Paul Pickett(I)

Paul was born in the city of Cordoba in Argentina and was raised in San Miguel de Tucuman of an American father (Robert L. Pickett) and an Argentine mother (Mañuca Acevedo Diaz). He is the second of six children. His native language is Spanish. His life in Argentina was surrounded by the comforts of an upper middle-class family until the military coup of 1975 when it became too dangerous to be associated with anything foreign. His family moved to the United States after Paul completed the 5th grade. They moved to the small town of Rigby, Idaho where Paul learned all about the country lifestyle. He learned all about farm chores from his friends and even helped them out when he visited them. He worked worked alongside his high school classmates in the annual potato harvest and enjoyed the freedom and excitement of living in a small town. He attended the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado, but soon learned that he was more of an artist than a military person. He found creative ways to express his artistry while at the Academy by imitating the voices of upper classmen and their mannerism for his fellow classmates to enjoy. After two years he felt the calling to the ministry and resigned his appointment to go serve an LDS mission in Mexico. He spent the next two years among the people of northern Mexico immersing himself in their language and culture. Upon his return he attended Ricks College (now BYU-Idaho) where he met Jennnifer Packard. They married in 1989 and have five children. Paul discovered acting at the University of Utah. He was required to take an Arts class for his general education requirement and decided to take Introduction to Acting with professor Barbara Smith. He soon discovered he had a knack for it and signed up for the next acting class in the following semester. He was encouraged by his professors to pursue a career in acting but Paul's practical mind took over and decided against it. He graduated with a teaching degree and spent the next 22 years teaching religion in a private school system. During his teaching years Paul made costumes for himself and his students and regularly acted out scenes from the scriptures. They helped fill the need to act. In 2005 he read about a new series of classroom video shorts being produced and applied to be an extra. This reawakened his desire to act and then he began pursuing it with some more seriousness. He took acting classes from Frank Gerrish, Michael Flyn, and other acting coaches around him and slowly began to perfect his skills. He eventually was signed by a talent agent and continues working regularly.