Draft:Kristian Ventura

Kristian Ventura (born 20 October 1999) is an American actor. Ventura studied acting at the University of Southern California and received his BFA in theatre. After graduating, Deadline Hollywood reported Ventura sparked a signing war amongst several agencies competing to represent the actor. | He is best known for his leading role as Simon Elroy in the Paramount+ series School Spirits (2023-present).

Early life
Ventura was born October 20, 1999. He grew up in San Mateo, California and was raised with his sister by a single mother. Kristian's father committed suicide in 2023. Ventura auditioned to study acting at the USC School of Dramatic Arts, an acceptance rate of 6.2 percent.

He spent several years as a volunteer in orphanages, homeless shelters, churches, and schools. When he was 17 years old, he was awarded the President's Volunteer Service Award for his commitment to international service and exceptional contributions to non-profit organizations.

2017-2021: Theatre work and early roles
During his time at the University of Southern California, Ventura was cast as the deformed king, Richard III, written by William Shakespeare and received praise for a transformational performance. He spent time doing short films with students at the USC School of Cinematic Arts to perfect his training.

2021-2023: Career debut
Within his first year after graduating, Ventura was cast in five roles. His first role was a Hulu series directed by Steven Levitan called Reboot, followed by a horror film Grimcutty for Hulu, an HBO sci-fi feature Gray Matter, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (cut from edit), and then had his breakout role in the supernatural drama School Spirits. He returned to film a second season of his show in June 2024.

Speeches and Writing
Ventura wrote and delivered several speeches to audiences about humanitarian service. He was awarded by Rotary International for their 4-Way Speech Contest in 2017.

Ventura self-published two collections of poetry and one novel. The novel is titled A Happy Ghost. The collections of poetry are titled Can I Tell You Something? and The Goodbye Song.