Wes Williams stood anxiously backstage for the opening night of his seventh grade acting debut. The show was “The Big Bad Musical,” and he was the lead. Williams listened to the chatter of the audience; butterflies fluttered in the pit of his stomach as his excitement grew. The curtain rose and with it, a dream.
A sophomore theatre student from Lexington, S.C., Williams has since starred in shows like “West Side Story” and “Rabbit Hole,” but his biggest role came last spring semester when he was accepted to the Disney College Program at Disney World in Orlando.
During his freshman year, Williams found himself struggling to juggle his passion with school. “I was so busy, and I didn’t feel like I was doing anything for my major,” he says. He applied to Disney on a whim one night and, within a few weeks, was enrolled in the program.
“I was initially going to be a custodial cast member [until] I heard you could audition to be a character,” he says. “We found an audition about two weeks out in Atlanta. My mom was like, ‘Let’s go. Let’s do it.’”
Roughly three weeks later, a congratulations email arrived and informed the elated Williams his role had been changed to character performer.
Williams began his time at Disney “hanging out” with Pluto. Early one morning, Pluto stepped out of a gate in a remote area of the park, and immediately, a little boy around 10 years old screamed out the character’s name and sprinted over toward the yellow dog with a beaming grin. Pluto dropped to his knees with outstretched arms, ready to deliver the embrace. The little boy tackled Pluto and wrapped him in a tight bear hug, a moment he will never forget.
Williams also spent time with other characters, including Eeyore, Buzz Lightyear, Rafiki, the Green Army Men from “Toy Story” and Greedo from “Star Wars.” Williams says his favorite character to hang out with was Buzz Lightyear. “He’s kind of the VIP character from Pixar—Buzz Lightyear had the biggest fan base,” he says.
While the experience was rewarding, it was not without challenges. Williams worked 40-50 hours a week while enrolled in three classes. “There were times when I would get off at 10 p.m. [and] I’d be home and done with my homework at 1 a.m.,” he says. “I’d have to wake up at 5 a.m. to get ready and be on the bus to be at a park by 7 a.m. to do a 10-hour shift.”
Though the hours were long and the days were hot, the experience left an indelible impression on Williams. “The biggest thing I took out of it was how much of an impact you can make on somebody,” he says. “You learn how plausible it is to make magic for somebody.”
Williams performed in USC’s production of “Ajax in Iraq,” which ran October 3-11 at Longstreet Theatre.
