{"id":26034,"date":"2026-01-12T09:12:02","date_gmt":"2026-01-12T14:12:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/?p=26034"},"modified":"2026-01-12T09:35:04","modified_gmt":"2026-01-12T14:35:04","slug":"alumnus-credits-k-professor-for-acting-breakthrough","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/alumnus-credits-k-professor-for-acting-breakthrough\/","title":{"rendered":"Alumnus Credits K Professor for Acting Breakthrough"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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When Kalamazoo College alumnus Cody Colvin \u201918 stepped onto a set in Traverse City last year to portray one of the most disturbing criminals in recent Michigan history, he carried with him a lesson he learned nearly a decade earlier in a voice and diction class: \u201cWhatever comes up, comes up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That advice, given to him by Professor of Theatre Arts<\/a> Ren Pruis during a Shakespearean sonnet exercise, would prove instrumental as Colvin tackled the challenging role of Christopher Thomas in Hulu\u2019s Stalking Samantha: 13 Years of Terror<\/em>, a crime miniseries that climbed to No. 3 on the streaming platform after its August release.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The show dramatizes the harrowing true story of Samantha Stites<\/a>, a former Grand Valley State University student who endured nearly 12 years of stalking by Thomas, a man about seven or eight years her senior. The ordeal culminated with dark subject matter including a kidnapping to a dungeon-like bunker, which demanded extraordinary emotional preparation from the actors re-creating the events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTo me, it\u2019s about as difficult a character as anyone can ever portray,\u201d Colvin said. \u201cHow do you get in the mindset of someone like that? How do they see themselves? How do they see the other person?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Lesson That Changed Everything<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The answer, Colvin discovered, was in the foundation he built at K under Pruis\u2019 guidance during her voice and diction class. Performing a Shakespearean sonnet, he unexpectedly laughed, despite the piece not being comedic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI thought, \u2018Oh, no. I\u2019m going to get marked down for this,\u2019 but I kept laughing through it,\u201d Colvin said. \u201cAnd she said, \u2018Go with it.\u2019 She said, \u2018Whatever comes up, comes up.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That simple instruction became what Colvin now calls \u201cthe most important thing about acting that almost no one ever teaches you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat I\u2019ve learned in acting and performing is that humans don\u2019t make any sense, so when you get on stage or on screen, and you have emotion that comes up that is not what you prepared for, you go with it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Developing a Monster<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The philosophy proved essential during the intensive eight-day shoot, where 12- to 15-hour workdays were common. The production, which conducted a statewide casting search in Michigan and Illinois for its leads, brought together a professional crew including Sarah Mast, an executive producer from MTV\u2019s The Hills<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Pruis\u2019 character-development class provided another crucial building block. An assignment requiring students to stay in character for two hours prepared Colvin for the demands of portraying Thomas across full shooting days.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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