From “Shrek the Ogre” to soap operas, two actors and a director shared their stories with Bradley’s theatre students Nov. 19 at Hartmann Center.
Slane College of Communications and Fine Arts Dean Jeffrey Huberman invited actors Amro Salama and Eric Peterson, along with director Steve Wyman, to visit campus, lecture and offer advice to students.
Salama and Peterson are alumni of Bradley’s Theatre Department. Salama first enrolled at Bradley as a civil engineer major, but he switched his major to theatre arts during his freshman year.
The three men interacted and offered advice through a question-and-answer with students. Students learned how to build connections and look for roles.
Senior theatre arts major Chris Vith said it was refreshing to hear three varied perspectives on the show business industry, and it eased his worries about his own post-grad job hunt.
“Treasure your years here where you can mess up, be who you want to be [and] figure out at your core who you want to be without the consequences,” Peterson said. “After you graduate, you have to deal with the consequences.”
One day after graduating from Bradley in 2003, Peterson landed his first professional acting job at The Barn Theater in Port Sanilac, Michigan.
Peterson then met his wife, a fellow actress, and followed her to New York. The Chicago native said he was shocked by fast-paced New York and resented the city for his first few months before adjusting and landing a role with a traveling theatre production for children.
After graduating in 1993, Salama headed straight to New York, where he studied at The American Music and Dramatic Academy College of the Performing Arts for two semesters.
A few years later, Salama landed the role in the 1998 film “The Siege” starring Bruce Willis, Annette Benning and Denzel Washington. He worked alongside the three stars, even performing his own stunt of running through fire. Afterward, Salama moved to Los Angeles for new roles.
“Doing the film gave me the courage to go out there and do it myself,” Salama said. “An actor’s job is to go out there and audition; getting the role is the cherry on top.”
Steve Wyman has traveled the world, from Israel to Andorra and Chile, while also padding his resume as an actor and theatre director. He doesn’t claim to have had a “career” but rather a “careen,” not settling down for too long in any position until he began his work in soap operas. Wyman has worked closely with the Bradley University Theatre Department for several years, coming in for lectures, courses and expeditions.
Junior theatre arts major Derek Yeghiazarian said he learned about the difficulties actors face through this.
“I took away from this what it takes to become an actor,” Yeghiazarian said. “Actors don’t all have a universal story. You have to be comfortable living in a fluid environment. Especially seeing these three coming from my university shows the support system and people who come from where I come from can have a career.”
