Pop-Culturalist.com

Kayla Ewell has been a force in the industry since she first burst onto the scene in Freaks and Geeks. Throughout the years, she’s shown off her talent and versatility, playing a wide range of characters from a drug addict turned vampire in The Vampire Diaries to one of the original aliens in Roswell, New Mexico.

This year, she’s showing off another side of her artistry in the action-packed Agent Revelation.

We spoke with Kayla about her career, how she landed a role in Agent Revelation, and what attracted her to the proejct.

Career

PC: How did you discover your passion for the arts?
Kayla: Oh, wow. That’s such a great question. I was really young and expressed myself originally through dance. I loved dancing. To be quite honest, I wasn’t that great at it, but I loved doing it. I had such a passion for it, but it wasn’t necessarily my end all be all. My parents encouraged me through it and said I was great and went to all my dance performances, but I was the one towards the side in the back. I loved it so much, though.

One day, there was an audition for a national Broadway tour for a show called Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat—this is way back in the day. I really wanted to go. I remember my mom saying, “I’m going to be your biggest fan. Here we go.” I booked it, and it wasn’t just about dance; it was about singing, stage presence, and truly the love of storytelling. It ended up being one of my first “jobs”. I was one of the choir kids in the back, but it was on a much higher level than I’d ever experienced before. From that day on, I was hooked. I had the bug. I knew this is what I wanted to do.

Thankfully, my parents are sane and not stage parents. They kept me in normal school the entire time. They’re extremely practical. My mom is a psychologist, so they were not those parents that were thinking I was going to be a star when I was five years old. Instead, they were very practical and said, “No, you need to go to college. You need to do this.”

Right out of college, I was able to book a job on The Bold and the Beautiful and worked on that for three years. That was my actor’s bootcamp. It was lovely to have this family experience while I was living on my own for the first time and had my first real job. That was fun.

Fast forward twenty years: we’re in a pandemic. My husband is now on The Bold and the Beautiful. He’s in a contract role. I go back in now to that exact show to play his intimacy double, because we’re in a fricking pandemic. He can’t touch or kiss his love interest, so now they put a wig on me. Luckily, we have a similar physique, so they can just put a wig on me. I get to go in and get paid to kiss my husband. Who knew?! Talk about life going full circle.

PC: Who or what has had the biggest influence on your career?
Kayla: That’s another great question and an easy one for me! My first job on television was on a show called Freaks and Geeks when I was in high school. Judd Apatow and Paul Feig gave me my first job on television. I remember I was a freshman in high school, and I was so embarrassed to tell people that I was on a show called Freaks and Geeks because I thought they would think I’m not cool and that I’m a freak or geek. I kept it a secret the whole time.

I would leave and go shoot this incredible Emmy-nominated, award-winning show and not tell anyone about it, and then come back. Everyone would be like, “Wait, where were you?” I was like, “Oh, I was just away, doing something.” Finally, when it started to air, everyone understood what was going on. It’s funny how our mentality and what matters to us are when we’re young and in school. Looking back now, I can’t help but look at my younger self and want to give her a hug and be like, “It’s okay. You can own who you are.”

PC: You’ve had a lot of success in your career. When you look back, is there a particular moment that stands out?
Kayla: There was a really cool personal moment that sticks out for me. One of the shows I did for years was The Vampire Diaries, which was when vampires were at their height—everyone was obsessed with them. At that time, I was twenty-two. It was one of the shows that everyone wanted to get on. My grandfather has since passed, but I will never forget, I was with him when I got the phone call that I booked the job. It was one of the most amazing experiences because he’s a vet—he fought in World War II—and he’s one of the most hardworking men I’ve ever met. To be able to work hard and celebrate a win with him before he left us was hands-down the greatest moment of my life. Nothing can trump that.

