There seems to be a new celebrity roaming the halls of Palo Verde. Junior Anthony Talton, otherwise known as the Black Vegetarian, never fails to make the students laugh with his movie reviews on PVTV.

Talton’s main goal when making these videos is to entertain the students enough to have them forget about the stress they may be going through, and may even be the highlight of someone’s day.

“I’m just motivated by the stories that people tell me of how whenever I come on air, everyone is excited to see me. I’m excited to see people’s reactions. I also feel like school is really stressful and serious most of the time. I just want to lighten the mood a little,” Talton said in an interview with Panther Print.

Talton is more than just his stage personality. His unique past and family have shaped him into the hardworking person he is now.

“I was born in Turkey. I’m 17, I have 2 brothers and 1 sister. I have a small group of friends that I hang with. But my on camera persona is like my personality multiplied by about 100. Of course, I’m not as crazy in person as I am when I’m entertaining people. But me and Black Vegetarian do share similar qualities. He’s just a lot crazier than me,” Talton said.

For Talton, joining video production was the best thing he could’ve done because it has allowed him to learn the basics of how to broadcast and share his talent with his peers. It took only one broadcast to put him on the map. Because of the popularity of his reviews, he now has his own segment on Palo Verde TV. Not only does he get to display his skills in production, but he gets to talk about the one thing he’s most passionate about: movies.

“I film on Mondays and Tuesdays and then I edit my videos on Wednesday and Thursday so they’ll be ready by Friday. And I just see movies over the weekend and think about little stupid things to say while I review it. Movies are a big passion of mine. And doing this, reviewing them in front of an audience, is like a dream come true,” he explained.

Talton’s passions show through the weekly content he shares as it never fails to entertain. The process that comes with creating videos is rigorous, but Talton makes it look effortless as his TV persona simply shines through and connects with all the viewers. Whether it be a hysterical comment from a movie or his jovial personality, Talton finds a way to involve every person that watches him.

Talton doesn’t think much of the future and tries instead to appreciate the current moment, staying humble.

“I’ve considered making a YouTube channel sometime in the near future. Just for after I leave Palo, or maybe while I’m still here. Who knows? But I’m just living in the now. Being a small, on campus celebrity is nice and all. But I’m not going to try to milk it as much as I can to stay relevant. I always want to be as genuine as possible with what I do. But I do see at least a whole nother semester of reviewing movies in the future,” Talton said.

Even if he seems like a celebrity, Talton’s still a normal teenager, and he’s really happy to be able to be the Black Vegetarian.

“It’s so funny what a little charisma and a platform to express yourself can do in regards to how people perceive you. Even teachers acknowledge me as the Black Vegetarian, and it’s just so funny to me. There are even instances where I’m off campus and people will just stop me and ask me for a picture or just stop me to say hi. I never thought that doing the school news and some movie reviews could really make so many people happy. I’m just glad I get to make so many people laugh.”