December 29, 2024 • 37 mins
Kenneth Tynan was born in beautiful Vancouver, BC. He started performing at the age of 5 where he would pretend to be a combination of Batman and Superman whilst also figure skating his life away. In high school he played everything from elderly men to psychotic killers. After graduating he realized that performing was all that he wanted, which brings us to the present years after. Now he works in film, theater and voice internationally having filmed Netflix’s Zero Chill in Sheffield, England. He does not stop, and even when things are a bit slow, he always seems to be apart of a project somewhere. With the performing arts as his new rink, Kenneth jumps into acting with the biggest smile he can muster, and a persevering attitude!
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hello everyone, and welcome to the Ladies Tail Podcast. My
favorite podcast out of the four podcasts that we have
to do. Honestly, I'm gonna tell you why it's my
favorite podcasts because my lifetime goal that I was twelve
years old is to eat at a craft service table.
I want unlimited junk food and I want no one
to question, and so I've got about interviewing a ton
(00:25):
of people to get this invitation to become a reality. Yeah.
My guess is looking at me like, yeah, crazy girl,
who does she do that for? It's easier ways that are,
but this is someone's fun. I don't know. By the way,
produce myself. I five to me. Now I need water.
I remember to introduce myself and cough on my own name.
(00:48):
That's sad And I'm part of the end. I thought
ladies and they write books. Yeah, yeah, let me double check. Yeah,
I'm smart enough to write books. I write books, So
this end. I thought divorce was bad, and I thought
being Grinnos is easy. If me memore in Verse, Foreign Coffee,
Widdow's Web and Widow's Debt, and those books are audiobooks.
You can get them wherever your audiobooks are found and
(01:09):
just in case you were wondering, do we only have audiobooks?
Now we have eleven more books, which is seventeen books
in total. And you can find out all those books
if you want to read them. She said, books a
whole lot in there, and that's a very boring word.
You can find out everything else about us there we go.
See that's more fun at www dot ladies dot com
and says I said books one thousand and one times
(01:31):
exaggeration right there. I'm gonna have to make it a
bit more fun. So I'm gonna say our website like
a car salesman, so its www dot n I thought
lady dot com. Don't you feel like running down there
like on a Saturday and watching the man do the
wavy thing and then check out all that tight But
you don't here to hear about me or watch me
(01:51):
do the wavy thing. Oh I love watching myself do it.
You're gonna hear about our wonderful gas. Wonderful gas. Would
you like to introduce yourself?
Speaker 2 (01:58):
Yeah? No, hiy Ames Kenneth Tynan, thank you so much
for having me. Three things to know about me? I
h yeah, I like to taut myself as a pretty
gosh darn good actor based in Canada, based in Vancouver,
British Columbia. Very beautiful. Another thing to know about me
is that, yeah, I competed in figure skating as a
(02:19):
as a kid, and you know, I didn't quite get
too Olympics, but you know, was very provident, was very
successful at that I felt like, and I coached now.
And another thing to know about me is that I
still i'd like to believe in the back of my
mind that dragons are real.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
You know, isn't a Komodo dragon count?
Speaker 2 (02:41):
I guess you know what, Yes, Komodo dragons count. So
dragons do exist.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
They just don't have the wings you have. We're waiting
on a little bit more evolution.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
I know, I know that that's it. That's it. It's
just the wings, right like.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
That's so I'm waiting for the Komodo Dragon reality, the
show where they start taking over houses, so for the
iron thrown.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
I feel like that might already be happening in Florida
for some reason. I don't know why, but that just
might happen in Florida, Florida.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
So well, I'm well read not from Florida, which we
can't say these things. So if you excuse me, Florida,
I'm sorry. Questions like real ones. First of all, I
have to ask the questions since I started off with
(03:35):
it's my lifetime goal. How with craft services for the
shows that you want?
Speaker 2 (03:41):
You know, for a lot of the shows I've worked on,
craft services has been amazing. I like I personally. I
think one of my favorite craft services was actually the
one that I actually worked on in England. So I
did do a TV show in England called Zero Chill
and literally it's like British. It was British craft Services.
So the British food was was so good and also
like hot tea, like you know, you just you just
(04:01):
get it all. And then I also did more recently
a day on uh or I did two days on
more recently Tron and that was such a joy and
uh and it was also just a lot of fun.
And also the food was great. The food was great.
Like that's the other thing.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
Did you say Tron? Yes, as in tiro In.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
Yes. I can't say much more than that, I think,
but yes, I'm under an NBA.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
Sorry yeah, yeah, yeah, I was about to say, I
don't think you can tell us much more.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
No, Yeah, you're welcome.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
Yeah, because I desperately wanted that that that I want.
There's so many other things that streaming services put out
that I don't want, but that I wanted. Thank you.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
It's very.
Speaker 1 (04:56):
So real. Question is, now that we've covered my my,
my dream world, question, what got you into acting out
of all the things from figure skating to acting.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
Yeah, actually, figure skating got me into acting.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
None of the costumes.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
It's it's a little bit of the costumes, but it's
also the form of storytelling that comes with it. Like
if you I don't know if you're aware of Tessa
Virtue and Scott Moore. They're the Canadian Olympic dance champions,
and for me, when you watch very talented figure skaters,
there is a beautiful artistry as well as the sports
(05:32):
aspect to it. But they can do this beautiful form
of like storytelling with just their bodies and just the
way that they move across the ice. And as I
grew up doing figure skating, that's the thing that really
I felt connected to was the artistry of it. And
then eventually I kind of was like, you know, I
really like doing stage and I really love doing film
(05:53):
and TV. So let's just do that as a career.
And I can tell you it's been hard. It's not
an easy choice. I understand the saying now and when
an actor says, if you can choose any career, choose
anything else.
Speaker 1 (06:08):
But also the same thing for a writer.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
I do a little bit of writing now too funny enough,
just not in the novel ass but no, it's like
I But also at the same time, I don't I
never want to dissuade people from pursuing their dreams. And
so if I was in that position now, I wouldn't
say it's the hardest career, don't choose it. If by
anything else, I just said, make an educated decision. If
this is the thing you want to go for it.
(06:35):
If it's something that you're kind of on the back
seat about, you know, try it out. If it doesn't
work out, don't beat yourself up about it. You know,
it's it's a train that keeps going, but it's also
a train that is also very forgiving at times. You
can hop on whenever you want. And I think a
lot of people don't recognize that. I think they think
it's a zero sum game where it's like I'm either
going to be famous or I'm not going to be
(06:57):
working at all. And I think it's just be forgiving
for yourself and allow yourself just that ability just to
pursue what you want. You know.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
But I feel like you were trained for this idea
of doing something like really hard but in the arts,
because I mean, honestly, in my head, just in my
figure skating is gymnastics on razor thin blades.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
You're not wrong. I did get cut in my finger
very much razor. I think it does come down to
what is it, what's the word I'm looking for? It
does come down to a discipline. You know, you have
to be very disciplined. You have to be willing to
put yourself into positions or places that make you feel uncomfortable.
(07:42):
I think as a writer, I think you can also
like empathize with that because you might write about very
deep topics that a lot of people might not want
to go, might not want to approach. But that's what
makes your art is something that is so wonderful. You know,
Like when we watch or read or experience something Audito
early and it's like and it's like goes into a
place that we don't normally want to go. Like I
(08:03):
watched Inside Out Too, and Inside Out Too was exactly
that it went into a place. I'm just like, oh God,
I'm having emotions. I'm going to cry. But that's what
we want, Like, that's that's that's the reason why we
love art, That's why we we like, That's why we experience,
That's why we put money into it so we can
(08:25):
have those experiences. And which is why, unfortunately some larger corporations,
when they start pumping out things that don't have a
very good writing to it, that's why we get mad
as an audience, because the corporation doesn't care about the story.
They just care about putting seats down.