PC: You recently became a mother. If your daughter wanted to follow in your footsteps, what advice would you give her?
Kayla: This is a constant conversation my husband and I have. We’re both in the industry, but we really don’t want our kids to be in the industry. [laughs] It’s one of those things where I think you have to have tough armor to be an actor. You’re always told no. You’re always told what’s not good about you and that you’re never enough. Everything about you needs to be discussed. Everything that is so personal to each of us as individuals becomes part of a network meeting at some point. It’s really hard on your heart. You have to surround yourself with good people to keep everything in perspective. That’s something that I know my husband and I will have to do if our kids want to go into the industry.

I was at Kevin Williamson’s house for dinner—he’s the creator of Vampire Diaries and a lot of other amazing things. He was saying to me, “You’re raising a really beautiful girl in a city where beauty is what matters most, and that’s dangerous.” I said, “Okay, so what advice do you have for me then?” He said, “Get her into coding camp, put her in horseback riding camp, in hiking camp, anything but the arts. She may come to the arts at some point, and that’s okay, but make sure she is really rounded and grounded in who she is.”

My husband is from a small town in Saskatchewan, Canada. Our solution to that is that we’ve decided every summer, we’re going to bring our kids—well we have one now, but I’m sure we’ll have more at some point—we’re going to bring them back to his parents’ farm and harvest. They do wheat and canola. Our kids will see what a simpler life is like. Hopefully, that will give them some perspective and they won’t be caught up in social media and the entertainment industry. We’re in it, and we love it. I will completely understand if my kids choose it, but for now, I’m going to do everything in my power so that they don’t.

PC: In addition to acting, you’re also a producer and podcaster. Is it ever a challenge to manage all the different facets to your career? How has your work as a producer and podcaster made you a stronger actress and vice versa?
Kayla: That’s such a good question. It’s really important to understand our industry from all different perspectives: from the directing perspective, from the producer perspective, from the writer perspective, from every perspective, so that we can be a better actor. Podcasting has been so much fun, especially during the pandemic, because it’s something that, for once, we finally have control of. My costar from The Vampire Diaries, Candice King, and I had just turned thirty, and we were feeling a little lost and not really knowing what to do in our lives. We thought, “Hey, if we feel this way, I guarantee other people do as well. Let’s start recording and see if we learn something.” It’s the first time ever as artists that we have control of something.

It’s incredibly fulfilling. We’re in our third season. This week, we’re interviewing one of the final survivors of Auschwitz. We’re going to learn from her story. We’re going to try and figure out if we can become better from her experience. Obviously, there’s so much to learn there. But then, we also have episodes where we interview Paul Wesley, one of the lead actors of The Vampire Diaries and one of People Magazine‘s sexiest men alive—that’s a more fun and flirty episode. We have a good balance. That’s what we do really well. Each episode is a little different. You don’t know what to expect, but you do end up learning something through the process.

Agent Revelation

PC: You also have a new film out. Tell us about Agent Revelation, your character, and what drew you to this project.
Kayla: For any sci-fi fanatics, this is exactly what you want when you watch a sci-fi movie. What drew me as an actor is that there’s so much combat in it—that’s something I had never done before. We shot this pre-COVID. There were so many stunt rehearsals, and that’s such a bonding experience for a cast to do together. I really learned my roundhouse kick; I got it down. That’s something I’d never done before in my life. It reminded me of my dancing a bit, way back in the day, when I may not have been the best, but I was a hard worker. I committed to it. Even after stunt rehearsals, I would come home, and I would continue to do work and work at it because I loved the idea of being able to kick someone’s ass.

My character, Billy, is really interesting. It was originally written for a male. I actually auditioned for a different role. Our director, Derek Ting, said, “As soon as you left the room, I knew we had to figure out how to get you in the film.” They changed the character, Billy, to a female.

There are a lot of women marches and female empowerment happening right now. I felt like that was our nod to that as well. Billy is this techie, kind of wry, junk food-eating, sci-fi fanatic of her own, and she gets thrust into this experience with all these professionals. Instead of crumbling, she rises to the occasion. Her perseverance is very parallel to mine in my personal life, so there were a lot of parallels between myself and Billy while doing the movie.

