It is often too easy for us to be slow to acknowledge that there are those artists and performers among us who are unusual in their breadth of skills, sometimes expressing these in more than one career within a single lifetime.
Brit Whittle is certainly emblematic of this phenomenon in the arts.
He has had at least two careers: one in the worlds of acting and one in the seminary and ministry. I found that we had an enormous amount in common, particularly intellectually, the latter often far rarer than I would expect or hope. We cover a lot of topics in this episode: the curious and complex history of Christianity, the nature of being a working actor, cultural and geographical diversity in the United States and being a Gen Xer in the 20202.
I hope you enjoy watching this one at least a much as we did creating it.
More on Brit:
I grew up in very conservative environments in Georgia. Church wise, politically, culturally…
While I played sports, I was always drawn to music, theater, and literature. I was a very popular kid until I walked away from sports and focused on music. My first access to the arts was in churches.
We would act out Bible scenes, or do musicals about famous biblical stories. One of the first ministers I remember actually listening to was an incredible speaker. I was just 11, 12 years old but he had such command of his subject matter and could hold the attention of the entire sanctuary.
It made me wonder if that was something I wanted to do as well? Be a minister. But that didn’t go over well either at home or with the minister at the time. I was told to go to college and worry about being a minister later. So in college I discovered theater and the rest was history.
It was a bumpy road getting established as a professional actor in Atlanta, Georgia. I didn’t have a theater degree, and very little professional experience. And I had this southern accent problem. It made voice coaches and stage directors cringe. But I plowed ahead anyway and after several years of this, I recognized that if I wanted to truly succeed as an actor, then I needed to get out of Atlanta and move to either NYC or LA. And to succeed in those places, I needed more formal training. Laurie was actually a huge inspiration and role model for me on this.
I got my MFA in Acting from the Florida State/Asolo Conservatory and even studied for a summer in London. One of the most affirming parts of my time in the UK was studying with Patsy Rodenberg who worked at both The National Theatre and the Guildhall School in London. She once asked me what my biggest fear was in performing Shakespeare? So I said “Sounding dumb or unintelligent in doing so”. I said I was often called out for my accent. She scoffed at my dismissal and said “Do you know what we call that dynamic here in the UK?” I said no. She then placed her hand at her head and made it into a talking puppet. “We call it ‘my little fucker’. It’s that voice in our head that’s constantly chattering at us and saying we are not good enough.”
She assigned me a Hamlet monologue and on the side would encourage me to let my true accent out. My southern accent and when I did that, I would naturally fall into the iambic pentameter. But when I got up in front of my classmates, I still struggled hiding my true voice.
I continued working on bringing Georgia into the room whenever I was acting or performing. It took years but I finally did it and started having financial success for the first time in my acting career.
Later on, I got married, lost my mother, and then had 3 little girls, one of whom is now in heaven. It was that latter experience, a late term pregnancy loss, that reawakened my need for God and possibly becoming a minister.I came to fatherhood late in life.
So, when my 3 girls came along…I wanted them to know that other guy who I was in my youth. And the more I thought about it, the more important my spiritual life became.
After some nudging from my wife, I put myself out there and went through discernment with a group of colleagues. To my surprise, Princeton Theological Seminary accepted me. And then went out of their way to accommodate me and my family in our move here.
It’s been a hard transition but it’s also been filled with joy and serendipitous moments. My wife and I call the latter “God winks”.
It feels a little disorienting at times not constantly being available for self tapes, or filming tv shows or recording voice overs…but I can sense something else I am moving towards. It’s like an internal riptide, pulling my spirit in a direction.
The Spanish put the Latin term “plus ultra”on their coins after discovering the Americas. And that term means “more beyond”.
That’s where I’m heading. The more I can’t see yet but can feel in my soul.
Website: www.britwhittle.com
Princeton Theological Seminary: www.ptsem.edu/