A Pella native recently featured on NBC’S The Today Show has worked his way into Hollywood’s entertainment industry.

Andrew Lopez, a Class of 2008 graduate, was back in Iowa this past weekend to perform at his other alma mater, Iowa State University, after a career that has moved him into working on popular shows. Lopez has made his way to the screen on the Emmy-award winning show “The Bear” on FX, and co-stars with Emmy and Golden Globe-nominated actors Seth Rogan and Rose Byrne in “Platonic” on Apple TV.

Lopez is thankful for his Pella roots and how they helped him push his way onto the screen and on stages across the country as a stand-up comedian.

“Those foundations, those pillars of character that you see on the wall in grade school, and that your teachers are saying to you — they might not mean anything to you in the moment, but that foundation I learned in Pella — that thing, that process has not changed. It has made the process [in Hollywood] easier, and it has made the wins better.

“Once I made myself a foundation for myself that was taught to me in Pella, which is being caring for my friends, believing in something, trust, having so much commitment and faith in the things that have those in you and share that back to those people — I learned that all in Pella.”

Hear more from Andrew Lopez in a special feature coming soon on Let’s Talk Pella.