Meet Peyton Fleming | Actor, Writer, Comedian

We had the good fortune of connecting with Peyton Fleming and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Peyton, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
For me, it was a no brainer. All my life I’ve loved storytelling. I remember one instance when I was in first grade, I wrote a story during recess. My teacher found it and snatched it from me and I thought I was in big trouble. But then, later in the day, she read the story aloud to the class and applauded me for my creativity and it encouraged the rest of the class to write their own stories. We had reading material for story time for weeks! I remember what a sense of joy that gave me, knowing that I had helped spark and bring forth creativity in others, and allowed them to share their stories as well. And after deciding that’s what I want to do for the rest of my life, that feeling love and joy has only deepened over time

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I am an actor, and I have always considered myself to be more of a creator than a performer. As an introvert, it was always hard for me to be the loudest and most dazzling in a room full of people. The art I create is for myself. Consuming the content I create, (poems, stories, movement pieces) is like reading a page from my diary. I’m very rarely trying to push an agenda or make a statement, I’m simply trying to make sense of my thoughts, and I think sharing those personal truths is what makes my art loud and dazzling in it’s own special way. I still feel very far out from being a true professional. I haven’t even been in LA for 3 months at this point, and I still feel like a little baby. I’m still at the point where I am celebrating the little things. I finally finished a pilot I’ve been trying to write for the last year. I got into an acting studio I was very interested in attending and have the opportunity to act once a week. I even got cast as a lead in a short film, which I achieved by auditioning with a weird interpretive movement piece rather than traditional ballet which is what was asked for. Coming to LA as a young adult (with rampant anxiety AND depression, HEYOOO) I had so many fears. What if I’m too old? What if I never get out of this slump? What if I can’t make friends? But then coming here, I discovered all of those fears were COMPLETE fabrications. I’m the youngest person in my acting class, I haven’t felt this creatively inspired since college, and I’ve already made some really cool friends through work and projects. I’m sure different fears will settle in eventually as LA becomes my home, but for now if I could say anything to other creatives who are either too nervous to pull the trigger, or feel too far gone, it would be that as much as we think it does, fear isn’t rooted in reality, it’s rooted in insecurity. And when you can recognize that, and point at it and say, “HEY! I SEE WHAT YOU’RE DOING YOU SNEAKY SON OF A BITCH!” you may start to feel more like yourself than ever before. Take it from a scaredy cat like me.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
As a comedy nerd, you can always catch me taking a friend to a UCB or Groundlings show. I love going to Birds and then seeing a show at UCB Franklin. I forget the name, but there’s an ice cream shop around there that had the best vegan ice cream I’ve ever had in my LIFE. I dream about it still…

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My good friend Hanna Williamson, another comedian, really helped me get through quarantine. We both graduated from college in 2020 (yikes) and our plans on moving to LA had to be put off. Those months felt like purgatory. Everything felt so helpless. Hanna never let me forget why I loved doing what I do, and we created a lot of fun content together. But beyond the creative collaboration, she never allowed me to beat myself up about not making deadlines or not wanting to get out of bed or any of that stuff. She’s a kind and gentle soul who really helped me when I didn’t feel like helping myself. And now she’s moving to LA in September!

Website: peytonrfleming.com

Instagram: peyton_flemingo

Twitter: BAEtonfleming

Other: TikTok: BAEtonfleming

Image Credits
Mason Purece – Blue Chaos Shirt picture