Speaker 1 (08:39):
I mean, because a formula is just that. If we
wanted a formula, we would just you know, became mathematicians
telling stories. So I heard a long time ago that
Vancouver is the Hollywood of Canada. Now I'm a huge
fan of the city of Vancouver. I just don't know why,
(09:00):
but like, out of all the cities I've gone to
in Canada, I like that, is it true that this
is where you find the places? I know that Hollywood
started shooting there a lot more because it was cheaper.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
I think it's a very It is a very very
good way of describing Vancouver. But I also think Vancouver
and It's never plays itself like Vancouver is. And it's
only been more recently that we're seeing maybe some projects
that come into Vancouver that play themselves. But unlike Hollywood,
(09:35):
Hollywood makes the thing right, Hollywood is the generator and
Vancouver ends up being the place to shoot it. So
in my opinion, we're not necessarily Hollywood because we don't
make our content. We tend to facilitate the content. So
I think we're just a destination. It's like the Hollywood sign.
It's not Hollywood, but it's the sign.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
Hey, because I'm the is, I'm gonna tell a story
about me. But do you know how long it took
for me to see the Hollywood sign. We've been around
for years now, and it took me five years to
finally see the one. And I go to Hollywood three
to four times a year, my god, and so one
time I was doing I was taking a meeting and
the guy goes, you know it, let me show you
(10:20):
the sign from the roof of my office. And I
was nearly five years later. Unfortunately, at the bottom there
was like the stars, and I was the.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
Yeah, you're winning at that point, you're winning.
Speaker 1 (10:40):
In my tourist book, I'm checking things off after tour
number fifteen.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
And like, and that's and that's the beauty of it.
I feel like Vancouver is a little bit like that.
Like you know, people in Hollywood, they know Vancouver as
a name, Like you know, people will come up here
to shoot it. Like, and if you get the opportunity
to come up here to work here, it's lovely, it's beautiful.
But I think a lot of the time it is
exactly as you said, just like you're standing on top
of the buildings, like, oh yeah, look that's Vancouver over there.
I might get there someday, I don't know whereas people
(11:11):
in Vancouver are looking at Hollywood and going like, oh man, Hollywood,
that's so cool. I might get there someday. So there's
this weird crossover back and.
Speaker 1 (11:20):
Forth Washington State in between y'all and like California, Oh no,
Oregon and Washington. Yeah, because when I when I visit Washington,
I go I do both, and then I go up
to Vancouver.
Speaker 2 (11:37):
I mean, and here's the thing you're not You're not
getting much difference. I mean it's all temperate rainforest. It's
all pines and firs and you know, beautiful trees and
then rain, you know, because.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
Oh never, I'm not going to talk about how I
whyf Vancouver. Moving on, besides the fact that their Denny's
are so much better, y I sat down to eat
and I was like, y'all, I feel like we might
need free healthcare so people will step up the menu.
(12:08):
I'm like, this is the only reason that I came
to I was like, this is so much better food.
And I was like, I think this is because they
don't want people getting sick and then they have to
pay the bill.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
You know. That's I think that's a that's a very
that's a very good Uh, it's a very good assumption.
Speaker 1 (12:25):
Check out the Dennys.
Speaker 2 (12:27):
Check out the Dennies.
Speaker 1 (12:30):
Like an advertisement for that that's cooking. So moving on,
when you get a when you get a script and
you look at a role, what is it that makes
you go, oh my god, I want to play this role?
Like this is definitely one that I'm going to audition
for and I'm gonna like put like three hundred.
Speaker 2 (12:51):
Oh so I think this actually comes back to my
figure skating a little bit, but so a lot of
the time in Vancouver specifically, like unlike La. So this
is there's there's two parts of this. So unlike La,
where let's say a lot of larger actors get approached
with larger scripts all the time, right, so like, yeah,
(13:12):
you get like the feature film script and you're just
told like it's an offer only kind of situation. Up
Here in Vancouver because we were a bit more of
a service industry, there's less of that happens. But that
being said, I do get I do get my small
sides for the for the audition, and then I also
do get the script, and so like the sides will
usually be for like a smaller, smaller character or something
(13:32):
along those lines. A lot of the time I don't.
I'm not going to turn my nose up at work.
I'm not big enough in my own opinion, and this
is my own opinion. Other people have told me otherwise,
But in my own opinion, I'm not big enough as
a star to be or even as a celebrity, or
just as an actor in general, I guess. But that's
besides the point. I'm talking down to myself. What I'm
trying to.
Speaker 1 (13:52):
Say is is like, oh, yeah, we do that.
Speaker 2 (13:55):
Yeah, right, So but at the end of the day,
I'm not going to turn my nose down at a role.
It Like, I did a short film for like a
student basically, and I love the script. The script was
really interesting to me because the script was about a
three three deserters, like army deserters who had been drafted
in the Canadian army because China and America gone into
(14:15):
a war and so Canada got pulled in. And so
I was playing this deserter who was mixed Chinese because
that's what I am, and and I actually got the
got the writer to actually make that adjustment for me,
and because I really liked the story. Now I watched
the footage more recently, and of course it's a student film,
so the footage didn't come out the most amazing. But
that being said, I really like the work that I did,
(14:38):
Like I can watch I can watch my own work
and I can say, Okay, this is this is what
I like, and this is how I can improve it.
But back to your original question, I just I just
get a kick out of it. I get a kick
out of anything, Like you know, someone can send me
a script and I will find that I will find
what makes it work for me. Like I'm actually working
on a musical right now, and the script is just
(15:01):
not the best because it's a new musical, it's a
brand new musical. It's not the best. But I'm reading
this character. I've talked to the director, I've made all
of these small adjustments in my own performance to make
the lines work and to find my own joy in
this character, because that, to me, is what makes this fun.
And it's the same thing with figure skating. It's like
(15:21):
it's that diligence. It's that ability to sit down or
work on a program where you're like you're doing like
three to four different like three turns, brackets, swing rolls,
all of these like interconnecting steps all that lead into
a jump. And it's all these small steps that just
like create something beautiful. And at the end of the day,
that's my work, and my work is to look at
your script, decide yeah and yeah, decide do I really
(15:44):
want to take this on? Do I have the time?
That's the other question, because like I think, like many
artists in you know, in our in our industry, we're
all doing five to ten different jobs. So you know,
do I have the time first of all, to emotionally
give you what I need. So like I was more recently,
I was reached out to buy an actual Like we
have Vancouver Film School up here, and they reached out
to me specifically to audition for something, and that felt
(16:06):
very honorable. I was like, Oh, that's that's beautiful, Like
thank you for seeing my talent, but like just asking
me as opposed to me submitting, because we're always submitting.
That's something that I do on a consistent basis is
And I do have an agent, that's the thing. I
have an agent. I work with my agent. But also
at the same time, there's like they're not going to
be looking at student films or you know, small indie projects.
(16:28):
I don't really do student films anymore, but you know
there's the small indie projects that I'll do because I
really love like the stories that get told up here
for indie projects are very very good. We have a
very big short film industry here in Vancouver, and I
think it's because we have to compete with all of
these people that are coming from the States who do
(16:49):
feature films. And don't get me wrong, the future films
are great, but the short film story The short form
storytelling in Vancouver is very, very deep, and so there's
a lot that goes on here. I just did a
festival here called Running Gun and it's like a forty
eight hour film festival, and there was one hundred and
eight submissions and all one hundred and eight films got shown,
(17:10):
not on the same day, but they all had screenings.
And there's also another festival that the same company runs
called Shits and Giggles, and it's a little looser. It's
a little looser. It's not like a forty eight hour thing,
but it's like you have like a month to make
a five minute short film. However you have a budget
of two hundred dollars and all of your gear has
to fit into a prius like that is the that's
(17:30):
the bare minimum kind of thing, and it forces this
creativity to kind of bolster and grow. So we have
so many short films that get made here every years.
Speaker 1 (17:39):
Amazing, it's great. Anyway, I can't. I was about to say
I remember, and then my brain was like, no, you
don't remember remember pieces of it, but not the whole thing.
So I was like the sidestep that no, I remember
that I had interviewed some people who ran a festival
in Vancouver for a film. I was like, oh and
(18:01):
they said, and I was like, yeah, nevermind, We're moving on.
Because you're a professional. I dare not dip my toe
into this pool. So what was it like shooting in
another country? Was it your first time shooting there? Did
you learn anything about the culture that you were able
(18:22):
to bring to the character.
