Brent Charles emits an aura of gratitude. He is grateful for his parents and his teachers — all the people who have encouraged and believed in him — but also for the help and support of the Chickasaw Nation. He realizes that, without this support, it would not have been possible for him to succeed when he moved to Los Angeles, California, from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, at the age of 18. He wanted to pursue his dreams of acting, and through his network of support that is exactly what he is doing.
Charles first discovered his love of performance when he was in elementary school. He realized how much fun acting was. “This was my version of a video game,” Charles said. When Charles got to middle school, though, sports became more of a focus for him. He still took theater classes, but he didn’t perform. He was trying to figure out who he was and what he wanted to do, and sports provided something a little different for him.
When he transferred to Putnam City North High School in Oklahoma City, a school known for its high level of athleticism, Charles decided to change course. He liked sports, and he was good at them, but he did not think he was good enough to play competitively at that level. This decision ended up being a transformative moment in his life, because it brought him back to the theater. This was the moment when it was more than just fun for him; he fell in love with the theater and began to see it as a career path. This is when he decided to move to Los Angeles.
After graduating high school, Charles moved to California to pursue his dreams of becoming a professional actor. He had been accepted into The American Musical and Dramatic Academy (AMDA) in Los Angeles, and he was ready to take that next step as an artist. It wasn’t easy, though.
“It was exciting. It was nerve-wracking. It was all the emotions. I feel like it would have been different if I had family there or someone to fall back on if I was feeling down, but I didn’t have that,” Charles said. “I was in a new place with new people. I didn’t know anybody and was thrown into the deep end and there was a lot of uncertainty.”
Despite the loneliness and the uncertainty, Charles was determined to succeed. It was a determination he had learned from his family, and he always knew that even if he was half a continent away, he still had their love and support.
Growing up, his parents were very strict, but Charles is grateful for that because it made him the person he is and taught him valuable life lessons. His parents were determined for Charles and his siblings to succeed, and they were supportive of all three of their children’s artistic pursuits. While Charles is an actor, his brother Kaleb, who goes by Kristo Blanc, is a musician who also does video production. His sister, Lailah, is a fine artist, working in sculpture, pastels and painting. Even though his parents were not in the arts, they were supportive of their children’s interests and pursuits.
“My parents were really supportive of me following my dreams,” Charles said. “They weren’t able to pursue careers in the arts. Our parents had to get ‘real jobs’ and I say that with the utmost respect because I realize that what I do is a privilege, and I certainly don’t take it for granted.”
After completing the two-year studio program at AMDA, Charles worked for four years and then enrolled in the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) in 2018. As one of the most prestigious theater programs in the country, Charles could not have been more excited. However, it is also a very expensive school. Charles said there is no way he would have been able to have that experience without the support of the Chickasaw Nation.
When Charles was a child, he remembers going to Chickasaw Nation awards ceremonies for having good grades, and his family would utilize the clothing grants and other services the Chickasaw Nation had to offer. When he wanted to go to CalArts, he didn’t know if he would be able to get the financial support he needed, but the Chickasaw Nation came through with scholarships.
His time at CalArts led him to a part-time job at the Roy and Edna Disney/ CalArts Theater (REDCAT), which eventually turned into a full-time managerial position. It also introduced him to the Independent Shakespeare Co., which he has been with since 2019, performing Shakespeare in the park, sometimes for thousands of people in a single night.
“If it weren’t for the tribe, I wouldn’t be here right now. I wouldn’t have gone to CalArts. I wouldn’t have the job that I have or be with the Shakespeare company that I’m with. That all came from CalArts which was possible because of the Chickasaw Nation,” Charles said. “From a child to the present, I’m seeing how the tribe takes care of its people in a way that makes everything just a little bit less stressful.”
As Charles has matured, he has also started to learn more about his Chickasaw heritage. Charles is Chickasaw on his mother’s side.
“I present black, and I’m well aware of that, but I became curious about my Indigenous roots considering how much my tribe has done for me,” Charles said. “In my industry, most people only care about the surface. I used to think that I needed to be one or the other, and so for a long time I was just confused. Then I realized I just need to learn how to be myself, and I can’t be myself if I don’t embrace all parts of me. ”
His curiosity led him to call the Chickasaw Cultural Center to ask questions about different people in his family. Charles found it necessary to explore this part of himself.
“I realized I needed to ground myself with my roots — where I came from and who came before me,” Charles said.
Even though Charles is continuing to learn about his own Chickasaw identity and heritage, he has had a unique opportunity in Los Angeles to connect with other Indigenous actors through Native Voices, which is a theater company “devoted to developing and producing new works for the stage by Native American, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian and First Nations playwrights.”
“Haunted,” a play by Tara Moses (Seminole Nation of Oklahoma), ran Oct. 10 through Oct. 26. The entire cast and crew are comprised of Indigenous Americans. At CalArts, Charles encountered few First American students; now he has a chance to work with actors from tribes all over the Americas, and it has been a great experience, stepping into some of the other native traditions.
The first day of rehearsals, elder Dennis Garcia of the Fernandeño Tataviam Band of Mission Indians, blessed their rehearsal space in a white sage ceremony. Charles was moved and inspired by the experience.
“Now we feel safe and at home, which is important for this piece because there are themes that require some emotional depth and digging deep. It’s really cool to see these traditions brought into this space that has housed so many actors.”
Charles’ love of theater led him to Los Angeles and countless new experiences. Behind it all, though, is gratitude — gratitude for his family, his mentors, the Chickasaw Nation and everyone who has helped steer his path along the way.