry, Lynn Lane, Cindy Lee, In The House Media, V Rodriguez, Vincent Victoria, and HCC