Speaker 2 (18:24):
So my family's Irish, and so my mom's side is Irish,
so I have an Irish passport so I can work
overseas if I wanted to, which is one of the
main nice which is one of the main things I
feel like kind of got me over there in the
first place. They didn't have to pay for my visa.
But so yeah, but I do have family in England,
so I'm very familiar with the culture there. So I
(18:46):
was filming in a place called Sheffield. It's just northh Sheffield.
Speaker 1 (18:49):
Do I go on book tour there every year? Well?
Not there you go?
Speaker 2 (18:52):
Yeah, yeah, so Sheffield. So I was in Sheffield shooting
for about seven months and it was great. It was
a great time. And yeah, I drank myself under the table, which.
Speaker 1 (19:04):
Are definitely doable in Sheffield not too far from the
train station, and there are some good bars.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
Very good bars, very good bars. God, we don't have
that here in Vancouver. We don't. We don't have good
bar culture and it's so frustrating. That's a different point.
But yeah, no, I have a bit.
Speaker 1 (19:21):
I have not really gone to a bar as always
in the hotel bar.
Speaker 2 (19:26):
Yeah, because Vancouver we don't have a good night life scene.
It's it's a little disappointing. It's very disappointing.
Speaker 1 (19:35):
Because I was like, all these feature films here, someone's
going out partying somewhere, and no, and.
Speaker 2 (19:40):
They do, but it's mostly house parties, or it's mostly
you know, an exclusive event, and or sometimes it's like
an underground thing that you're never really going to know about.
So Vancouver has this weird nightlife where it's just like
and also the dance culture here is just shit, you know,
that's the other thing. But but working in England, one of
(20:04):
the things that that's something I learned, that's something I
learned is that we don't have that kind of culture here,
which I was really sad about when I because like
when I was there, I was dancing on like wooden benches,
drinking cocktails out of like steins this big you know,
and it's like, yeah, like we don't have that. And
then but then also the work culture was lovely. Like
(20:25):
the people that I was working with, they were very diligent.
They were so professional, you know, and I think that
goes without saying even here too, like you know, we
get very professional teams. I think the main aspect of
working in England was just like yeah, like I don't
like they flew me out there, like they paid for
my room and board, like you know. That's that was
(20:46):
like the huge That was a huge highlight for me
when I was because like I was five years into
my career at that point and that was like a
huge deal, you know. And yeah, like I wish more
opportunities like that came my way, but they don't. And
that's that's that's the unfortunate bit. That's that's the unfortunate
bit about this industry in general. But that being said, yeah,
I loved I loved working there, like and I I
(21:09):
kind of like that's kind of like a goal of mine.
I think more recently I've been talking more about it
so I can actually do it where it's like, yeah,
make the move out there work work in England a
bit more because I do have spotlight and you know,
there's no there's nothing really stopping me from doing that,
asides from my own crippling anxiety.
Speaker 1 (21:27):
Uh oh, I've never worked, never been on a set
in England, so I can't say anything about that. I
was like, but apparently Crafty was good in England, so
I'm that's all I needed to know about that.
Speaker 2 (21:40):
Shoot, Yeah, Crafty was great. Crafty was great. Have you
ever had British chocolate? Yes, of course, it's everywhere, right,
So you're just on set, you're just eating good quality chocolate,
eating good quality food. Like that's literally, that's that's literally.
It like when you're when you're working on a set
in like another Like, don't get me wrong, Like I
haven't had the pleasure of working on a set down
(22:02):
in LA but like even here, like you know, the
quality of food is decent, but like I keep hearing
the quality of food down past the border. I'm like,
how does anyone survive off cardboard corn flakes? I don't know. No.
Speaker 1 (22:18):
Granted, I do have friends who work on bigger shows
down here, and one of one person told me, like
craft services one time for just the ice cream. It
was like they bought in like a little warehouse and
it was just like a vending machine of like ice cream,
just walls of ice cream, and you just walked in
and pushed the button and it was just there all
(22:39):
day and that. And then apparently on one show I'm
not going to say what station, but what network, that
they had all you could eat lobster for twenty four hours.
I was like, sweetie, just tell me what day that is.
You said every Friday. I'll be there.
Speaker 2 (22:58):
I am on it. I want that lobster.
Speaker 1 (23:03):
A lobster. I was like, I have I have my
to go boxes ready because I'm taking them home in
the ten gallon trash bag. I'm going to embarrass you,
but I'm I'm going to ask once I might be
why I don't get the invitation.
Speaker 2 (23:21):
They just know they see you coming, you know, they
see that trash bag. They're like, there, she is, there.
Speaker 1 (23:25):
She is, she can't go. I went to the Imans
and our area and at the after party was all
you could eat crep cakes. They shouldn't have done that.
I was actually the car, got my large purse. I'll
buy the kitchen of the hotel. I was like, can
(23:46):
you'll give me some gallons hip block bags?
Speaker 2 (23:50):
I was at the I was at the after party
for the film that was shot here that I did,
the one that I signed the NBA for. I know
I already said the name, but you know what, just
just in case someone, don't.
Speaker 1 (24:01):
Worry whenever, we'll just send this out after it comes out.
Speaker 2 (24:05):
That sounds good. So I was rinking on tron like.
I came back to the Craft or I came back
for the after party, and I was just like sliders, lobster,
crab cakes, you know, just the whole Like there's this
massive spread and I was just like, what the fuck like,
and you know this is all free, you know this
is all free, you know, like no one's gonna batten like.
(24:26):
And then on top of that, they were serving like
spicy margaritas for free too, Like they just walked up
into like spicy margarita. I'm just like, you know, when
in Paris, I guess.
Speaker 1 (24:34):
You know, doesn't matter where it is spicy free. I
think I'm I just wanted. I'm not even I might
not even finish this one. I had to have.
Speaker 2 (24:49):
Them just just double fisted fuck it. Why not.
Speaker 1 (24:55):
Food in between. You see why I don't get invited
exactly whying moments. This is what will KNOWA provides, so
our next my next to the last question is what
(25:18):
three challenges and what three pieces of advice would you
give anyone that is going into the business. You only
have to actually do too, because you already gave one
piece about like you only do this if you really
love it.
Speaker 2 (25:31):
I think, yeah, okay, I feel like another two pieces
of advice I would say was have grace for yourself.
I think that's I think a lot of artists were
really hard on ourselves because we compare ourselves so much
to you know, the Neil Gaiman's or you know, the
Robert Downey juniors or all these wonderful, very talented people,
(25:54):
and and maybe in your life you might get there,
and that's beautiful. And even if you don't guess what,
you're still further along than where you were maybe five
ten years ago. So I think knowing that where you
are now is still further along than where you were,
even if you're starting, you still made that step, and
(26:14):
I think that's something to celebrate. So having a lot
of grace for yourself, I think is something that I
think we as artists need to remind ourselves to have
and also something that I think new artists need to know.
And then another piece of advice I would give for
new upcoming people is make sure you watch up for cults.
Speaker 1 (26:33):
And I say that no one's ever Okay, no one's
ever came out and said the advice. Well, there's been
many conversations you've had in homes and they're like, yeah,
are you sure about cults? And I'm like, are you
for real? Like yeah, no, We're for real, and I'm like, god.
Speaker 2 (26:50):
No, and like seriously, Like even here in Vancouver, like
we have some acting studios that like, don't get me wrong,
the teacher is lovely, but the environment becomes very cult
like and it's something I don't subscribe to because, for instance,
in figure skating, we have we have a club out here,
a very competitive, high end club, and people flock to
(27:11):
this club because of the coach. However, the coach has
indoctrinated a lot of her students into thinking that she
is the best for them, and when injuries come about,
which they have, unfortunately, then she doesn't know how to
cope with those injuries and forces them to further injure themselves.
And when it comes to acting, acting is such a
it's a sport, but it's also your body is your tool,
(27:34):
your emotions are your tool. And if you are going
to be putting yourself in danger, putting yourself into these
places of vulnerability, and you want to do that in
a safe space and someone who's just using you and
abusing you to teach you that this is acting and
now you are mine and we're staying together forever. To me,
that's like a huge red flag. I mean there's a
(27:56):
lot of red flags before that, but you know, that's
the biggest one that I can think of. It's like,
you know, and they have this belief that they are
the right way.
