Garrett Clayton, on Playing a Heartthrob in Hairspray Live! and Having the Courage to Be Himself
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| Garrett Clayton, on Playing a Heartthrob in Hairspray Live! and Having the Courage to Be Himself |
Garrett Clayton, on Playing a Heartthrob in Hairspray Live! and Having the Courage to Be Himself
The 25-year-old actor — known for roles on TV’s The Fosters, the indie film King Cobra and in the Disney Channel’s Teen Beach movie franchise — first chose Larkin’s signature tune, “It Takes Two,” as his audition song while studying to get his B.F.A. in musical theater at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan
Since then, Clayton’s kept 16- and 32-bar cuts of the 1950s-style doo-wop ballad in his audition cycle. (It’s one of the songs that helped him book the first Teen Beach film in 2013). And after seven years of crooning for casting agents, he’ll finally get the chance to sing the tune live on Wednesday — to an audience of thousands
It’s really exciting,” he told PEOPLE, when reflecting on the experience in a phone conversation. “I even went and bought [the soundtrack] as soon as it came out. I went online and said, “I have to buy this because now I get to buy the cast album that I’m on.’ I geeked out a little bit
It makes sense, because Clayton is a theater kid at heart
After years of playing sports like karate, boxing, football and soccer, the Michigan native did his first play at a summer camp when he was 13. He was hooked, and joined the drama club full time soon thereafter. “There was one summer where I did three shows all at the same time — including You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown,” Clayton said. “I really fell in love with it
But at the beginning of high school, Clayton wasn’t as confident in who he was. “I was trying to be someone for the first part of high school,” he said. “I was kind of this nerdy kid who didn’t want to be a nerd anymore. Even talking about it, I’m embarrassed. I’m like, ‘Ugh, why did you care what people thought
Things changed when his friends circle turned on him. “Partway through school, I had dated someone my other friend liked and all the people who I thought were my friends ended up hating me. They wanted her to date my other friends. And because she dated me, they hated both of us
When they split, Clayton realized the people in his life weren’t friends with the real him.
“They were friends with this idea of the person I was trying to be,” he said. “And when all of those things were happening, I realized I don’t care about what people think of me — I just want to be happy. Ever since then, everything I’ve done in life, I’ve just been chasing happiness and trying to keep honest, good people in my life
It’s why I relate to Link,” Clayton said. “There’s all these idealistic things that TV and movies tell you that you should want to be. And when you’re growing up, you find out what you really care about and what really matters
The 25-year-old actor — known for roles on TV’s The Fosters, the indie film King Cobra and in the Disney Channel’s Teen Beach movie franchise — first chose Larkin’s signature tune, “It Takes Two,” as his audition song while studying to get his B.F.A. in musical theater at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan
Since then, Clayton’s kept 16- and 32-bar cuts of the 1950s-style doo-wop ballad in his audition cycle. (It’s one of the songs that helped him book the first Teen Beach film in 2013). And after seven years of crooning for casting agents, he’ll finally get the chance to sing the tune live on Wednesday — to an audience of thousands
It’s really exciting,” he told PEOPLE, when reflecting on the experience in a phone conversation. “I even went and bought [the soundtrack] as soon as it came out. I went online and said, “I have to buy this because now I get to buy the cast album that I’m on.’ I geeked out a little bit
It makes sense, because Clayton is a theater kid at heart
After years of playing sports like karate, boxing, football and soccer, the Michigan native did his first play at a summer camp when he was 13. He was hooked, and joined the drama club full time soon thereafter. “There was one summer where I did three shows all at the same time — including You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown,” Clayton said. “I really fell in love with it
But at the beginning of high school, Clayton wasn’t as confident in who he was. “I was trying to be someone for the first part of high school,” he said. “I was kind of this nerdy kid who didn’t want to be a nerd anymore. Even talking about it, I’m embarrassed. I’m like, ‘Ugh, why did you care what people thought
Things changed when his friends circle turned on him. “Partway through school, I had dated someone my other friend liked and all the people who I thought were my friends ended up hating me. They wanted her to date my other friends. And because she dated me, they hated both of us
When they split, Clayton realized the people in his life weren’t friends with the real him.
“They were friends with this idea of the person I was trying to be,” he said. “And when all of those things were happening, I realized I don’t care about what people think of me — I just want to be happy. Ever since then, everything I’ve done in life, I’ve just been chasing happiness and trying to keep honest, good people in my life
It’s why I relate to Link,” Clayton said. “There’s all these idealistic things that TV and movies tell you that you should want to be. And when you’re growing up, you find out what you really care about and what really matters
