MANSFIELD, Ohio — Becoming an actor has always been one of Matt White’s dreams.
While it wasn’t necessarily at the forefront of the Mansfield native’s mind growing up, it was something he kept on the backburner, hoping one day he may get his chance.
After graduating from Mansfield Christian School in 2013, he attended Ashland University. He took a semester off for a six-month stint in Colorado, later returning for another year of school at Ashland.
The 20-year-old began to seriously consider modeling and acting as a prospective career after a conversation he had with his youth pastor, Chris Durbin of Heartland Church.
“If it wasn’t for him, I probably would never have really realized that I could do it,” White said.
In the spring of 2015, he searched for different agencies he could team up with, ultimately landing on Pro-Model and Talent Management, Inc. of Akron.
Since then, White has immersed himself in modeling and acting training, striving to keep improving in those fields.
“I love it,” White said. Although it can be tough work, he said, “If you take the classes seriously, they’ll pay off.”
White witnessed just how much his hard work paid off while competing at the International Modeling and Talent Association in Los Angeles in early January.
“I ended up doing pretty well,” he said modestly.
While he’s not one to boast about his performance, the results speak for themselves: He placed in 10 of 13 competitions, winning four of them and placing second or third in the others. He earned the top spot for Male Commercial Model of the Year, second in Male Young Actor of the Year and placed for Most Sought After Male Talent.
“I feel really blessed and was excited to see my hard work pay off,” he said.
He voiced his appreciation for Mary Sklamba and Aubrey Caldwell of Pro-Model and Talent Management for helping him prepare.
During the eight months leading up to IMTA, White underwent intensive training with Pro-Model, “So I knew exactly what to expect and felt totally prepared and confident,” he said.
Though White garnered the most medals of any competitor, he didn’t seek to flaunt his achievement. Instead, he cheered on his fellow contestants and was one of the first people to congratulate a friend if he or she placed in one of the competitions.
As a result of his stellar performance at IMTA, White has received numerous calls “almost to the point where it was overwhelming” from agencies interested in signing him, he said.
He recently flew to Los Angeles to meet with different managers in order to determine who he would like to sign with.
His goal is to one day star in television shows and/or films, portraying characters like Jack Sparrow from “Pirates of the Caribbean.”
Seeing his dream inch closer and closer to reality has been exhilarating and a blessing, he said.
“Looking back through all of this I can see how God had his hands on everything,” he said. “I just feel really blessed.”
