Many people think that professors only teach classes and grade assignments, yet that isn’t the case for this Rock County professor. Trevor Rees, who teaches various classes at the Rock County campus of UW-Whitewater, has also found a passion for motion capture acting, turning his passion into a thriving career.
Rees started his motion capture career in 2013 whilst working on his MFA at UW-Madison. There he was working on a show when the fight choreographer noticed him and his crew’s talent and invited them over for an audition. From there he started as a contracted motion capture actor and stunt performer for Raven Software based out of Madison, Wisconsin.
His first video game he worked on was “Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare,” which was released in fall of 2014. Since then he’s worked on many more games in the Call of Duty franchise, with his most recent acting work being the 2024 release of the franchise “Call of Duty: Black Ops 6.”
“It’s so fun there’s so many exciting parts and just being in the industry in general. The coolest thing is some of the stunts we get to do and also storylines you get to be a part of and watch later on,” Rees said.
Before entering the motion capture industry, Rees gained experience in other areas of professional acting while attending graduate school. His background also includes work in television, having interned at Milwaukee’s ABC affiliate, WISN-12, in 2008. As part of the team covering the presidential election that year, he contributed to work that won a regional Emmy award. He returned to WISN for a second internship in 2010-11, focusing on online content and covering events such as Summerfest, where he interviewed Man v. Food host Adam Richman. His stories became some of the station’s top online hits.
Beyond his professional acting career, Rees teaches several acting courses at Rock County, including a motion capture class. In spring 2024, he also introduced a podcasting course to the curriculum. Since joining the faculty in fall 2015, he has become a student favorite, with many enrolling in multiple courses under his instruction.
“As a student-teacher relationship I would say that he was very professional but also, he kept it very friendly with you,” junior Kory Makos said about the two classes he took as a Rock County student. “I just felt engaged because he was very passionate; he wanted people to ask questions.”
Some have taken as far as taking a third class with Rees as his enthusiasm makes students feel more welcome than ever before.
“In each semester where I had Trevor as a teacher, his classes usually ended up being my favorite,” sophomore Lucas Iverson said about having Rees as a professor.
Rees is having the best moment of his career, from teaching his favorite topics and hobbies while also working for one of the largest video game franchises. This loveable and kind man has done it all.
