Exclusive Interview: Kyle Allen Talks Space Oddity, How the Support of His Cast Elevated His Performance, and More

Kyle Allen has quickly emerged as one of the industry’s most sought-after leading men. His ability to transform into a character and bring strength and vulnerability in his performances have landed him coveted roles in projects including The Map of Tiny Perfect Things, The In Between, West Side Story, The Greatest Beer Run Ever, and Rosaline. This March, he stars in the must-see drama, Space Oddity.

Directed by Kyra Sedgwick, Space Oddity tells the story of a young man named Alex (Allen) who longs to travel to outer space and finally gets the opportunity to do so thanks to a privately-funded Mars colonization program. In the midst of his rigorous preparation, he meets Daisy (Alexandra Shipp), the new girl in town who’s trying to start over. The two wayward souls connect in unexpected ways, both of them harboring secrets that they’re desperately trying to overcome. However, when questions about the legitimacy of the program and the future of his parents’ flower farm begin to crop up, Alex finds himself questioning whether it’s easier to confront his past or fly away into the stars.

Pop Culturalist was lucky enough to catch up with Kyle to talk about Space Oddity, how the support of his cast helped elevate his performance, creating space for vulnerability and more.

PC: You’ve done such a great job attaching yourself to projects that spark conversation and create this lasting impact on audiences. What is your vetting process like when you’re deciding what you want to go out for? What was it about Space Oddity that attracted you to it?
Kyle: They offered me the part. [laughs] No, I hear a lot of people say that, and they’re like, “I just needed a job.” Most of the time that’s true. I was incredibly lucky because it was a really, really cool job. But that was the vetting process. You’re willing to hire me? Fantastic. When do I start? But yeah, that said, I was really amazed that they offered it to me. It’s such a wonderful script. It’s so beautiful. I was so excited to dive into something like that. I’d never done anything like it before.

PC: There’s a moment in the film when your character says that everything that we know and everything that makes us great was once an insane idea. What’s the craziest idea that you’ve ever had that transpired into something beyond your wildest imagination?
Kyle: I moved to this town without knowing anyone, not even to be an actor. I didn’t know what I wanted to be. I was an injured dancer. I was nursing an injury. The injury got better. I started street performing on Venice Beach. I started doing random acting jobs and non-union commercials, Pepsi commercials for Japan, and nonsense. I loved it. It was ridiculous. It was crazy. It was something different every day. I loved it, and I fell into acting. Then I was like, “You know what? I’m going to really try and do this thing.” That was insane because I had no money. I knew no one in the industry. I looked at the wikiHow page for acting. That’s where I started. I googled how to act. That is why my journey began. It was that ridiculous idea. Here we are.

PC: A lot of actors are going to start looking at that wiki page.
Kyle: You got to start somewhere. There’s no shame in looking at the wikiHow page.

PC: Chemistry is so fundamental for a project like this. From The Map of Tiny Perfect Things to The In Between to this project, it always seems so effortless for you. What’s the secret to that success? Was there a moment when you and Alexandra felt that connection needed for your two characters?
Kyle: I give that credit to the women that you’re talking about: Joey King, Kathryn Newton, and Alex Shipp. It’s them. They’re wonderful, open, kind, and vibrant. They bring so much that it’s always so easy for me. I absolutely, without question, owe my career to those women and more. Isabelle Fuhrman essentially gave me one of my first jobs. I’ve been so clueless as an actor. It’s different for guys than it is for girls. Girls can’t be clueless. The bar to entry is much higher for women. Those were my teachers. I’m just trying to learn everything that I can from everyone. Please give me what you have. I’m glad it came off well.

PC: Speaking of incredible women, Kyra directed this project. She’s built an illustrious career as an actor. Is the filming experience different when you’re working with a director who has experience in front of the camera? Is there a shorthand that you developed? What was that collaboration like?
Kyle: She’s a brilliant director and has an incredible amount of acting experience. She just knows. She can read people, and she can tell you exactly what you need to hear. The shorthand is intention. She can communicate in exactly the way she knows someone needs to hear.

