When Bryan Terrell Clark, TFM ’03, was an undergraduate student in the School of Theater, Film and Media Arts (TFMA) 20 years ago, one of his professors told him, “How you do some things is how you do all things.” 

“The discipline that I had, the focus that I had, the dreams that I saw when I was sitting in these seats, I’m living those things right now,” Clark said during a Sept. 13 class visit to Tomlinson Theater. “And that doesn’t start when you graduate. It’s not about waiting to get there. You’re already there.” 

Clark’s discipline and focus led him on trips to New York City to audition for Broadway shows like Rent and The Lion King, or soap operas like All My Children, all while he was still an undergrad. It also led him to the Yale School of Drama, where he graduated with a master’s degree in 2006. 

And that same discipline and focus has propelled him through an acting career that already includes prominent roles in major productions. He made his stage debut in 2006, playing Cory in Fences alongside Laurence Fishburne and Angela Bassett. In 2013, he debuted on Broadway as Marvin Gaye in Motown: The Musical, and in 2017, he was cast as George Washington in Hamilton. Today, his IMDB is riddled with actor and producer credits across a wide range of film, TV and stage productions. 

As he spoke to theater students in a production practicum last month, Clark credited his mom, a principal and a pastor, for instilling discipline in him from a young age. He also talked about growing up attending church in Baltimore, where he sang in the choir and would recite Easter poems. 

“Performance and art were always around me, every cookout there was music,” Clark said. “Even the way we passed down our history and told our stories was art.” 

That upbringing inspired Clark to pursue theater, which he credits as his “gateway to freedom.” Before transferring to Temple, Clark enrolled briefly at the University of Maryland, and it was there that he saw Rent for the first time. “I fell in love with that musical, and said, I’m going to be in that.” 

As a distinguished visiting professor, Clark is no stranger to Main Campus. On Wednesday, Sept. 11, he performed at the Temple Performing Arts Center as part of the 2nd Wednesday Cabaret performance series. He also taught a masterclass for theater students later in the afternoon on Sept. 13 and will return on Nov. 1 to teach an additional masterclass. 

He also plans on coming to campus next summer to film a new movie he’s producing, called The Science of a Slam Dunk. The film is set to star Philadelphia 76ers center Andre Drummond and will follow the unlikely partnership between an eighth-grade science protege and a flat Earther NBA player. 

Whether he’s back to perform, mentor students or work on his new film, Clark has plenty of love and appreciation for his alma mater. 

“This campus is diverse, take advantage of that,” he said. “I was like you. I knew what I wanted to do since the time I was little. But this university offers an opportunity to learn other things that will feed that passion.” 

Watch Clark discuss working in Philadelphia and his upcoming film in a recent interview on Temple’s campus.