Page 121 - Flaunt 175 - Diana

a leathery salamander slips through a young
Will Peltz’s fingers and disappears into the brown foliage of Westchester, New York, leaving noth- ing behind but a teasing flick of the tail. Quickly giving up on the assembly of a reptilian kingdom, Peltz joins his siblings in another imaginative game. They gather thin twigs and long branches, then construct a pretend home to live in. Hour after hour melts away, and the siblings are bond- ed all the tighter while decorating and reinforc- ing the dwelling. “I think developing and having that element of imagination is so imperative,” Peltz remarks on the influence of the outdoors on growing kids, some decades later, while recount- ing the story. “I think it’s harder with kids today who are just so connected to their phones or iPads. It’s important for them to get out and build treehouses and sleep in a tent, even if it’s in the front yard.”
Today, Peltz is chatting with me via Zoom from his NYC balcony, overlooking an entirely different kind of playground. The actor and occa- sional model smiles at the prospect of the thrum- ming concrete jungle below him plunging head first into this long-awaited, balmy springtime weather. It’s of course been a winter like no other. In his immediate surrounds? A carefully curated collection of yucca, aloe, and assorted tropical plants, which insulate his private sanctuary. “Sometimes I’ll meditate,” he shares, “or if I’m reading a book, it’s kind of nice to be surrounded by my plants. It’s just very peaceful, and it makes me happy.” Much like the plants he cultivates on his balcony, Peltz is currently enjoying the harvest of creative seeds he’s been nurturing for years.
Recently appearing in HBO’s massively suc- cessful coming-of-age series, Euphoria (2019), as Luke Kasten, or more recently in NBC’s super- natural time-bending drama, Manifest (2021), as the nerdy and brainy Levi, Peltz is behaving a bit like that salamander of his childhood, slipping from any sort of stasis and maneuvering from role to role. He shares that his dream as an actor is
to completely immerse in whatever opportunity he’s given. “My passion in acting, and where it stems from, is transformation,” he attests. “Some of my favorite performances are Heath Ledger
in The Dark Knight or Jared Leto in The Dallas Buyers Club.” He enthusiastically adds, “These actors just completely transformed and are pretty much unrecognizable.” Peltz notes that transfor- mation in the film world does not always have to be expressed in acting roles, noting that over the course of the last year, he pushed himself into new territory and embarked on producing his own film.
Like the plants on his balcony that soak up the New York atmosphere, for better or worse, childhood is similarly absorptive. As kids, we hungrily absorb the world around us, unshackled by the laws of the natural world and the burdens of adulthood, but it’s challenging to sustain this sanctimony all too long. When discussing Peltz’s childhood, he notes that pop culture and manly, idealistic standards of the 90s were dominated by the rise of Calvin Klein ads featuring jacked up, muscled dudes like Mark Wahlberg. I ask about his witnessing the evolution of these standards over time. “I think the idea of masculinity,” he reflects, “not just physically speaking, but emo- tionally speaking, has changed. Everything is just so fluid now. I’m wearing nail polish right now,
for instance, and it’s chipped from a couple days. I remember in school, I think some girl painted my nails—I was probably in third grade—and I remember people were like, ‘Well, what does this mean?’ I was like, ‘What do you mean, what does it mean?’” Then Peltz says with a laugh, “This girl just painted my nails. It’s like, ‘Who cares?’”
Even as a former ice hockey player, Peltz never related to the typical attributes of mus-
cle mass, dominance, and stoic personas that have long dominated the “masculine” standard. “I almost felt like when I was growing up,” he shares, “I was looked down upon for being too sensitive. But that’s just who I was. I relate to the idea of a man now more than ever before in my whole life.”
Peltz, who has notched acting roles for over ten years and currently has three projects in post-production, continues to speak enthusias- tically about how this unraveling of normative ideals has fanned out to include other issues, including stigmatized topics like mental health. To escape sentiments of general overwhelm, media saturation, and the constant discomfort contemporary culture can cause, Peltz finds solace in the outdoors. On crisp, early mornings, he likes to take long walks. The gulps of fresh air fill his lungs, and he is able to focus on himself, his feelings, and how to channel positive, linear advancement in his personal relationships and relations with the world. As someone who has at times dealt with heavy anxiety, he shares that the simple act has been one of the greatest ways to find relief. “If I told you the step counts on some of these days, it’s scary,” he laughs. “It hasn’t been easy. I feel like some days are just easier than others, and I feel like some days are really fucking hard.”
Peltz, who was photographed in one of Los Angeles’ finest outdoor settings—Topanga Can- yon—by his sister’s fiancé, Brooklyn Beckham, continues to describe his efforts to find inner healing and strength, and it’s hard not to imagine the small boy still inside of him, decorating the makeshift home with various found objects in his backyard, alongside his sister. It’s fascinating how so much can change, and yet so much can remain the same from these fragile and unique young years on the planet. Here is someone aspiring to create beauty, to appreciate what’s around, and to be a shoulder to lean on for others.
This observation can’t help but bring about conversation of the pandemic and its influence of change over the last year, and surely the years to come. Seeds sown in this recent period are quick- ly blossoming into conceivable normalcy, with the widespread introduction of the COVID-19 vac- cine and the excitement of what’s being dubbed on the web and media as the “hot vax summer” just on the horizon. Peltz laughs at the phrase and shares what he missed the most in quar- antine: other people. “I think now,” he remarks, “especially because we’re so digitally connected in our society and the way we function, it’s going to be nice to get back to human connection.” We love that that connection in 2021 may have more empathy, more fluidity, more depth of under- standing, and hopefully more appreciation. As Peltz will attest, you can plant all the seeds you want, but they’re not going to amount to much if you don’t give them nutrients and love. Here’s to a bountiful harvest ahead.
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PHOTOGRAPHER: BROOKLYN BECKHAM. STYLIST: JENNY RICKER AT A-FRAME AGENCY. HAIR: MARCUS FRANCIS AT A-FRAME AGENCY. MAKEUP: KARAY YOSHIMOTO BUA AT A-FRAME AGENCY. PHOTO ASSISTANT: NATE RYNASKI.