PC: Something that this film does so brilliantly is the way that it plays with different beats and tones. It doesn’t let audiences sit in one space for too long, which makes that final scene that much more impactful. You’ve handled that journey with so much nuance. As an actor, how did you create the space for yourself to dive into those final moments when Alex is revisiting this painful moment but there’s also so much hope for his future?
Kyle: It has a lot to do with the memories that you create. It’s a culmination of everything. We did shoot that scene near the end of filming, which was fortunate. I was able to talk to and come to love the people around me and the place where I was. You get to create all these connections to real things and then tie those real things to fictional things. You love that farm. You can use that to create memories within the farm that are fictional and so on and so forth. You combine real-life experiences with your imagination and circumstances and all of that builds inside you. You have to trust it. Through that process, I found that I connected to the script, the character, the circumstances, and the people around me.

I was actually learning things from Alex—real life, internal things—because she’s an incredible woman. But I also say things to her as the character but also in the subtext. You can say, “Thank you.” You can appreciate someone. You can feel the space that they’re giving you to feel emotion. You combine that with all the other things that you’ve experienced and filled yourself up with. You let it happen, and you let it come out if you’ve filled yourself up. That’s why I think people talk about how it takes a village. Because I was so inspired by everyone around me. I was so filled up by the people around me. If the performance is any good, that’s why.

PC: Throughout your career, you’ve gotten to play with the duality of comedy and drama. For you as an actor, is one more challenging than the other?
Kyle: They’re both endless, and they both could be endlessly challenging. I’m a very ridiculous person, so certain aspects of comedy come naturally to me because I’m a weird guy. I would say drama, but that’s not to say that comedy doesn’t have its own unique set of challenges. You don’t always get laughs all the time. If you can make the director laugh or the crew laugh or something like that, you get these boosts throughout the day, whereas with drama, sometimes it’s like you’re doing a lot of scenes that are hard and they’re hard to watch and your day is not filled with a lot of levity. I’d say drama is harder for those reasons.

PC: You deliver such a standout performance in this film. Is there a scene in particular that you’re really excited for your fans to see that might be different from previous roles that you’ve done?
Kyle: Gosh, I’d leave that up to them. I don’t really think about that in that way. You’re just focused on the character and living in the moment. I’ve never been like, “Oh, they’ll like that one.” When I’m watching the movie, I’m terrified. There’s so much anxiety for me, especially when you’re doing the really vulnerable stuff. I hope they like it. I hope they like it. I hope they don’t feel cheated. That’s the best thing that I can hope for. I would say I’m excited for them to see the performances of everyone else. That’s much easier for me to watch. Watch what Kevin did. Watch what Madeline Brewer did. Watch what Alex Shipp and Carrie Preston did because that was incredible.

PC: Love that. That’s such a leading man answer.
Kyle: I know. The truth is that’s what I get excited about. I don’t necessarily get excited about like, “Hey, watch me.” But I’m like, “I did it. I know what that is.” These people are incredible.

PC: When Alex first meets Daisy, she asks him why he’s going to Mars, which is something that no one ever asks him. Having done a million junkets for the different projects that you’ve been a part of, what’s one question that you’ve never been asked that you wish was asked?
Kyle: I think I’d like to be asked, “Why bother being an actor?”

PC: What would your answer be to that?
Kyle: You’re a sneaky guy. Sneaky. I’m still figuring that out. It’s an endless definition. John Hawk said this thing in an interview that I love to repeat. He said, “I don’t know, man. This is what I do. If the world were to end tomorrow, I’d be scratching a poem on a rock with another rock for the five people left.” I was like, “There’s something to that.” This is how I give. I don’t feel terribly useful anywhere else. I feel like I’m more useful here, and if that changes, then I would change. Maybe I like that question because I don’t have the best answer for it. It makes me think.

PC: The film tackles so many universal themes, and each audience member is going to take something different away from it. Was there a theme that hit home for you?
Kyle: It’s really simple. It’s the idea that we can’t run. You can run, but it’s beautiful, profound, and probably a lot more fun not to run and to face your trauma and your responsibilities, and to face them head-on. Also, the way in which Alex loves his brother. I find that really inspiring. I live much more in that relationship than the film lives in that relationship.

To keep up with Kyle, follow him on Instagram. Space Oddity is available wherever you stream movies.