THIS WEEK WE INTERVIEWED TGS MODEL AND ONE OF MORE TALENT’S NEWEST SIGNEES,

JESSE TROUT

CONTINUE READING TO LEARN A LITTLE ABOUT JESSE!

TELL ME ABOUT YOURSELF
My name is Jesse Trout and I am a Model and Actor. I was born on the east coast in a town twenty minutes outside the city of Philadelphia. From the age of seven, I was absolutely captivated by the world of media entertainment. Television, film, and music were always on the brain and I promised myself that, one day, I would pursue a career in any one of those facets. Adolescence was a very difficult time for me. I had moved several times across the country and adjusting to new environments and new people (who weren’t always accepting) was a challenge. I was homeschooled for several years in my elementary learning and, as much as I had been grateful to learn the world through my eyes (and not through the words of a biased school textbook), I also learned that the lack of social contact with children my age would pose as a big stumbling block in my growth. At the age of seven, I started to question my sexuality. Growing up in a Christian household and attending schools with a heavy demographic of religious families, I decided for myself that my sexuality was something I had to hide from, due to a fear of judgement from literally everyone. I found comfort and solace in my pursuits in theatre. It was a refreshing escape, being able to immerse myself in a reality that was not my own. But through acting, I had also awoken an ability to empathize with others. I received my high school diploma in California and decided I would be attending college with a major in Dramatics. I didn’t come out, until I was living on my own. I was 20 years old. Through all the strife and anxiety of my world, acting was the one constant that held true to me. After four years of college, I still felt dissatisfied with my pursuits. It was then, that I knew my journey was only the beginning and that I was in the wrong city. In 2015, I moved from San Diego County to the Entertainment Capital of the World.

What inspired you to pursue your current creative path?
When I came to Los Angeles, I decided to enroll myself in an acting conservatory at Los Angeles City College. There, I discovered how many mediums one could involve themselves with to be a part of the entertainment world. After the program, I took a commercial class that taught me how to brand myself and how to be successful in the audition room. I quickly learned that establishing my presence in the public and through social media was crucial to my career. Modeling for brands and companies was the next logical step for me to help cement my place in the commercial world. There are many models I am inspired by, who came from that universe and found an accessibility to the film world, such as Taylor Kitsch and Milla Jovovich. I hope one day that I'd be an inspiration to others who are following the same path.

How did you find out about TGS?
When I initially made the choice to pursue modeling, I had so many questions. I started to reach out to actors I had worked with who were signed with modeling agencies, models I knew through my boyfriend’s line of work, and my peers who graduated the program with me. A classmate of mine told me about a profile she was following on Instagram, called The Gypsy Shack. She said the best way to build a portfolio was to start attending photo meetups. I went to my first meetup at a beautiful location called The Flamingo House. I had no idea what the hell I was doing! I was so nervous, but I knew that the best way to achieve anything was to start. The first set of photos I received from a photographer at the meetup were so discouraging. If there was a time to be humbled, it was then. I didn’t know my angles, I didn’t know how to pose, and I also didn’t know how I could possibly utilize my skills as a film actor for this style of shooting. But I wasn’t going to stop there! I knew that I was just an amateur and I was only going to get better.

Why did you decide to join TGS?
TGS represents a new wave of modeling. The creed they live by that is entrenched in self-love, self-acceptance and no restrictions on height or weight, is absolutely inspiring to me. As a gay actor, I have been discouraged in the past to see that almost 100 percent of the most prolific gay characters in film, theatre and television, are played by straight actors and that very few gay actors are cast in anything. TGS represents a new era of individuality and representation and I want to model (no pun intended) that very thing in all of my pursuits.

Where do you draw your inspiration from?
A lot of my inspiration comes from cinematography. A true test of the quality of a director is to be able to freeze a frame or a moment of time (within a film or production) and still be able to see a dynamic message permeate without words or movement. I am still learning to harness this skill through my acting and modeling, but it is something I strive to achieve in whatever work I do.

Fave aesthetic, look or theme when shooting?
I love dark things: dark colors, dark lighting and shadows, and dark subject matter. I love to see things through a warped view or, rather, a perspective that very few people have. It’s a way of learning for me, to be able to comprehend a message through the unconventional eyes of someone else.

Do you have creative friends you like to meetup and brainstorm with?
Not in particular, no. I love to constantly be working with new people. It keeps me versatile and pragmatic. It also makes things a lot more unexpected and exciting!

Most interesting story revolving around your creative medium?
I’m not sure I have one select story that more interesting than others, to be honest. There are interesting things happening all the time to me in my fields of work. But I do notice how often I find myself almost naked in front of people, whether I am rushing to make a costume change or a wardrobe change. That’s always interesting.

Random stuff about you?
I guess I would say that a random thing about me would be my inner-nerd. I’m not sure one would guess that I am a big video game fan. The proper title is ‘Gaymer’ I’ve learned. I love the Fallout and Elder Scrolls series (mainly, because they are games that I don’t have to play online with others who are much better than me).