Speaker 1 (28:04):
Now.
Speaker 2 (28:04):
Don't get me wrong, I don't have that answer either.
I think acting is a personal journey. I think writing
is a personal journey. I think a lot of the
arts is a personal journey, and you choose what works
for you. But I think at the end of the day,
you should also be very conscientious about who you share
your work with and who you decide to work with,
and also who your teachers are.
Speaker 1 (28:22):
Going to be.
Speaker 2 (28:23):
And I think at the end of the day, it
is your due diligence to make sure you're safe first.
Speaker 1 (28:30):
I really, really, really really really wanted to ask this
question the entire time, but I told myself, I gotta
limit myself. But now that you've bought it up. When
masking on Earth, do you find the emotional rawness to
portray anything from the page onto the screen? Because it's
like you're you are the person, you are everything. You're
(28:51):
the embodiment of words on a page, and you've got
to bring it to life by using in your own
experiences or thoughts or processes. That's a lot of energy.
Speaker 2 (29:03):
It is a lot of energy.
Speaker 1 (29:04):
How do you even trust someone to do it right,
I mean, portray you right? How do you trust?
Speaker 2 (29:11):
No, no, no, I get what you're saying, Like I think
it's that age old saying of you need to just jump.
You know, you need to trust that wherever you're going
to jump off of, there's going to be a place
for you to land. And sometimes it's going to hurt
and sometimes and sometimes it's going to be soft. But
(29:33):
you need to trust yourself as as an artist first
and foremost that wherever you decide to jump off from,
that's going to be enough. Like I think there's such
pressure as an actor to to cry for instance, you know,
it's just like you need to cry right at this moment,
and there's a lot of training now that's kind of
come out where it's like, okay, well not everyone cries
(29:55):
the same way, right, And also working on screen, you
can have eye drops whatever. I'm not saying that's like
the easy that's that's an easy way out for sure.
But I think the emotional depth of something it comes from,
it comes from a wealth of experience. So for myself,
I grew up being bullied. You know, it's not a
(30:15):
great thing. It's not something I tout. It's not like
I carry that on a flag and be like, oh
look at me. But that causes a lot of pain,
and that causes a lot of a lot of depth
in my own life. And so I'm able to then
draw on that a little bit and kind of go like,
I know what it's like if let's say the character
right is being pushed around, or if the character is
(30:37):
you know, experiencing something that feels like mild racism or
anything that I might never know what it's like to
be fully racialized because I'm a very white presenting Asian man.
But that being said, I can empathize, and empathy is
your hugest asset. If you can empathize with the person
on a page, and you can empathize with someone else
across the screen, then you can act opinion because what
(31:02):
you're doing is sharing. And you know, when we do interviews, right,
we share, And that's the beauty of it. We're sharing
with each other these experiences and these things. And like
I remember when I did a I acted as a
heroin addict, and in doing that role, yeah, I'm never
going to do heroin in my life. God needles horrify me.
(31:23):
I still get I still get my blood drawn, but
I can't look at it, you know, But I remember
doing it, and I remember researching and looking up what
it means to go, Like, for first of all, cold turkey,
what are those experiences? And like they get clamminess, they
become they become hot and sweaty, they become feverish. But
then they also there's this drive, there's this craze because
they're just like I need it. I need this thing
(31:44):
in me so I can feel like I can survive.
And it's like cool, I don't necessarily know what it's
like to feel that drug. But all those emotions that
he's talking about, right, I felt the itch to perform,
you know, that itch, that that ability to be like
I want that audience to like really see me. I
want that, and so like, Okay, I'm going to pull
on that a little bit. And then I understand what
(32:05):
it means to be clammy because guess what, I get nervous, right,
And so in nervous, I'm like, okay, so what do
I do when I'm nervous? Right? I start moving my
hands and I'm like, right, that's that sensation there, And
so then you start building those things, and then that
starts building all of those things that become similar to
what people would see on like when someone's doing drugs
or when someone is or like I think a great
(32:27):
example actually would be Margo Robbie when she did Tanya
It Tanya because you know she's Robbi's not a figure skater,
but yet she goes out of it. She did her
due diligence to you know, go skate, get trained all
of these things. She might not be able to pull
off like a triple, but she can do all the
movements and everything to convey it and she lived it
(32:49):
and you know, and that's that's our job as performers
is to live just enough for audiences to see that
we are. We are who we say we are when
we're on screen.
Speaker 1 (33:01):
That's amazing. I always say, y'all have a hard job
and I never want.
Speaker 2 (33:04):
It, And I appreciate you saying that because there's so
many people that go like I.
Speaker 1 (33:12):
Can act, Okay, So like for those out there who
say that, and I'm not a professional, but I'm going
to say it like I'm a professional I am. I'm
just gonna say it like I am. Literally, I believe
acting is like taking on someone's else life that you
don't know and just learning how to live it. If
(33:34):
you've never been able to, like if you've seen someone
you've never been able to walk in their shoes, don't
even not even put yourself in their shoes. Don't even
think about it. That this job is not for you.
You can't do it anyway. Moving on last question, where
can people see you in the projects that you're in
(33:54):
and where can they follow you so that they can
know what you're up to next and we can also
hear about that thing that you have an India about
when you no longer have an India about it maybe.
Speaker 2 (34:05):
Yeah. Well, first of all, where you can find me.
You can find me on Instagram and you know it's
under Kenneth Tynant actor. I'm also on Facebook as well,
and then you know, I'm also on ex slash Twitter,
you know, because I don't know what to call that anymore,
you know, do I post there often? Not really anyone.
Speaker 1 (34:24):
I think we have it just because we liked Twitter
when it came out now.
Speaker 2 (34:28):
Right exactly, But I post more on Instagram and then
where you can see me next, where you can see
my work. Obviously, if you're in Vancouver, I'm doing a
musical called Back from the Dead. You can come check
that out. That's happening in July and then oh this
month and also in August, and then I'm also producing
a play that I've written that's going up in September
for the Fringe Festival that's here locally, So that's going
(34:48):
to be in September and then yeah, depending on when
this is released. Yeah, you can also see me in
tron acting across what's her name? She was in Past Lives.
Grace is not Grace Chin.
Speaker 1 (35:03):
Yeah, I'm a writer don't ask, they're not an a.
Speaker 2 (35:08):
I apologize if you are watching this and you're yelling
at me and being like I know this name, and
I'm like, I'm really sorry. I'm just really bad with
names sometimes. But she was absolutely lovely and I did
get to see Jared Letto, didn't get to act with
Jared Leto. So so whenever Tron comes out, hopefully you'll
see me in that. And yeah, I'm also I also
(35:32):
perform improv locally in Vancouver as well. I'm a performer
with a I work with an all Asian improv group
called Fist Full of Kicks. We were currently doing a
in eighties action format that's based around Hong Kong eighties
action films. And I also do work with another group
called Regency impro and we're doing we're doing Jane Austen
(35:52):
inspired improv and we're also actually this Halloween, we're actually
doing a Mary Shelley inspired format.
Speaker 1 (36:01):
It's awesome. Okay, so if you're in Vancouver, I'm my
largest audience is not in Canada.
Speaker 2 (36:06):
I'm sorry, that's fair. If you happen to be in Vancouver, to.
Speaker 1 (36:10):
Be in Vancouver, please check him out at the Improv.
But if you like for the rest of the world,
which I have more people there, fair enough, Nelix.
Speaker 2 (36:21):
I'm on Netflix zero Chill, Babysitters Club. You can see
me in some.
Speaker 1 (36:24):
Of these oh wait, all right, babysitter stuff one. I
remember that one. You can check him out there as well.
There you go. Now look that's that's everyone. Everyone can
check him out in Netflix. There you go. So I'm
gonna wrap it up for me over here. So I'm Almona.
I'm part of the Anti Thought Ladies, and you can
find out everything that I'm up to. And since he's
(36:46):
talked about all the movies he's in, including the movie
that I'm in two at www dot and I thought
Ladies dot com. While you're there, go down to the
middle of the page, not the bottom of the page anymore,
but the middle of the page, and you can see
the three charities that we probably support. We asked that
you support them too. This does not mean you have
to give money. You can give them a knowledge because
(37:07):
they do need knowledge on something to get everything done.
