PEET MONTZINGO

👋 PETER ‘PEET’ MONTZINGO is an online personality, musician and writer. Peet is known for his YouTube and TikTok videos curated with a variety of content, some of which includes his family, all of whom have dwarfism.

📺️ YouTube (22.1m) @PeetMontzingo
🎥 TikTok (14.1m) @peetmontzingo
📸 Instagram (3.1m) @peetmontzingo

ABOUT PEET

WHAT IS THE MOST INTERESTING FACT ABOUT YOURSELF? 🔮 

Being in a family of all little people. I am the only average height member in my family, and it is what shaped the way that I’ve lived my life and my beliefs. And it almost made me feel like I was the odd one out in so many ways. So it put me in a different perspective than, obviously, all my peers when I was just like all my peers. So I think that mindset along with my family dynamic is totally what makes me a little bit more of me. 

WHAT IS YOUR BACKGROUND? 🎞️ 

I grew up in Seattle, Washington. But ever since I was six, I had dreams to come out here to Los Angeles. I always thought that I was going to be some famous actor. I always had these kinds of dreams and ambitions. 

My amazing mother, Vickie, grew up in Los Angeles. Before she met my dad, she was the glamour queen. When my mother was in LA, she tried to get into the entertainment industry, she tried to get into all the buzz. She dated someone famous, who tried to get her foot in the door. But when she met my dad, she gave up everything and moved to Seattle. But she still had this underlying drive to pursue entertainment, arts, and everything that encompasses LA. So when I came around, we were able to live those same dreams and aspirations. 

Ever since I was little, my mother would put me into acting school. For my first eight years of life, I had a general sense of knowing what I wanted to do as an actor. ‘Hi, I’m Peet Montzingo, and I am eight years old.’ You know? Here’s a slate. 

This is what you would do when going to casting directors. I felt that I had a foundation of the entertainment industry, and just started to maneuver a little bit. So there was this entertainment bug in me. In addition to this, I would also see my mother do little things in Seattle. She did several commercials, print work, shows, and a movie with Billy Bob Thornton called ‘Lost Highway.’

IF WE WERE BEST FRIENDS IN HIGH SCHOOL, WHAT WOULD WE BE DOING? 🎒 

I am all about all nighters. So we’d probably force each other to stay up all night and play Zelda. This, and writing songs, learning a new instrument, and playing the trombone. I was pretty normal. I didn’t really get into trouble until probably senior year. 

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PEET X LA

WHAT WAS IT LIKE COMING OUT TO LIVE IN LA? 🎬️

Everyone thought I was an idiot for coming out to LA because I did not have a job. I worked at a Subway, over forty hours a week just to be able to try to get the first couple of months rent in LA. You know, it is one of those stories. I drove out here with a friend, my sister was already here because she wanted to become an actress, but ended up becoming a teacher. I crashed with my sister for the first couple of months, and you know, naturally siblings don’t live well together. So I moved out as immediately as I could. 

But, I had no plans. I had no money. I couldn’t afford anything. I was homeless for a while. And I feel like that is just the quintessential LA, the story of just wanting to make a name for yourself.

Then I started doing auditions where I was on Wipeout, and then I auditioned for X Factor, which, right after X Factor, I was offered my own reality show.

In the offer, they wanted it to be about my family, navigating a family with dwarfism, and how I wanted to be a teen heartthrob at the time. So I had to deny it because I felt like it was going to exploit my family.

But with that offer, it made me realize that I should try to get into acting. Over the next two or three years I signed with different agencies. I remember at one point, I signed with the biggest commercial agency. But it became really rough, and two years later, I started my own boy band journey. 

That’s when I switched from acting to wanting to become a singer. I was in a five piece boy band for about three years, and then COVID happened, right when we got done with our first tour where we toured South Africa, Spain, and Europe, supporting the well-known boy band Boyzone in their arena tour.

During the first week of quarantine, I went on TikTok and posted a video that truly blew up. And then the next video blew up. And then the week after that, I quarantined with my mom. And the rest is history, it has been a journey.

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PEET X THOUGHTS

WHAT IS A MENTALITY THAT YOU TRY TO LIVE BY? 🧠 

Especially during rough times, I tell myself, ‘You’re gonna get through this, and you’re going to learn something.’ Let the seeds flourish, and they will. I would also say that knowing that we all have weaknesses, but those are people’s different perspectives, because those weaknesses are really our strengths. Every morning I have to remind myself that ‘this is ok.’ 

WHAT ARE YOU READING? WATCHING? 📚️ 

Right now, this on my coffee table, but it is a book of organizing solutions for people with ADHD. That’s what I’ve been trying to get through. And watching, right now I am watching Christmas movies.
*This interview took place around Christmas time, prior.

FAVORITE LA MORNING HANGOUT SPOT? ☕️ 

I would say my mom’s house.

FAVORITE LA EVENING HANGOUT SPOT? 🪩 

Sushi Stop in Franklin Village

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE LOS ANGELES? 🏄‍♂️ 

LA is soul sucking, but also a land of opportunities. Anybody can find their place in the city, whether you’re a cowboy, a beach boy, or a business professional. You just have to find the right circles and the right environment for you. But it is good here.

HOW WOULD LOS ANGELES DESCRIBE PEET MONTZINGO? 👨‍🦰 

Somebody that they have chewed up and swallowed a million times, and rounded me up in a million pieces. I’ve lost my heart and soul so many times. But I keep on coming out to LA, and it can’t get rid of me.

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YOUR STORY

CuratedLA would like to thank Peet for this great interview. Want to share your story? Send me an email, [email protected] and a bit about yourself.

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