<\/p>\nElliot Hamilton, a Lafayette native and Loyola graduate, is an actor living in New York City. He recently landed his first national commercial, which aired during the Super Bowl. He is pictured here filming the Base 44 commercial.\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/span><\/p>\n
Provided photo<\/span> When the advertisement came on, it was the culmination of years of auditioning and near-misses \u2014 his first commercial to air nationally. But around him, the conversation continued uninterrupted.<\/p>\n
\u201cI said, \u2018Who was that guy?\u2019 to my friends, but they were still talking about Bad Bunny,\u201d Hamilton said.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n
\n
\n
Within seconds, though, his phone began lighting up. Texts poured in from Louisiana \u2014 from high school friends in Lafayette, from Loyola classmates all over, from his family who had been sworn to secrecy.<\/p>\n
At 31, the Lafayette native had just made his national advertising debut on the biggest television night of the year.<\/p>\n
Two weeks later, not much had changed.<\/p>\n
Hamilton still auditions regularly \u2014 about two to three times a week for commercials, web shows and television roles. He still works weekends at a Brooklyn restaurant that specializes in Southern food. During the week, he coaches youth baseball. He buys and resells baseball cards for extra money.<\/p>\n
He performs stand-up comedy five nights a week, mostly at open mics. He runs a show at Freddy’s Bar and often performs at O’Keefe’s Bar & Grill, Halyard’s Bar and Young Ethel’s \u2014 all in Brooklyn.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n <\/div><\/div>
\n <\/p>\nElliot Hamilton in the early days of doing stand up comedy at Carrollton Station in New Orleans.\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/span><\/p>\n
Provided photo<\/span> \u201cIn acting,\u201d he said, \u201cyou audition for like 8 billion things and never get anything \u2014 and then something just appears.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Super Bowl commercial was his second national advertisement, but the first one he shot never aired.<\/p>\n
Choosing sports, then a return to acting<\/h3>\n Hamilton graduated from Episcopal School of Acadiana in 2013 and earned an economics degree from Loyola University New Orleans in 2017.<\/p>\n
Acting, for most of that time, lived in the background.<\/p>\n
He had always liked performing. As a child, his mom says he was unusually verbal. He memorized the presidents and could recite them to a crowd. He enjoyed performing. Then, somewhere around middle school, sports took over.<\/p>\n
Mark Broussard, his high school baseball coach at Episcopal School of Acadiana, said that during the Super Bowl advertisement, he first recognized his former student’s voice and then he realized it was Hamilton on television.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n
\n
\n
Hamilton is grateful for his time on the baseball field \u2014 despite it taking him away from theater and performing.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn junior high and high school, if you do anything other than sports, kids make fun of you,\u201d Hamilton said. \u201cSo, I leaned into that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n <\/div><\/div>
\n <\/p>\nElliot Hamilton, on the right, acted in this Loyola production of “The Bear” in 2017.<\/p>\n
<\/span><\/p>\n
Provided photo<\/span> He was part of his small high school’s theater productions, which were directed by Kat Surratt Movassaghi. She says she loves seeing former students pursuing paths of the arts in today’s world.<\/p>\n
\u201cI always knew there was something special about him on the stage. He had a dry wit and good comic timing,\u201d Movassaghi said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Despite his ease on the stage, Hamilton chose to major in economics at Loyola and didn\u2019t return to acting until his senior year, when he took a theater elective. He auditioned for a campus play and landed the lead.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n
\n
\n
\u201cAll the theater kids were like, \u2018Who\u2019s this econ major getting the lead in our play?\u2019\u201d his father, Dr. Scott Hamilton of Lafayette, said.<\/p>\n
For Elliot Hamilton, getting back on stage felt less like a detour and more like a correction.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remembered how much I liked it,\u201d he said. \u201cI was like, why did I ever get away from this?\u201d<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n <\/div><\/div>
\n <\/p>\nIn 2013, Elliot Hamilton graduated from the Episcopal School of Acadiana in Cade. He is pictured here with: Eleanor Schutte, Anju Mapilly, Fatima Fazal, Rami Dibbs, Bailey Brown, Hamilton, Camille LeJeune, Nick Bares and Henry Lowry.<\/p>\n
<\/span><\/p>\n
Provided photo<\/span> From accounting to waiting tables<\/h3>\n After graduating from Loyola in 2017, he took a job in accounting in New Orleans. He worked in an accounting firm for four years while quietly auditioning for independent films and small roles in New Orleans, where the film industry was booming at the time.<\/p>\n
He signed with an agent. He auditioned constantly.<\/p>\n
Nothing landed.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n
\n
\n
Then, in 2021, he booked a role in an Amazon series that was set to shoot in New Orleans. On his first day on set, production shut down because of COVID exposure. Soon after, he learned his scene had been written out.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was really devastating,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n <\/div><\/div>
\n <\/p>\nElliot Hamilton is pictured here acting in an independent horror film.\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/span><\/p>\n
Provided photo by Victoria Kemp<\/span> Two weeks later, he booked a small role in AMC\u2019s \u201cMayfair Witches.\u201d That one did film. It was enough to convince him the grind might lead somewhere.<\/p>\n
After he was fired from his accounting job, he leaned further into acting and performing.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just didn\u2019t care about becoming a better accountant,\u201d he said. \u201cIf I don\u2019t have full interest in something, it\u2019s very hard for me to apply myself. But if I do, I kind of obsess over it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n
