Before he was an Emmy Award-winning actor, Paul Walter Hauser was a student at Concordia University Chicago.

Hauser, who appeared this summer in the films Fantastic Four: First Steps and The Naked Gun, attended CUC from January of 2008 to May of 2009. Though he was on campus for all three of those semesters, by the 2009 Spring semester, Hauser wasn’t devoting much time to his studies.

“I dropped out in my third semester,” Hauser said over e-mail. “I just stayed on campus, eating off my meal card, partying, doing comedy in the city, and attending church on Sundays.”

Hauser said there wasn’t a specific moment when he decided to stop being a full-time student.

“I left because I was immature and was never going to finish my degree,” said Hauser. “By the time I was leaving, I had been writing screenplays and making contacts in Los Angeles to try and move there. I was never cut out for a school setting.”

Hauser got his start making guest appearances on the comedy shows It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Community. He appeared in several other shows and had his first recurring role on the show Kingdom. He appeared in films such I, Tonya and BlacKkKlansman, before his breakout performance as the title character in 2019’s Richard Jewell, about the security guard who was falsely accused for being responsible for the 1996 bombing of the Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia.

Hauser won an Emmy and a Golden Globe for his performance as Larry Hall in the 2022 limited series Black Bird. Since then, he has had roles in films such as Inside Out 2 and The Luckiest Man in America. His next role will as guitar tech Mike Batlan in the upcoming Bruce Springsteen biopic Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere.

While college might not have been for him, Hauser did say he felt he contributed to the social scene while he was at CUC. He attended the tailgating meals at football games, and was a vocal member of the student body when it came to school spirit at basketball games. He also participated in more than just sporting events.

“I did standup comedy for the Relay 4 Life Walkathon,” said Hauser. “I hosted movie nights for students, and I definitely sang a rendition of a Tenacious D song for a talent show in the actual church sanctuary.” 

One thing that Hauser liked doing for fun almost certainly wasn’t approved of by school administrators.

“I liked streaking naked through campus during a thunderstorm, asking other students for soap and shampoo,” said Hauser.

Hauser lived on the third floor of David-Jonathan Hall during his time at CUC, and said that it was rowdy, and that he was loud and oftentimes inconsiderate of others’ personal space.

One of Hauser’s favorite memories involves traveling with the basketball team.

“We traveled with the basketball team when they played a tournament in Nebraska, and we threw the greatest party,” said Hauser. “We somehow hosted like 25 people in one motel room.”

Hauser has fond memories of some of his professors at Concordia.

“I loved Andrew Pollom,” said Hauser. “He wasn’t just a stiff, socially-awkward staff member. He felt like a real person and you could have a real conversation with him.”

Pollom, who at the time taught a Freedom and Responsibility course and now serves as the vice president of student affairs at the University of Southern Maine, shares a similar sentiment towards Hauser.

 “He was not the most focused student, but he was such a positive guy and surprisingly thoughtful and introspective,” said Pollom. “I think what I’ve most been impressed by following his journey is not his acting — though that is award worthy and fun to watch — but the way he has stumbled and rebuilt his life. He stands for something and works hard at trying to remain committed and authentic as a man, a husband, and a father.”

Hauser’s favorite class was one that you would expect an actor to enjoy.

“Susan Ericsson was my favorite professor,” said Hauser. “She taught my favorite class, which was a film theory class where we would watch and dissect classic movies, as well as modern classics. It made me want to watch the older films I had previously ignored.” 

It wasn’t all positive memories, however.

“My least favorite memory is finding out the girl I had a crush on had been seeing this jock guy I didn’t much care for,” said Hauser. “When I found out, I drunkenly walked from Doc Ryan’s all the way back to campus.”

Doc Ryan’s was a bar located in Forest Park that closed in March 2023.

While it was relatively brief, Hauser thinks his time at CUC did pay some dividends. He learned a lot about himself and made lifelong friends such as Stephanie Ghem (née Zimmer) and James Morgan. 

“Of all the Concordias I had visited, it was far and away the best one,” said Hauser.