Austin Peyton is an American TikToker and aspiring actor who rose to fame for his videos spreading awareness on various social justice issues like body positivity, LGBTQ rights, and racial injustice. He briefly uploaded videos on YouTube but is no longer active there, but continues to post on his Instagram profile @austin_peypey. He has acted in musical theatre and several short films.
Early Life
Austin Peyton attended a public school until eighth grade and then shifted to The Chicago Academy for the Arts to pursue a major in Musical Theatre. He completed his graduation in 2021.
Career
Although Austin Peyton was too preoccupied with real life to pay much attention to TikTok until he was compelled to check out the app out of boredom during the Covid-19 lockdown in May 2020, he was immediately hooked and started posting 6-7 videos each day. He took TikTok more seriously in August and began posting videos influenced by sociopolitical issues like the Black Lives Matter movement or LGBTQ rights. While his content regularly went viral, he also often received hate comments for tackling serious issues and gradually shifted focus towards more lighthearted videos to diversify his content. He also posted on Instagram and on his YouTube channel, although he stopped uploading on YouTube in April 2021 and has made all his past videos private.
He is an aspiring actor who has been performing in musical theatre since a young age. While attending art school, he participated in a number of plays such as A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Pirates Of Penzance, Crazy For You, As You Like It, A Man of No Importance, and Into the Woods. After gaining over a million followers on TikTok, he signed with a manager to focus on screen acting. He has since then appeared in short films like Blue, Senior Night!, Fish Eye, Hellcats, Sweet Jane and Prince Ivan and the Clockwork Heart. He also has over eight years of jazz dancing experience.
Struggles with Mental Health & Sexuality
Austin Peyton struggled with mental health issues when he was in the eighth grade, and with the help of his parents, got out of the public school system and enrolled into The Chicago Academy for the Arts. He also struggled with his own sexuality and loved watching coming-of-age movies. He had initially opened up about his sexuality to a few close friends and finally came out before his family and the public in June 2020. Both his sexuality and his politically charged content on social media have attracted a lot of negativity and hate comments aimed at him. He has also openly talked about the emerging “cancel culture” that makes creators afraid of making content freely. He himself remains vocal about issues he is passionate about despite knowing that his views might be detrimental to his future acting career.
Family Life
Austin Peyton grew up with a sister named Jessie whom he has featured in his social media content. He became a vegetarian while in high school.