\n
\n
He began waiting tables in New Orleans \u2014 and the money was good. Then he moved to New York in 2022, chasing broader opportunity. He says the first few months in the Big Apple felt like an adventure. He clicked with the pace of life immediately.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery day I got up, I was excited,\u201d he said. \u201cYou don\u2019t know what\u2019s going to happen, but it\u2019s going to be interesting.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pumping gas and patching tires in Lafayette<\/h3>\n Elizabeth Fournet Hamilton, his mother, describes her son as positive and hardworking.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe auditions every day,\u201d she said. \u201cHe hasn\u2019t given up.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n <\/div><\/div>
\n <\/p>\nDr. Scott Hamilton, Elizabeth Hamilton with their children, Quinn Hamilton, Aurore Hamilton and Elliot Hamilton in Lafayette.\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/span><\/p>\n
Provided photo<\/span> Like many parents, she hopes her son will one day buy a house and settle into financial stability. As parents, the Hamiltons have watched their son navigate the ups and downs of the arts with surprising tranquility.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n
\n
\n
\u201cHe doesn\u2019t mind the uncertainty,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Elliot Hamilton acknowledges the instability. Acting pays well when the jobs come, he said, but the challenge is never knowing when that will be.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t want to be stuck just working side hustles forever,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I always have confidence that I\u2019ll figure it out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Work has never intimidated him. As a teenager, he spent summers working at his grandfather Howard Fournet\u2019s Chevron station on Johnston Street in Lafayette \u2014 pumping gas, patching tires and cleaning the service bay in the heat.<\/p>\n
From 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., six days a week.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt taught me a lot about being hot outside in the summer,\u201d he said with a laugh.<\/p>\n
His mother\u2019s brother, Brian Fournet, ran the service station. It was the Fournets \u2014 his mother\u2019s large, lively and loud family of storytellers \u2014 who shaped his instincts on stage.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n
\n
\n
\u201cThe only way to get their attention is if you tell a good story,\u201d Elliot Hamilton said. \u201cThey all talk over each other. If you don\u2019t hook them, they won\u2019t listen.\u201d<\/p>\n
That lesson translates easily to stand-up comedy.<\/p>\n
After the cameras cut away\u00a0<\/h3>\n Since the Super Bowl, he has been testing the story of the unnoticed commercial at open mics. It usually works. Still, he admits it feels awkward. He\u2019s not completely comfortable talking about the experience.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt feels self-congratulatory,\u201d he said. \u201cLike, \u2018Hey, I was in a Super Bowl commercial.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
In reality, the moment was less glamorous than it looked from afar. At the party in Manhattan, he eventually had to tell friends what they had missed. They pulled up the commercial on YouTube and replayed it.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n
\n
\n
\nLouisiana show in April<\/h4>\n Elliot Hamilton will be performing at 7 p.m. on April 16 at Fat Pat’s, 1600 Rees Street, Breaux Bridge. The show is called “Bun Intended” and is free. The show is intended for audiences 18 and older. Reserve your spot at lafayettecomedy.com<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/aside>\nHe still appreciates the element of surprise.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s more fun if your face just comes on the screen and people have no idea it\u2019s going to,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He knows building a career today is nearly impossible without the likes and follows. The industry, he knows, now runs on visibility. Social media followers matter. Short clips matter. Recognition matters.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n
\n
\n
Even still, Elliot Hamilton appreciates the other indicators of success.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs long as I feel like I\u2019m making progress, I\u2019m comfortable,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Most viewers saw him for a few fleeting seconds during the Super Bowl. The rest of the work \u2014 the auditions, open mics, restaurant shifts and coaching sessions \u2014 continues long after the cameras cut away.<\/p>\n
Back home in Louisiana, they noticed.<\/p>\n
Elliot Hamilton grew up in a large, loud Louisiana family where stories competed for air, and attention had to be earned.<\/p>\n
In New York, on small stages and in crowded audition rooms, he\u2019s still earning it.<\/p>\n
Follow Elliot Hamilton on Instagram\u00a0@definitelyelliothamilton<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n
![\"Early](\"https:\/\/bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com\/theadvocate.com\/content\/tncms\/assets\/v3\/editorial\/5\/84\/5847d443-d06d-4d86-9906-64c476396179\/699f2a0792621.image.jpg?resize=150%2C147)
\n <\/div><\/div>![\"Loyola](\"https:\/\/bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com\/theadvocate.com\/content\/tncms\/assets\/v3\/editorial\/5\/c7\/5c72a395-04c4-4da2-b213-954cbd2d76d5\/699f29d2ae086.image.jpg?resize=150%2C150)
\n <\/div><\/div>![\"High](\"https:\/\/bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com\/theadvocate.com\/content\/tncms\/assets\/v3\/editorial\/8\/51\/8518e159-499e-428a-93b2-fc0b0d6de617\/699f2a056d553.image.jpg?resize=150%2C100)
\n <\/div><\/div>![\"Indie](\"https:\/\/bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com\/theadvocate.com\/content\/tncms\/assets\/v3\/editorial\/f\/0c\/f0cd0229-061d-4467-8e26-b3507fd7c263\/699f29fc9cf36.image.jpg?resize=150%2C100)
\n <\/div><\/div>![\"IMG_6261.JPG\"](\"https:\/\/bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com\/theadvocate.com\/content\/tncms\/assets\/v3\/editorial\/4\/11\/4113d3c1-c123-4abc-bda0-ca58b2f8e6f4\/699f30317a10b.image.jpg?resize=150%2C113)
\n <\/div><\/div>