Pop Culturalist Chats with Mean Girls’ Kevin Csolak

From an early age, Kevin Csolak found himself surrounded by the arts. He quickly fell in love with the craft and it became more than just a passion for him; it became a way of life. So, you could say that his journey to the industry seemed destined from the start. This year alone, he’s performed at the Super Bowl, the Today Show, SNL, and the VMAs, and is currently starring in Mean Girls on Broadway. With all of his success, Kevin hasn’t taken a single moment for granted. He approaches every new project as an opportunity to learn and grow. Pop Culturalist had the pleasure of speaking with Kevin about Mean Girls, his career aspirations, and his love for the creative process.

PC: You’re an actor, singer, and dancer. How early on did you realize you had these talents? When did you make the decision to pursue entertainment professionally?
Kevin: My mom owns an esteemed performing arts studio in New Jersey and I spent all of my time there. She was the one who saw raw talent in my brothers and myself from the start. As a kid, I would be in the dance studio watching my older brothers, copying their moves and dedication. It immediately became a lifestyle for me. At first, I don’t even think I knew how much I loved it because I was so young, but like I said, it was my way of life and I was soaking it all in. I officially started taking dance classes at the age of three. Around the age of five or six, my mom suggested I jump into acting classes and singing lessons. I was hooked from the beginning. Nine years passed and I did what kids do, school, sports, clubs and kept training at the performing arts school. When I was 10, my mom, who had been connecting performers to agents in NYC for years, pursued getting Kurt, my brother, a manager and they agreed to see me too. We were back with one of the top kid’s managers on the East Coast and then things happened fast! The excitement, the drive is something I would soon get addicted to. Within two weeks, I had booked roles on three different soap operas, one a recurring role. A couple of months later, I booked my first Broadway show, How the Grinch Stole Christmas. It was a crazy, hot out-of-the-gate experience. I wasn’t expecting it, but it was amazing. At that point, I knew I wanted to do this for the rest of my life. Since then, I’ve always been training. I especially love training through experiences. I’ve learned so much from TV sets with experienced actors like Steve Buscemi, Tom Selleck, Michael K Williams, and Shea Whigham to working on Broadway with Casey Nicholaw. Even watching Justin Timberlake work behind the scenes at Super Bowl 52 taught me a lot. Honestly, experiences are where I’ve gotten the bulk of my recent training and I am beyond grateful.

PC: What were your career aspirations when you started your career? Was there a particular goal you were striving for that once you’ve reached that you could say, “I made it?”
Kevin: It’s funny, there wasn’t ever a specific goal. I saw each opportunity as a fun way to experience another project. At around the age of fourteen or fifteen, I started seeing a path. As a dancer, I loved hip-hop and I idolized Justin Timberlake, so it was always a goal to work with him. For acting, I wanted a guest-starring role on one of the major television networks. When I was sixteen, I had that goal fulfilled. It’s pretty crazy. I had a three or four episode role on Boardwalk Empire. I loved the 1920s feel of the show and I still have aspirations of landing another recurring role on a show like that.

Actually, the day before we started rehearsals for Mean Girls, I did the Super Bowl with Justin Timberlake. At the time, I was living in Los Angeles and had just made the decision to move back to New York for Mean Girls. I was literally packing my stuff up when I got the call. So, I did the Super Bowl, got on a bus, got back to the hotel, grabbed my stuff, and made it to New York around 7 AM with a rehearsal starting at 10 AM. I had two hours of sleep and went right into it. It was such a cool experience, but it was also humbling. I had just done this amazing thing and then it was straight back to work.

As far as my goals, they’re things that I’ve always looked forward to in the near future. I love going to class. I love getting myself trained and building the stepping stones for what I hope will be a long-lasting career.

PC: You’ve had tons of things going on in 2018. Like you just stated, you’re in Mean Girls on Broadway, you’ve performed at the Super Bowl, the Tonys, Today Show, SNL, and most recently the VMAs.
Kevin: It’s crazy! Performing at the VMAs was such a last-minute thing. The choreographer knew me and he called me in for that. He was looking for four guys and he hired three of his other friends. It was an amazing, crazy experience. Looking back at 2018, I can’t complain!

PC: Broadway is extremely demanding, but at the same time, you’ve had all these amazing opportunities pop up. How challenging is it to manage your schedule?

Kevin: It’s always been a good challenge. I try to make sure that I’m not cutting down time from the Broadway show because that’s my main priority. The management team has been incredible, allowing me to take personal days when needed, but the scheduling has worked out perfectly. The VMAs were on a Monday, which is when we are off, and the Super Bowl was the day before I went into rehearsals. It can be a little stressful, but my mom has always taught me, “Take a breath. Step back. This fell into your lap for a reason. We can figure this out.”

