Aric Cushing

A native of California, Aric grew up in the town of Boulder Creek. As a child he performed in numerous local productions such as This One Thing I Do, a feminist play about Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, Girl Crazy, The Diary of Anne Frank, and Arsenic and Old Lace, and at 12 years old in A Chorus Line. For his performance in Hats Off: A Tribute to Broadway Musicals in 1986, at 13 years old, he told the Valley Press, "I'm excited. I can't wait to get back out there." A recipient of numerous speech awards, he received a college grant from Hewlett-Packard, attended both the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco and the London Court Theater in England, and afterwards toured the Pacific Northwest in a 2-person travelling theater company. Upon moving to Hollywood, he worked at a talent agency before producing and starring in the film Broken and Bleeding, later renamed Shot to the Heart. In 2019, he won Best Actor at the Prison City Film Festival in Huntsville, Texas for his role in Shot to the Heart. After producing and starring in The Yellow Wallpaper feature film, he appeared in America's Most Wanted, Renegade, and a variety of other TV shows and music videos. In 2016, his middle grade book Vampire Boy was published, and won the Readers' View award, the Purple Dragonfly Award, a Pinnacle Award, first place for the Gertrude Lawrence Middle Grade Reader Award, and a Reader's Favorite medal. Also in 2020, he starred in There's No Such Thing as Vampires and in 2021 received a Best Supporting Actor Nomination at the FilmQuest Film Festival for his portrayal of the lead villain.