Or you can get your hands dirty and get in
there and get some work done. So we thank you
in advance for that. I remember that wisdom is all
around you if you're open to finding it and accepting it.
So peace in love you guys from Wilnona and the
Missing Jade. Oh yeah, thanks for listen
Hello everyone, and welcome to the Ladies Tail Podcast. My
favorite podcast out of the four podcasts that we have
to do. Honestly, I'm gonna tell you why it's my
favorite podcasts because my lifetime goal that I was twelve
years old is to eat at a craft service table.
I want unlimited junk food and I want no one
to question, and so I've got about interviewing a ton
(00:25):
of people to get this invitation to become a reality. Yeah.
My guess is looking at me like, yeah, crazy girl,
who does she do that for? It's easier ways that are,
but this is someone's fun. I don't know. By the way,
produce myself. I five to me. Now I need water.
I remember to introduce myself and cough on my own name.
(00:48):
That's sad And I'm part of the end. I thought
ladies and they write books. Yeah, yeah, let me double check. Yeah,
I'm smart enough to write books. I write books, So
this end. I thought divorce was bad, and I thought
being Grinnos is easy. If me memore in Verse, Foreign Coffee,
Widdow's Web and Widow's Debt, and those books are audiobooks.
You can get them wherever your audiobooks are found and
(01:09):
just in case you were wondering, do we only have audiobooks?
Now we have eleven more books, which is seventeen books
in total. And you can find out all those books
if you want to read them. She said, books a
whole lot in there, and that's a very boring word.
You can find out everything else about us there we go.
See that's more fun at www dot ladies dot com
and says I said books one thousand and one times
(01:31):
exaggeration right there. I'm gonna have to make it a
bit more fun. So I'm gonna say our website like
a car salesman, so its www dot n I thought
lady dot com. Don't you feel like running down there
like on a Saturday and watching the man do the
wavy thing and then check out all that tight But
you don't here to hear about me or watch me
(01:51):
do the wavy thing. Oh I love watching myself do it.
You're gonna hear about our wonderful gas. Wonderful gas. Would
you like to introduce yourself?
Speaker 2 (01:58):
Yeah? No, hiy Ames Kenneth Tynan, thank you so much
for having me. Three things to know about me? I
h yeah, I like to taut myself as a pretty
gosh darn good actor based in Canada, based in Vancouver,
British Columbia. Very beautiful. Another thing to know about me
is that, yeah, I competed in figure skating as a
(02:19):
as a kid, and you know, I didn't quite get
too Olympics, but you know, was very provident, was very
successful at that I felt like, and I coached now.
And another thing to know about me is that I
still i'd like to believe in the back of my
mind that dragons are real.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
You know, isn't a Komodo dragon count?
Speaker 2 (02:41):
I guess you know what, Yes, Komodo dragons count. So
dragons do exist.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
They just don't have the wings you have. We're waiting
on a little bit more evolution.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
I know, I know that that's it. That's it. It's
just the wings, right like.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
That's so I'm waiting for the Komodo Dragon reality, the
show where they start taking over houses, so for the
iron thrown.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
I feel like that might already be happening in Florida
for some reason. I don't know why, but that just
might happen in Florida, Florida.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
So well, I'm well read not from Florida, which we
can't say these things. So if you excuse me, Florida,
I'm sorry. Questions like real ones. First of all, I
have to ask the questions since I started off with
(03:35):
it's my lifetime goal. How with craft services for the
shows that you want?
Speaker 2 (03:41):
You know, for a lot of the shows I've worked on,
craft services has been amazing. I like I personally. I
think one of my favorite craft services was actually the
one that I actually worked on in England. So I
did do a TV show in England called Zero Chill
and literally it's like British. It was British craft Services.
So the British food was was so good and also
like hot tea, like you know, you just you just
(04:01):
get it all. And then I also did more recently
a day on uh or I did two days on
more recently Tron and that was such a joy and
uh and it was also just a lot of fun.
And also the food was great. The food was great.
Like that's the other thing.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
Did you say Tron? Yes, as in tiro In.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
Yes. I can't say much more than that, I think,
but yes, I'm under an NBA.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
Sorry yeah, yeah, yeah, I was about to say, I
don't think you can tell us much more.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
No, Yeah, you're welcome.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
Yeah, because I desperately wanted that that that I want.
There's so many other things that streaming services put out
that I don't want, but that I wanted. Thank you.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
It's very.
Speaker 1 (04:56):
So real. Question is, now that we've covered my my,
my dream world, question, what got you into acting out
of all the things from figure skating to acting.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
Yeah, actually, figure skating got me into acting.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
None of the costumes.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
It's it's a little bit of the costumes, but it's
also the form of storytelling that comes with it. Like
if you I don't know if you're aware of Tessa
Virtue and Scott Moore. They're the Canadian Olympic dance champions,
and for me, when you watch very talented figure skaters,
there is a beautiful artistry as well as the sports
(05:32):
aspect to it. But they can do this beautiful form
of like storytelling with just their bodies and just the
way that they move across the ice. And as I
grew up doing figure skating, that's the thing that really
I felt connected to was the artistry of it. And
then eventually I kind of was like, you know, I
really like doing stage and I really love doing film
(05:53):
and TV. So let's just do that as a career.
And I can tell you it's been hard. It's not
an easy choice. I understand the saying now and when
an actor says, if you can choose any career, choose
anything else.
Speaker 1 (06:08):
But also the same thing for a writer.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
I do a little bit of writing now too funny enough,
just not in the novel ass but no, it's like
I But also at the same time, I don't I
never want to dissuade people from pursuing their dreams. And
so if I was in that position now, I wouldn't
say it's the hardest career, don't choose it. If by
anything else, I just said, make an educated decision. If
this is the thing you want to go for it.
(06:35):
If it's something that you're kind of on the back
seat about, you know, try it out. If it doesn't
work out, don't beat yourself up about it. You know,
it's it's a train that keeps going, but it's also
a train that is also very forgiving at times. You
can hop on whenever you want. And I think a
lot of people don't recognize that. I think they think
it's a zero sum game where it's like I'm either
going to be famous or I'm not going to be
(06:57):
working at all. And I think it's just be forgiving
for yourself and allow yourself just that ability just to
pursue what you want. You know.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
But I feel like you were trained for this idea
of doing something like really hard but in the arts,
because I mean, honestly, in my head, just in my
figure skating is gymnastics on razor thin blades.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
You're not wrong. I did get cut in my finger
very much razor. I think it does come down to
what is it, what's the word I'm looking for? It
does come down to a discipline. You know, you have
to be very disciplined. You have to be willing to
put yourself into positions or places that make you feel uncomfortable.
(07:42):
I think as a writer, I think you can also
like empathize with that because you might write about very
deep topics that a lot of people might not want
to go, might not want to approach. But that's what
makes your art is something that is so wonderful. You know,
Like when we watch or read or experience something Audito
early and it's like and it's like goes into a
place that we don't normally want to go. Like I
(08:03):
watched Inside Out Too, and Inside Out Too was exactly
that it went into a place. I'm just like, oh God,
I'm having emotions. I'm going to cry. But that's what
we want, Like, that's that's that's the reason why we
love art, That's why we we like, That's why we experience,
That's why we put money into it so we can
(08:25):
have those experiences. And which is why, unfortunately some larger corporations,
when they start pumping out things that don't have a
very good writing to it, that's why we get mad
as an audience, because the corporation doesn't care about the story.
They just care about putting seats down.
Speaker 1 (08:39):
I mean, because a formula is just that. If we
wanted a formula, we would just you know, became mathematicians
telling stories. So I heard a long time ago that
Vancouver is the Hollywood of Canada. Now I'm a huge
fan of the city of Vancouver. I just don't know why,
(09:00):
but like, out of all the cities I've gone to
in Canada, I like that, is it true that this
is where you find the places? I know that Hollywood
started shooting there a lot more because it was cheaper.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
I think it's a very It is a very very
good way of describing Vancouver. But I also think Vancouver
and It's never plays itself like Vancouver is. And it's
only been more recently that we're seeing maybe some projects
that come into Vancouver that play themselves. But unlike Hollywood,
(09:35):
Hollywood makes the thing right, Hollywood is the generator and
Vancouver ends up being the place to shoot it. So
in my opinion, we're not necessarily Hollywood because we don't
make our content. We tend to facilitate the content. So
I think we're just a destination. It's like the Hollywood sign.