PC: You play Shane Oman in Mean Girls and you’re also a member of the ensemble. How did you get involved with this production? Were there any nerves given how iconic this film is?
Kevin: I had worked with Casey Nicholaw, our director, a year prior on The Prom musical. I did the lab of that and then we brought it to Atlanta. There was a three-month gap between that transfer. At the time, I had been bopping back and forth from L.A. and I happened to be in New York at the time when the audition was happening for the lab. I booked it and I thought, “You know what, let’s stay in New York. This is a renowned Broadway director who has done all these shows. Why not jump back into musical theatre? It’s been so long.” Right after our Atlanta run, I went back to L.A., and sure enough, it was three weeks before Mean Girls’ rehearsals were starting and Casey Nicholaw called me and told me how he was doing Mean Girls and how he wanted to make it a more modern, hip-hop style show with its choreography—a beautiful mesh of musical theatre and hip-hop. He thought I would be the perfect fit for Shane Oman and a member of the ensemble and he wanted me to come in for callbacks. For me, at this point, I’ve only had one other time when a director called me and personally asked me to come in, so, clearly, I told him I would be there. I flew in and realized they had already had two other callbacks and I was at the final callbacks. I understudy for Aaron, so I read for Aaron at the time. I went in about fifteen minutes before the audition and learned the dance combo that all the other guys had learned weeks prior. That was my audition process. It was very last minute, but it was a lot of fun because I knew a lot of the guys who were auditioning. Casey was heartwarming and going in front of Tina Fey was really, really cool. Usually, when I book a role, I like to take my time when making a decision, especially if I have to travel for an extended period of time, but with this, in my gut, I always knew I was going to do it. Casey was so passionate about me doing it, I loved Mean Girls the movie, and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to work with Tina Fey. I had this feeling that everything was going to go the way that I wanted it to. Also, my family is in New York, and I hadn’t really seen them in a while. I only came back for certain holidays. Everything was lining up and I felt like life was telling me that I needed to come back here, and then I booked the show! It was an immediate, “Yes!” It just felt so right and I’m so glad that I listened to my gut—it has really paid off. I’ve had so many opportunities in the last year and all my connections from L.A. have benefited me here. It’s funny, I thought all the networking and hustling I did in L.A. would be put on hold until I moved back, but that hasn’t been the case at all.

PC: Does the process and prep change for the audition when you’re essentially being recommended by the director?
Kevin: There’s definitely added pressure, but I’ve always been one of those people who works well under pressure. For me, my game face comes on and I immediately grab the material and go to work. When I know there’s someone on the other side of the table who’s personally vouching for me, I see that level of respect and I’m not one to take it for granted. I’ve been in the business for twelve years, putting my blood and sweat into each audition. I remember going to auditions, putting my name down, and waiting in line. My experiences growing up in a performing arts studio and my mom have instilled this mentality in me to enjoy the process. I should get it tattooed on my body because it’s something I always think of. It’s really the best part. I really enjoy the rehearsal process and memorizing scripts. When I was a kid, my mom would sit there with me, and I would throw a ball against the wall and she would help me memorize a script. Now, I have to always have a ball in my hand or I need to move around to memorize lines. I always found these little quirks in myself to help in the process. That’s the best part. You should love going to auditions. You should love getting scripts. You should love memorizing them. Sometimes you have to drop everything in your life for an audition, but I think that’s exciting.

PC: Like you said earlier, you’re also understudying for Aaron Samuels. You got to make your principal Broadway debut this year. What was that experience like and how much time did you have to prepare?
Kevin: It was amazing! I found out I was understudying Aaron Samuels about halfway through our rehearsal process, so I had a good amount of time. I had about three or four months to settle in. At that time, Kyle, who plays Aaron Samuels, hadn’t called out really because he’s a champ. It was about two months later when he got sick that he had to call out.

I really connect with Aaron and it was such a cool role to make my first principal debut with. It was a blessing to have time to prepare and it was breathtaking to go out there. Coming from an acting, singing, and dancing background, I felt like I was home. To be able to do all three on a Broadway stage in a principal track is something I will never forget.

Also, the cast was amazing. In between scenes, everyone was giving me compliments and freaking out with me. Erika Henningsen [Cady Heron] was like, “Why is this so easy for you? It’s so casual. It doesn’t even seem like someone else is on stage right now. Your choices are so genuine.” Everyone was giving me so much love and I couldn’t stop smiling. I could see all the smiles from the audience. Most people think we can’t see them, but we can. I wasn’t expecting that! I was on a high because I felt like I was firing on all cylinders with my abilities. My mom and my girlfriend were able to come see my principal debut, which made it even more special. My girlfriend is actually on tour right now and she happened to be in New York City. All the stars were aligned!

Pop Culturalist Speed Round

PC: Guilty pleasure TV show?
Kevin: I don’t know if it’s a guilty pleasure, but Chef’s Table. I’m not a good cook, but I love to watch people who know how to cook really well, and I love to eat food. Actually, maybe Kim Possible. I use to watch it like it was my job. I thought she was so good-looking and I loved how she owned the world.

PC: Favorite book?
Kevin: I just read Ready Player One, which I loved. I’m in the middle of reading Brave New World by Aldous Huxley.

PC: Favorite play or musical besides the ones you’ve been in?
Kevin: The first Broadway show I ever saw was Wicked. At intermission, I got up and started putting on my jacket to go home, and I was like, “Oh my gosh, that was amazing!” My brother asked me what I was doing and I was like, “What do you mean?” He was like, “No, dude, there’s a whole other act.” Sure enough, by the end, I was in tears. I’d never cried at a musical or play before. I always think that’s a funny story, but my favorite play or musical is either Spamalot or Something Rotten!.

PC: A band or artist that fans would be surprised to learn is on your playlist?
Kevin: Not surprising would be Justin Timberlake, Frank Sinatra, Prince, but a band that maybe people would be surprised about is 1975?

PC: Last show you binge-watched?
Kevin: Sense8

PC: Hidden talent?
Kevin: You know how you can snap with your hands? I can snap with my right toe.

Make sure to follow Kevin on Instagram and Facebook, and catch him in Mean Girls on Broadway at the August Wilson Theatre.

Photo Credit: Kurt Csolak