MIDLAND, Texas — The lights have never been too bright for Midland Trinity Senior Hans Mauritsen.
"But I just love the connection with the audience and just performing and making them laugh, making them cry," Mauritsen said. "And it was amazing for me."
From The Hunchback of Notre Dame to Mary Poppins to Newsies, 18-year-old Hans Mauritsen certainly has quite the star-studded resume so far.
"There is a natural talent that Hans has that I really hope will take him far in life," Trinity Musical Stage Director Mark Kaufman said.
And being added to that resume soon will be an extra role on the upcoming Paramount Plus series Landman.
"I actually saw Billy Bob Thornton because he was in it," Mauritsen said. "It was an experience, a learning experience. I was in the view of the camera, so maybe you'll see me. And that was like my first foray into the movie world."
A foray that’s sure to continue, as the Midland Community Theater volunteer will be taking his talents to USC’s School of Dramatic Arts where he'll be getting his Bachelors of Acting for Stage and Screen.
"I opened it (the acceptance notification) by myself and I got it, I was so excited!" said Mauritsen.
"So it's a very, very prestigious program," Mauritsen said.
But acting wasn’t always in the cue cards for Mauritsen.
"Because acting is not really the most money-making endeavor," Mauritsen said. "I applied to eight schools for business and two schools for acting, which were UCLA and USC."
After four acceptances to a few of those schools…
"And then four in a row, I'd open them with my family. Just rejections, rejection, rejection," Mauritsen said. "That made USC the last school."
And good actors don’t let rejections get to them.
"And so I went to church and I prayed I was like, ‘Lord please, I need this one,’" Mauritsen said. "And then as soon as I got in the car, I got the email from USC saying update to admissions and I went home, I opened it, I got in! But that whole process of acceptances, rejections and then last the last straw, it really helped my parents to say 'this is it, this is what we we're going to put our money towards, we're going to take an investment in our son.'"
An investment that could take Mauritsen to big places, including the big screen at your local movie theater.
However, he doesn’t want to stop at impacting people on an entertainment level.
"I really want to make it clear that I want to give back," Mauritsen said. "Because so many people like Mr. Kaufman, Ms. Hughes [the teacher who got him into acting], Mr. Vaught, our choir teacher [who directed the musical]. I just want to give back what I've done with their help and give back to them. So I definitely will give back to Trinity."
Giving back to a community that helped him get this far, like stage director Mark Kaufman.
"And then on the next stage of callbacks and in person auditions, Mr. Kaufman really, really helped me. [He] helped me hone and polish my monologues, which I don't think I would have gotten in without Mr. Kaufman," said Mauritsen.
"I believe he will be able to step into almost any role, any style he could do, plays, he could do musicals, he could do film, screening, is whatever he wants to do, I think is available to him," Kaufman said.
So it’s safe to say that instead of going Hollywood, Mauritsen, as he always has, will be going Midland.
Even if he’s far away from the Tall City.
