Santa Fe College Associate Professor Russell Schultz appears as President George Washington in the feature film “A Great Awakening,” which opened on April 3 and earned $2.1 million at the domestic box office during its Easter weekend debut.
The release of this film coincides with America’s upcoming 250th anniversary, a time when portrayals of historical figures like Washington are expected to increase. For the Santa Fe College community, Schultz’s role brings a local connection to national celebrations.
“A Great Awakening” explores the relationship between Benjamin Franklin and English evangelist George Whitefield, focusing on how their interactions influenced the Second Continental Congress and inspired foundational American ideals. Schultz said his involvement began unexpectedly after he was contacted by Sight & Sound Theatres for an audition without knowing what role he would play. “They didn’t tell me what the project was, or even the role,” Schultz said. “I assumed they were just wanting a self-tape demo but said ‘We want you to come up to Pennsylvania.’ It was a full screen test with makeup, costume, performing into a camera. About a month later, they offered me the role.”
Schultz underwent fittings for prosthetic teeth and nose to accurately portray Washington and traveled multiple times between Florida and Pennsylvania for filming. Although he missed attending the movie’s private premiere due to teaching commitments at Santa Fe College, he remains eager to see his performance on screen: “I haven’t even seen the film yet,” he said. “I’m just as eager to see it as everybody else.”
Reflecting on his career path from Dallas childhood talent shows through acting studies in Iowa and graduate school at University of Florida, Schultz described how early teaching experiences shaped both his vocation as an educator and performer: “I was as an unofficial T.A.—we didn’t have a graduate program—but the faculty trusted me enough to mentor these other students, and I began to develop my own teaching approach.” He also recounted shifting away from business studies after realizing his passion lay elsewhere: “My mind just doesn’t operate that way,” he said.
Schultz emphasized that portraying Washington required careful research into historical details such as speech patterns affected by dentures: “He was a quiet man, perhaps because of the teeth,” Schultz explained. Regarding political discourse then and now, Schultz added: “Of great concern to Washington was ‘Now that we’ve got this, how do we keep it?'” He continued: “The Founders were far from perfect…But it shows that even we—like they were in the late 1780s—can be very opposed to each other, and still hammer out something we believe in that is much bigger than ourselves.”
Looking ahead, Schultz expressed gratitude for being part of storytelling projects with deeper meaning: “That’s why I don’t care about my screen time,” he said. “What’s best about film is moments…These are stories that I want to tell—things that give us hope—redemption stories.”
