Christian Peterson, Class of 2012, has been a life-long theater and movie enthusiast. He recalls that a key part of his childhood being trips to the movies with his dad.
“We’d have a lot of discussions about the acting, and at some point, I was just like, ‘how do they do that?’” Christian says. “I kept being fascinated by the craft of it and being amazed that these actors could just transform to tell a really important story.”
Christian’s years at Hawthorne Valley Waldorf School—from kindergarten through Grade 12—provided him with many opportunities to explore the dynamics of acting. In high school, he participated in class plays and after school productions under the direction of David Anderson, Fern Sloan, Ted Pugh, Laurie Portocorrero, among others.
“Artistic experiences like that had a huge impact on me as a creative person,” he says. “The whole curriculum [at HVS] made me want to be creative in some way.”
Fast-forward to present day, Christian anticipates the release of a film adaption of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Blithesdale Romance, in which he stars as Hollingsworth, a character based on Herman Melville.
Christian describes the film as a psychological drama that focuses on “the relationship between people and how good intentions, reality, and people’s psychological and emotional states create a sort of environment that doesn’t always live up to ideals. It’s a very human story.”
The Blithesdale Romance is directed by local director Cody Knotts, and will be released in the fall of this year. It will be available on AmazonPrime, and a local screening is anticipated at the 2025 FilmColumbia Festival at the Crandell Theatre in Chatham.
Christian credits Fern Sloan for encouraging him on his journey of theatrical training, even as he pursued a degree in journalism and writing at Bridgeport University. He spoke of several foundational experiences for him, including being casted in a production of A Winter’s Tale with Walking the dog Theater and participating in a year-long intensive in the Chekov method with Laurie Portocorrero. But it was a Shakespearean acting training program at Oxford University that gave him clarity that he found fulfillment and joy in acting and wanted to pursue it on a professional level.
In all his roles over the years, Christian continues to be stuck by the power of theater. His first tour involved taking a play based on Emil Molt and the origins of Waldorf education to Waldorf schools around the US. He says the performances led to the most “amazing discussions” and reinforced his belief that theater has a “learning impact that is unparalleled.”
As he thinks towards the future, Christian is currently touring in England with a verbatim theatre group sharing stories based on survivors of the Holocaust. He continues to audition for roles both for the stage and screen. At the same time, he hopes to explore Waldorf teacher training as a way to give back and be the creative encouragement to the next generation that so many local actors and artists were for him.
“I would love to take what I’ve learned and bring it back to work in the community or at schools around the country,” he says. “Right now, I’m just keeping that thread open and continuing to cultivate it.”
If you’d like to keep up with Christian or learn more about Holistic Acting, check out his website here.
