This post was updated Jan. 14 at 9:22 p.m.

From East to West Coast and from theater to film, Cole Sitilides is always an actor first and foremost.

Throughout his time at the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, the fourth-year theater student has worked on award-winning short films, workshopped a play with Tim Robbins, secured a commercial agent with Reign Agency and become the development director for the student-run Bimbos Production Company. After a childhood spent onstage, he said he has dedicated himself to film for the past four years, exploring his passion for acting in a new medium supported by everyone around him at TFT.

“It has been so inspiring and artistically enriching to be surrounded by the theater students that I’ve gotten to be surrounded by the last 3 1/2 now years,” Sitilides said. “I get to see other students’ artistry, and I get to just absorb all that beautiful creativity and learn from it.”

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Sitilides said his first professional role brought him to Ford’s Theatre for its annual production of “A Christmas Carol,” where the then 13 year old portrayed Peter Cratchit. From that point forward, the actor dedicated himself to the stage, appearing in productions throughout Washington, D.C. – a surprisingly robust theater town, he added – and earning himself the 2017 Best Actor in a Play – Large Professional Theatre award from BroadwayWorld Washington DC for portraying Eugene Morris Jerome in “Brighton Beach Memoirs.”

When choosing between undergraduate acting programs, Sitilides said he was drawn to UCLA for its location at the heart of the entertainment industry and strong alumni network, but also its relatively unique approach of combining theater and film programs under one school. He said he knew he wanted to explore film when he arrived at UCLA, something he had only briefly dabbled in before university.

“As someone who’s starting to be an actor first – not necessarily a theater actor or film actor, just a good actor – I felt that the best place to do that was in Los Angeles, which is the heart of all American entertainment,” he said.

As part of UCLA’s tight-knit TFT department, Sitilides said he found those opportunities for on camera acting. After recent theater alumnus Anjelica Hymel depicted Sitilides as a vampire for a cinematography assignment, she offered him and his vampiric co-star Zach Chasen roles in her short film “Twice as Shy.” The film was a passion project for Hymel – they said they submitted the original script as part of their UCLA application – and they wrote the position with Cole in mind as they expanded the film for production. The short focuses on Sitilides as Rick, who agrees to watch over his friend Jack during his first night as a werewolf, resurfacing lingering feelings from the friends’ prior one-night stand.

Hymel, who directed the film, said Sitilides’ experience in theater was an asset for the long filming days but also that he has developed a talent for on-camera acting.

“He’s adapted to film so well because he has such a subtle, intimate quality about his acting that’s perfect for the camera,” Hymel said. “I think he’s taken the energy level of theater and the subtlety and intimacy of on-camera acting and blended the two perfectly.”

The film has found success on the festival circuit, winning Best LGBTQ Horror at the Chicago Horror Film Festival and Best Concept for Short Film at the Shock-A-Go-Go festival in Manhattan. As the first festival film Sitilides has been a part of, he said he is grateful for the recognition the film has received, even with the nerves of knowing the film is being actively picked apart by judges.

He said the project is also meaningful because of how it depicts an incidental queer relationship, rather than making the characters’ sexualities the center of the story – something that Hymel said they intentionally avoided during the scripting process.

“This is a story about two people and two friends, and things getting messy for them in their relationship, but their queerness is incidental,” Sitilides said. “In telling that story, there’s something powerful about that – that queer representation on screen doesn’t have to be about coming out.”

This is unlikely to be Sitilides’ last festival outing. This past fall, he landed a role in “Boys Like You,” a raunchy comedy written by theater and public affairs alumnus Gia Blakey, who said festival submissions are planned for the short film. Blakey said the short focuses on two best friends trying to get payback on Cameron, the popular, manipulative boy at school portrayed by Sitilides. Inspired by shows like “Bottoms” and “PEN15,” Blakey – who co-stars alongside Meera Puranik as the leads – wanted to bring a similar raunchy attitude to a film led by women of color and highlight their experiences.

As the duo ruin Cameron’s life, Blakey said Sitilides managed to make the film’s villain grounded and a little lovable. This was important to her, she said, because the film is meant to be funny, but also relatable and realistic. She wanted the audience to recognize that Cameron is just a high school boy making bad decisions, not a villainous caricature.

“One note that he kept getting on set is that he was being too nice,” Blakey said. “Cole is such a raw, authentic feeler of emotions. … I can definitely see roles in the future where he is definitely more vulnerable and not as villainous.”

Sitilides agrees. As he continues to audition for roles, including commercial work through his agent and theatrical work, he said he hopes to secure wholesome roles.

“I played a lot of bad guys recently. I’ve played a lot of mean people or people with serious character flaws – most recently, a murderer and a Satanist,” Sitilides said. “I would love to be able to play something more uplifting.”

Whatever roles he secures in the future, Sitilides said he plans to pursue them in LA. Growing up on the East Coast, he said he always imagined himself living as an adult in New York. But now, after so many experiences under his belt through TFT, he has found a community and a life in LA he is not so ready to give up.

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Sitilides said he feels fortunate to be a part of the UCLA community, where he has been supported by alumni and his fellow students alike.

“Ever since I came here, this place has just felt increasingly like home,” he said. “I can’t imagine leaving that after being spoiled with four years here.”