It's not Hollywood, but it's the sign.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
Hey, because I'm the is, I'm gonna tell a story
about me. But do you know how long it took
for me to see the Hollywood sign. We've been around
for years now, and it took me five years to
finally see the one. And I go to Hollywood three
to four times a year, my god, and so one
time I was doing I was taking a meeting and
the guy goes, you know it, let me show you
(10:20):
the sign from the roof of my office. And I
was nearly five years later. Unfortunately, at the bottom there
was like the stars, and I was the.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
Yeah, you're winning at that point, you're winning.
Speaker 1 (10:40):
In my tourist book, I'm checking things off after tour
number fifteen.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
And like, and that's and that's the beauty of it.
I feel like Vancouver is a little bit like that.
Like you know, people in Hollywood, they know Vancouver as
a name, Like you know, people will come up here
to shoot it. Like, and if you get the opportunity
to come up here to work here, it's lovely, it's beautiful.
But I think a lot of the time it is
exactly as you said, just like you're standing on top
of the buildings, like, oh yeah, look that's Vancouver over there.
I might get there someday, I don't know whereas people
(11:11):
in Vancouver are looking at Hollywood and going like, oh man, Hollywood,
that's so cool. I might get there someday. So there's
this weird crossover back and.
Speaker 1 (11:20):
Forth Washington State in between y'all and like California, Oh no,
Oregon and Washington. Yeah, because when I when I visit Washington,
I go I do both, and then I go up
to Vancouver.
Speaker 2 (11:37):
I mean, and here's the thing you're not You're not
getting much difference. I mean it's all temperate rainforest. It's
all pines and firs and you know, beautiful trees and
then rain, you know, because.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
Oh never, I'm not going to talk about how I
whyf Vancouver. Moving on, besides the fact that their Denny's
are so much better, y I sat down to eat
and I was like, y'all, I feel like we might
need free healthcare so people will step up the menu.
(12:08):
I'm like, this is the only reason that I came
to I was like, this is so much better food.
And I was like, I think this is because they
don't want people getting sick and then they have to
pay the bill.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
You know. That's I think that's a that's a very
that's a very good Uh, it's a very good assumption.
Speaker 1 (12:25):
Check out the Dennys.
Speaker 2 (12:27):
Check out the Dennies.
Speaker 1 (12:30):
Like an advertisement for that that's cooking. So moving on,
when you get a when you get a script and
you look at a role, what is it that makes
you go, oh my god, I want to play this role?
Like this is definitely one that I'm going to audition
for and I'm gonna like put like three hundred.
Speaker 2 (12:51):
Oh so I think this actually comes back to my
figure skating a little bit, but so a lot of
the time in Vancouver specifically, like unlike La. So this
is there's there's two parts of this. So unlike La,
where let's say a lot of larger actors get approached
with larger scripts all the time, right, so like, yeah,
(13:12):
you get like the feature film script and you're just
told like it's an offer only kind of situation. Up
Here in Vancouver because we were a bit more of
a service industry, there's less of that happens. But that
being said, I do get I do get my small
sides for the for the audition, and then I also
do get the script, and so like the sides will
usually be for like a smaller, smaller character or something
(13:32):
along those lines. A lot of the time I don't.
I'm not going to turn my nose up at work.
I'm not big enough in my own opinion, and this
is my own opinion. Other people have told me otherwise,
But in my own opinion, I'm not big enough as
a star to be or even as a celebrity, or
just as an actor in general, I guess. But that's
besides the point. I'm talking down to myself. What I'm
trying to.
Speaker 1 (13:52):
Say is is like, oh, yeah, we do that.
Speaker 2 (13:55):
Yeah, right, So but at the end of the day,
I'm not going to turn my nose down at a role.
It Like, I did a short film for like a
student basically, and I love the script. The script was
really interesting to me because the script was about a
three three deserters, like army deserters who had been drafted
in the Canadian army because China and America gone into
(14:15):
a war and so Canada got pulled in. And so
I was playing this deserter who was mixed Chinese because
that's what I am, and and I actually got the
got the writer to actually make that adjustment for me,
and because I really liked the story. Now I watched
the footage more recently, and of course it's a student film,
so the footage didn't come out the most amazing. But
that being said, I really like the work that I did,
(14:38):
Like I can watch I can watch my own work
and I can say, Okay, this is this is what
I like, and this is how I can improve it.
But back to your original question, I just I just
get a kick out of it. I get a kick
out of anything, Like you know, someone can send me
a script and I will find that I will find
what makes it work for me. Like I'm actually working
on a musical right now, and the script is just
(15:01):
not the best because it's a new musical, it's a
brand new musical. It's not the best. But I'm reading
this character. I've talked to the director, I've made all
of these small adjustments in my own performance to make
the lines work and to find my own joy in
this character, because that, to me, is what makes this fun.
And it's the same thing with figure skating. It's like
(15:21):
it's that diligence. It's that ability to sit down or
work on a program where you're like you're doing like
three to four different like three turns, brackets, swing rolls,
all of these like interconnecting steps all that lead into
a jump. And it's all these small steps that just
like create something beautiful. And at the end of the day,
that's my work, and my work is to look at
your script, decide yeah and yeah, decide do I really
(15:44):
want to take this on? Do I have the time?
That's the other question, because like I think, like many
artists in you know, in our in our industry, we're
all doing five to ten different jobs. So you know,
do I have the time first of all, to emotionally
give you what I need. So like I was more recently,
I was reached out to buy an actual Like we
have Vancouver Film School up here, and they reached out
to me specifically to audition for something, and that felt
(16:06):
very honorable. I was like, Oh, that's that's beautiful, Like
thank you for seeing my talent, but like just asking
me as opposed to me submitting, because we're always submitting.
That's something that I do on a consistent basis is
And I do have an agent, that's the thing. I
have an agent. I work with my agent. But also
at the same time, there's like they're not going to
be looking at student films or you know, small indie projects.
(16:28):
I don't really do student films anymore, but you know
there's the small indie projects that I'll do because I
really love like the stories that get told up here
for indie projects are very very good. We have a
very big short film industry here in Vancouver, and I
think it's because we have to compete with all of
these people that are coming from the States who do
(16:49):
feature films. And don't get me wrong, the future films
are great, but the short film story The short form
storytelling in Vancouver is very, very deep, and so there's
a lot that goes on here. I just did a
festival here called Running Gun and it's like a forty
eight hour film festival, and there was one hundred and
eight submissions and all one hundred and eight films got shown,
(17:10):
not on the same day, but they all had screenings.
And there's also another festival that the same company runs
called Shits and Giggles, and it's a little looser. It's
a little looser. It's not like a forty eight hour thing,
but it's like you have like a month to make
a five minute short film. However you have a budget
of two hundred dollars and all of your gear has
to fit into a prius like that is the that's
(17:30):
the bare minimum kind of thing, and it forces this
creativity to kind of bolster and grow. So we have
so many short films that get made here every years.
Speaker 1 (17:39):
Amazing, it's great. Anyway, I can't. I was about to say
I remember, and then my brain was like, no, you
don't remember remember pieces of it, but not the whole thing.
So I was like the sidestep that no, I remember
that I had interviewed some people who ran a festival
in Vancouver for a film. I was like, oh and
(18:01):
they said, and I was like, yeah, nevermind, We're moving on.
Because you're a professional. I dare not dip my toe
into this pool. So what was it like shooting in
another country? Was it your first time shooting there? Did
you learn anything about the culture that you were able
(18:22):
to bring to the character.
Speaker 2 (18:24):
So my family's Irish, and so my mom's side is Irish,
so I have an Irish passport so I can work
overseas if I wanted to, which is one of the
main nice which is one of the main things I
feel like kind of got me over there in the
first place. They didn't have to pay for my visa.
But so yeah, but I do have family in England,
so I'm very familiar with the culture there. So I
(18:46):
was filming in a place called Sheffield. It's just northh Sheffield.