What Agent Revelation does so well is it gives you a nice ending to the story you’ve just watched while also leaving it open-ended for a possible sequel. It was a pleasure to work with Michael Dorn too, from Star Trek. He is such a pro; he knows sci-fi better than anyone else. All those sci-fi and Star Trek fans will absolutely love this film. It’s really nice when you meet someone who is such a professional. He embodied that to a T. I’m even more of a fan after meeting him in-person and working with him.

PC: Like you were saying, writer/director Derek Ting rewrote this character for you. Did that bring any extra pressure to the project?
Kayla: You know what, interestingly enough, you would think, right? You would think it would bring more pressure, but what it did for me is it made me feel even more empowered. I thought, “Wow. If he met me and thought, ‘We have to figure out how to get you in this movie and now it’s a female role,’ that’s so much freedom.” She can be whoever I want her to be.

I noticed that it’s a very serious script. It’s very sci-fi-based. I thought, “Hey, might as well bring some comedic timing to this. Can I bring a little bit of humor to it?” When I talked to Derek, he was like, “Yes, let’s do that. That sounds great.” He did give me, as an actor, a lot of freedom to improv a bit and make Billy who she is. I personally think when you watch the film, it’s a nice little standout supporting role.

PC: With the film out now, what do you hope audiences take away after they see it?
Kayla: You know what I really hope? Life right now is really bleak. It’s really hard for all of us. Not one person is having an amazing year, nor should they, because the number of people dying is so severe and heart-wrenching. There are times when we need to escape, and that’s why we all turned to entertainment, storytelling, television, and film. Sometimes it’s just too much, and that’s okay. I really hope people can escape to a completely different world and feel a bit of relief for the hour-and-a-half that this movie is. Then, they can go back to their lives more invigorated, relaxed, inspired, and know that it’s not always going to be like this. This is temporary. We’re all in this together.

PC: In addition to Agent Revelation, you’re also starring in Roswell, New Mexico. Is there anything you can tease about the upcoming season?
Kayla: My character, Nora Truman, is the first alien to come down in the 1940s when the ship crashes and lands in Roswell. It’s been really fun to play an alien hiding among humans. This season, we really dig into what life was like on the planet before they came, which is really interesting. For all sci-fi fans, this is definitely the season for you. But, what Roswell, New Mexico does really well is they balance that with the everyday normal storylines of love, lust, and all of that.

Pop Culturalist Speed Round

PC: Guilty pleasure TV show?
Kayla: The Office.

PC: Guilty pleasure movie?
Kayla: The Devil Wears Prada. I love Anne Hathaway and Meryl Streep in that movie.

PC: Favorite book?
Kayla: There are so many. This is going to date me—one of my favorite books that I reread all the time is called Where the Red Fern Grows. I read it for the first time in fifth grade, and it’s the loveliest book. It’s a classic. It’s old, but it’s so good.

PC: Favorite play or musical?
Kayla: Everyone says Hamilton, so I can’t say that. I’ll go with Wicked. It’s a standard, but it’s one of the first times I listened to a soundtrack on repeat over and over again. It’s a tie between Wicked and The Phantom of the Opera, because Phantom was the first show I saw on Broadway when I was really young, and that’s when I got hooked.

PC: A band or artist that fans would be surprised to learn is on your playlist?
Kayla: Sick Puppies. They’re an Australian band that had a hit called “Maybe”. I met my husband on that music video. The name of the song is not necessarily the best omen, but we met each other during it. To be honest, I don’t even think they’re together anymore—we looked them up the other day—but they had a great run. They had a few top forty hits.

PC: Who would play you in the story of your life?
Kayla: Oh my God. Wow. Who would play me in the story of my life? It’s funny: you would think I would have an answer to this question. It’s such a good one, but it’s also very meta. Now I’m going deep, and it’s messing me up in my head. Who would play me? My instinct says Meryl Streep, just because she’s so fantastic, and there’s no way to mess that up. But you know who I truly love, is Rebecca Hall. As a person, she’s lovely, and her acting is truly fantastic. She’s an actress that goes under the radar a lot and deserves a lot more accolades.

To keep up with Kayla, follow her on Twitter and Instagram. Watch Agent Revelation today.