MIDLAND, Texas — Like many West Texans, Pecos native Aschten Aguilar used to sport oilfield clothes everyday.
"Not even two years ago, I was out in Orla, Texas," Aguilar said. "Working for an oil company in actual FRs (fire resistants') [and] hard hat at a man camp."
Little did Aguilar know, working in that field for eight years helped him go from the star of the oil field to the star of the silver screen.
"I'm playing a roughneck," Aguilar said. "Basically your average oilfield worker really. And he's probably working on a rig somewhere or tailgating on the back of his truck with his buddies."
Aguilar was casted as a supporting character on an upcoming show by the same creators of Yellowstone.
"God blessed me with the opportunity to be a part of a production called 'Landman,'" Aguilar said. "It is a show coming out soon about the booms and the busts of the West Texas oilfield."
A newer kid on the block, Aguilar is going from being called to the oilfield to being called to hair and makeup.
And Aguilar is bringing a character to life many West Texans play every day.
And who better to play a West Texas oilman than a West Texas oilman?
"And I was like, I wonder if I endured all these years in the oil field for this moment to bring that actual authentic style to the role," Aguilar said. "Big or small, I think it's important to play that part as best as you can. And maybe that was my role in this is to bring that authentic character to it."
The lights and glamour aren’t too new to Aguilar though, having been a professional musician for the last 11 years.
"And I caught that bug that everybody catches creatively," Aguilar said. "And I just chose to pursue it [music] really. And it didn't really feel like a choice and really just felt like something I had to do."
Aguilar went from performing in front of a crowd to performing in front of a camera.
"When you're performing and you're on stage you kind of have one chance to hit it live and hit it good," Aguilar said. "When you're on set, you could spend eight hours filming one scene, different angles, different cameras. As many takes as you can get in and I think I really enjoy that because if you don't get it the first time you have multiple chances and everybody's on the same page with that and nobody expects kind of like a flawless take every time."
It’s an acting gig that came naturally. On the screen Aguilar is playing someone he was in real life for eight years.
So you never know, the guy pumping oil from a West Texas oilfield might be pumping up an Oscar one day.
The show is currently in production in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Aguilar will continue to do his music and see where acting takes him.