Speaker 1 (18:49):
Do I go on book tour there every year? Well?
Not there you go?
Speaker 2 (18:52):
Yeah, yeah, so Sheffield. So I was in Sheffield shooting
for about seven months and it was great. It was
a great time. And yeah, I drank myself under the table, which.
Speaker 1 (19:04):
Are definitely doable in Sheffield not too far from the
train station, and there are some good bars.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
Very good bars, very good bars. God, we don't have
that here in Vancouver. We don't. We don't have good
bar culture and it's so frustrating. That's a different point.
But yeah, no, I have a bit.
Speaker 1 (19:21):
I have not really gone to a bar as always
in the hotel bar.
Speaker 2 (19:26):
Yeah, because Vancouver we don't have a good night life scene.
It's it's a little disappointing. It's very disappointing.
Speaker 1 (19:35):
Because I was like, all these feature films here, someone's
going out partying somewhere, and no, and.
Speaker 2 (19:40):
They do, but it's mostly house parties, or it's mostly
you know, an exclusive event, and or sometimes it's like
an underground thing that you're never really going to know about.
So Vancouver has this weird nightlife where it's just like
and also the dance culture here is just shit, you know,
that's the other thing. But but working in England, one of
(20:04):
the things that that's something I learned, that's something I
learned is that we don't have that kind of culture here,
which I was really sad about when I because like
when I was there, I was dancing on like wooden benches,
drinking cocktails out of like steins this big you know,
and it's like, yeah, like we don't have that. And
then but then also the work culture was lovely. Like
(20:25):
the people that I was working with, they were very diligent.
They were so professional, you know, and I think that
goes without saying even here too, like you know, we
get very professional teams. I think the main aspect of
working in England was just like yeah, like I don't
like they flew me out there, like they paid for
my room and board, like you know. That's that was
(20:46):
like the huge That was a huge highlight for me
when I was because like I was five years into
my career at that point and that was like a
huge deal, you know. And yeah, like I wish more
opportunities like that came my way, but they don't. And
that's that's that's the unfortunate bit. That's that's the unfortunate
bit about this industry in general. But that being said, yeah,
I loved I loved working there, like and I I
(21:09):
kind of like that's kind of like a goal of mine.
I think more recently I've been talking more about it
so I can actually do it where it's like, yeah,
make the move out there work work in England a
bit more because I do have spotlight and you know,
there's no there's nothing really stopping me from doing that,
asides from my own crippling anxiety.
Speaker 1 (21:27):
Uh oh, I've never worked, never been on a set
in England, so I can't say anything about that. I
was like, but apparently Crafty was good in England, so
I'm that's all I needed to know about that.
Speaker 2 (21:40):
Shoot, Yeah, Crafty was great. Crafty was great. Have you
ever had British chocolate? Yes, of course, it's everywhere, right,
So you're just on set, you're just eating good quality chocolate,
eating good quality food. Like that's literally, that's that's literally.
It like when you're when you're working on a set
in like another Like, don't get me wrong, Like I
haven't had the pleasure of working on a set down
(22:02):
in LA but like even here, like you know, the
quality of food is decent, but like I keep hearing
the quality of food down past the border. I'm like,
how does anyone survive off cardboard corn flakes? I don't know. No.
Speaker 1 (22:18):
Granted, I do have friends who work on bigger shows
down here, and one of one person told me, like
craft services one time for just the ice cream. It
was like they bought in like a little warehouse and
it was just like a vending machine of like ice cream,
just walls of ice cream, and you just walked in
and pushed the button and it was just there all
(22:39):
day and that. And then apparently on one show I'm
not going to say what station, but what network, that
they had all you could eat lobster for twenty four hours.
I was like, sweetie, just tell me what day that is.
You said every Friday. I'll be there.
Speaker 2 (22:58):
I am on it. I want that lobster.
Speaker 1 (23:03):
A lobster. I was like, I have I have my
to go boxes ready because I'm taking them home in
the ten gallon trash bag. I'm going to embarrass you,
but I'm I'm going to ask once I might be
why I don't get the invitation.
Speaker 2 (23:21):
They just know they see you coming, you know, they
see that trash bag. They're like, there, she is, there.
Speaker 1 (23:25):
She is, she can't go. I went to the Imans
and our area and at the after party was all
you could eat crep cakes. They shouldn't have done that.
I was actually the car, got my large purse. I'll
buy the kitchen of the hotel. I was like, can
(23:46):
you'll give me some gallons hip block bags?
Speaker 2 (23:50):
I was at the I was at the after party
for the film that was shot here that I did,
the one that I signed the NBA for. I know
I already said the name, but you know what, just
just in case someone, don't.
Speaker 1 (24:01):
Worry whenever, we'll just send this out after it comes out.
Speaker 2 (24:05):
That sounds good. So I was rinking on tron like.
I came back to the Craft or I came back
for the after party, and I was just like sliders, lobster,
crab cakes, you know, just the whole Like there's this
massive spread and I was just like, what the fuck like,
and you know this is all free, you know this
is all free, you know, like no one's gonna batten like.
(24:26):
And then on top of that, they were serving like
spicy margaritas for free too, Like they just walked up
into like spicy margarita. I'm just like, you know, when
in Paris, I guess.
Speaker 1 (24:34):
You know, doesn't matter where it is spicy free. I
think I'm I just wanted. I'm not even I might
not even finish this one. I had to have.
Speaker 2 (24:49):
Them just just double fisted fuck it. Why not.
Speaker 1 (24:55):
Food in between. You see why I don't get invited
exactly whying moments. This is what will KNOWA provides, so
our next my next to the last question is what
(25:18):
three challenges and what three pieces of advice would you
give anyone that is going into the business. You only
have to actually do too, because you already gave one
piece about like you only do this if you really
love it.
Speaker 2 (25:31):
I think, yeah, okay, I feel like another two pieces
of advice I would say was have grace for yourself.
I think that's I think a lot of artists were
really hard on ourselves because we compare ourselves so much
to you know, the Neil Gaiman's or you know, the
Robert Downey juniors or all these wonderful, very talented people,
(25:54):
and and maybe in your life you might get there,
and that's beautiful. And even if you don't guess what,
you're still further along than where you were maybe five
ten years ago. So I think knowing that where you
are now is still further along than where you were,
even if you're starting, you still made that step, and
(26:14):
I think that's something to celebrate. So having a lot
of grace for yourself, I think is something that I
think we as artists need to remind ourselves to have
and also something that I think new artists need to know.
And then another piece of advice I would give for
new upcoming people is make sure you watch up for cults.
Speaker 1 (26:33):
And I say that no one's ever Okay, no one's
ever came out and said the advice. Well, there's been
many conversations you've had in homes and they're like, yeah,
are you sure about cults? And I'm like, are you
for real? Like yeah, no, We're for real, and I'm like, god.
Speaker 2 (26:50):
No, and like seriously, Like even here in Vancouver, like
we have some acting studios that like, don't get me wrong,
the teacher is lovely, but the environment becomes very cult
like and it's something I don't subscribe to because, for instance,
in figure skating, we have we have a club out here,
a very competitive, high end club, and people flock to
(27:11):
this club because of the coach. However, the coach has
indoctrinated a lot of her students into thinking that she
is the best for them, and when injuries come about,
which they have, unfortunately, then she doesn't know how to
cope with those injuries and forces them to further injure themselves.
And when it comes to acting, acting is such a
it's a sport, but it's also your body is your tool,
(27:34):
your emotions are your tool. And if you are going
to be putting yourself in danger, putting yourself into these
places of vulnerability, and you want to do that in
a safe space and someone who's just using you and
abusing you to teach you that this is acting and
now you are mine and we're staying together forever. To me,
that's like a huge red flag. I mean there's a
(27:56):
lot of red flags before that, but you know, that's
the biggest one that I can think of. It's like,
you know, and they have this belief that they are
the right way.
Speaker 1 (28:04):
Now.
Speaker 2 (28:04):
Don't get me wrong, I don't have that answer either.
I think acting is a personal journey. I think writing
is a personal journey. I think a lot of the
arts is a personal journey, and you choose what works
for you. But I think at the end of the day,
you should also be very conscientious about who you share
your work with and who you decide to work with,
and also who your teachers are.
