“Heartbreak High”‘s Bryn Chapman Parish Thinks A Gap Year Could Change Lives For Sheltered Students
Bryn Chapman Parish captured our attention in season two of Heartbreak High with his performance as Spencer ‘Spider’ White, leader of the C*MLORDS and secret boyfriend to Missy. Now, he’s been named the new ambassador of Contiki’s latest campaign, Contiki University.
In a goofy green screen video for Contiki, Chapman Parish talks about how Contiki helps expand your horizons.
@contikitravel / Via tiktok.com
People in the comments were quick to recognise the Aussie star, which prompted them to wonder what, exactly, he was doing.
To find the answers commenters wanted, we sat down with Bryn Chapman Parish to pick his brain about all things travel and school, and to ask what the heck is going on in this Contiki ad.
Anyone who’s been following Chapman Parish’s career from the start will possibly know that travelling at a young age helped him solidify his passion for acting. He shared with BuzzFeed Australia that he got his first theatre role at eight years old while on a trip to France.
“When I was eight, my parents had an exhibition over in France and I was there sulking in the Chateau that it was in. The director of the theatre company who was like in residence there walked past and said, ‘What are you doing? Why are you sulking?’,” he recalled. “He’s like, ‘Come on, you’re going to be in a show this afternoon’. So that’s kind of where I learnt my love of acting and performing.”
However, after high school he still felt an internal pressure to go to a traditional university.
“It felt as though it was the right thing to do,” Chapman Parish explained. “Like before I got into drama school, I got into another uni and kind of just picked a course that I thought might be something that would suit me.”Â
Between leaving high school and taking up an acting degree at Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, Chapman Parish ventured overseas. He then said that “taking [the] time to go out and explore the world before going to uni” helped him learn about himself and the world.
“I think if you rush into [a degree] and you don’t take the time to actually think about what you want to experience…then I know a lot of people have ended up finishing their course and going, ‘I don’t want to do this at all’,” he told BuzzFeed Australia. “And that’s where I think travelling and doing one of these courses that Contiki is offering really comes into play.”
The Heartbreak High actor also spoke about the potential benefits that a gap year abroad could have on someone like his character Spider, who he describes as a “very sheltered male”. His character is an archetype that “you see a lot in Australia”, according to Chapman Parish.
“[Spider would] be able to see that thereâs a whole bunch of different people out there and you donât have to be restricted in how you feel and how you put up barriers around people,” he suggested.
As for what’s coming up next in his own travel plans, the actor mentioned that he wants to take Contiki’s South Korean Soul course.
“I’m kind of obsessed with South Korea at the moment, and the fashion and the food,” he said. “I have a few friends who are over there working on things. I’m also into KPOP at the moment. Itâs caught up to me. Iâm a fan.”
Give Bryn Chapman Parish some suggestions for his Korea trip.
Share them in the comments below!Â