Speaker 1 (28:22):
Going to be.
Speaker 2 (28:23):
And I think at the end of the day, it
is your due diligence to make sure you're safe first.
Speaker 1 (28:30):
I really, really, really really really wanted to ask this
question the entire time, but I told myself, I gotta
limit myself. But now that you've bought it up. When
masking on Earth, do you find the emotional rawness to
portray anything from the page onto the screen? Because it's
like you're you are the person, you are everything. You're
(28:51):
the embodiment of words on a page, and you've got
to bring it to life by using in your own
experiences or thoughts or processes. That's a lot of energy.
Speaker 2 (29:03):
It is a lot of energy.
Speaker 1 (29:04):
How do you even trust someone to do it right,
I mean, portray you right? How do you trust?
Speaker 2 (29:11):
No, no, no, I get what you're saying, Like I think
it's that age old saying of you need to just jump.
You know, you need to trust that wherever you're going
to jump off of, there's going to be a place
for you to land. And sometimes it's going to hurt
and sometimes and sometimes it's going to be soft. But
(29:33):
you need to trust yourself as as an artist first
and foremost that wherever you decide to jump off from,
that's going to be enough. Like I think there's such
pressure as an actor to to cry for instance, you know,
it's just like you need to cry right at this moment,
and there's a lot of training now that's kind of
come out where it's like, okay, well not everyone cries
(29:55):
the same way, right, And also working on screen, you
can have eye drops whatever. I'm not saying that's like
the easy that's that's an easy way out for sure.
But I think the emotional depth of something it comes from,
it comes from a wealth of experience. So for myself,
I grew up being bullied. You know, it's not a
(30:15):
great thing. It's not something I tout. It's not like
I carry that on a flag and be like, oh
look at me. But that causes a lot of pain,
and that causes a lot of a lot of depth
in my own life. And so I'm able to then
draw on that a little bit and kind of go like,
I know what it's like if let's say the character
right is being pushed around, or if the character is
(30:37):
you know, experiencing something that feels like mild racism or
anything that I might never know what it's like to
be fully racialized because I'm a very white presenting Asian man.
But that being said, I can empathize, and empathy is
your hugest asset. If you can empathize with the person
on a page, and you can empathize with someone else
across the screen, then you can act opinion because what
(31:02):
you're doing is sharing. And you know, when we do interviews, right,
we share, And that's the beauty of it. We're sharing
with each other these experiences and these things. And like
I remember when I did a I acted as a
heroin addict, and in doing that role, yeah, I'm never
going to do heroin in my life. God needles horrify me.
(31:23):
I still get I still get my blood drawn, but
I can't look at it, you know, But I remember
doing it, and I remember researching and looking up what
it means to go, Like, for first of all, cold turkey,
what are those experiences? And like they get clamminess, they
become they become hot and sweaty, they become feverish. But
then they also there's this drive, there's this craze because
they're just like I need it. I need this thing
(31:44):
in me so I can feel like I can survive.
And it's like cool, I don't necessarily know what it's
like to feel that drug. But all those emotions that
he's talking about, right, I felt the itch to perform,
you know, that itch, that that ability to be like
I want that audience to like really see me. I
want that, and so like, Okay, I'm going to pull
on that a little bit. And then I understand what
(32:05):
it means to be clammy because guess what, I get nervous, right,
And so in nervous, I'm like, okay, so what do
I do when I'm nervous? Right? I start moving my
hands and I'm like, right, that's that sensation there, And
so then you start building those things, and then that
starts building all of those things that become similar to
what people would see on like when someone's doing drugs
or when someone is or like I think a great
(32:27):
example actually would be Margo Robbie when she did Tanya
It Tanya because you know she's Robbi's not a figure skater,
but yet she goes out of it. She did her
due diligence to you know, go skate, get trained all
of these things. She might not be able to pull
off like a triple, but she can do all the
movements and everything to convey it and she lived it
(32:49):
and you know, and that's that's our job as performers
is to live just enough for audiences to see that
we are. We are who we say we are when
we're on screen.
Speaker 1 (33:01):
That's amazing. I always say, y'all have a hard job
and I never want.
Speaker 2 (33:04):
It, And I appreciate you saying that because there's so
many people that go like I.
Speaker 1 (33:12):
Can act, Okay, So like for those out there who
say that, and I'm not a professional, but I'm going
to say it like I'm a professional I am. I'm
just gonna say it like I am. Literally, I believe
acting is like taking on someone's else life that you
don't know and just learning how to live it. If
(33:34):
you've never been able to, like if you've seen someone
you've never been able to walk in their shoes, don't
even not even put yourself in their shoes. Don't even
think about it. That this job is not for you.
You can't do it anyway. Moving on last question, where
can people see you in the projects that you're in
(33:54):
and where can they follow you so that they can
know what you're up to next and we can also
hear about that thing that you have an India about
when you no longer have an India about it maybe.
Speaker 2 (34:05):
Yeah. Well, first of all, where you can find me.
You can find me on Instagram and you know it's
under Kenneth Tynant actor. I'm also on Facebook as well,
and then you know, I'm also on ex slash Twitter,
you know, because I don't know what to call that anymore,
you know, do I post there often? Not really anyone.
Speaker 1 (34:24):
I think we have it just because we liked Twitter
when it came out now.
Speaker 2 (34:28):
Right exactly, But I post more on Instagram and then
where you can see me next, where you can see
my work. Obviously, if you're in Vancouver, I'm doing a
musical called Back from the Dead. You can come check
that out. That's happening in July and then oh this
month and also in August, and then I'm also producing
a play that I've written that's going up in September
for the Fringe Festival that's here locally, So that's going
(34:48):
to be in September and then yeah, depending on when
this is released. Yeah, you can also see me in
tron acting across what's her name? She was in Past Lives.
Grace is not Grace Chin.
Speaker 1 (35:03):
Yeah, I'm a writer don't ask, they're not an a.
Speaker 2 (35:08):
I apologize if you are watching this and you're yelling
at me and being like I know this name, and
I'm like, I'm really sorry. I'm just really bad with
names sometimes. But she was absolutely lovely and I did
get to see Jared Letto, didn't get to act with
Jared Leto. So so whenever Tron comes out, hopefully you'll
see me in that. And yeah, I'm also I also
(35:32):
perform improv locally in Vancouver as well. I'm a performer
with a I work with an all Asian improv group
called Fist Full of Kicks. We were currently doing a
in eighties action format that's based around Hong Kong eighties
action films. And I also do work with another group
called Regency impro and we're doing we're doing Jane Austen
(35:52):
inspired improv and we're also actually this Halloween, we're actually
doing a Mary Shelley inspired format.
Speaker 1 (36:01):
It's awesome. Okay, so if you're in Vancouver, I'm my
largest audience is not in Canada.
Speaker 2 (36:06):
I'm sorry, that's fair. If you happen to be in Vancouver, to.
Speaker 1 (36:10):
Be in Vancouver, please check him out at the Improv.
But if you like for the rest of the world,
which I have more people there, fair enough, Nelix.
Speaker 2 (36:21):
I'm on Netflix zero Chill, Babysitters Club. You can see
me in some.
Speaker 1 (36:24):
Of these oh wait, all right, babysitter stuff one. I
remember that one. You can check him out there as well.
There you go. Now look that's that's everyone. Everyone can
check him out in Netflix. There you go. So I'm
gonna wrap it up for me over here. So I'm Almona.
I'm part of the Anti Thought Ladies, and you can
find out everything that I'm up to. And since he's
(36:46):
talked about all the movies he's in, including the movie
that I'm in two at www dot and I thought
Ladies dot com. While you're there, go down to the
middle of the page, not the bottom of the page anymore,
but the middle of the page, and you can see
the three charities that we probably support. We asked that
you support them too. This does not mean you have
to give money. You can give them a knowledge because
(37:07):
they do need knowledge on something to get everything done.
Or you can get your hands dirty and get in
there and get some work done. So we thank you
in advance for that. I remember that wisdom is all
around you if you're open to finding it and accepting it.
So peace in love you guys from Wilnona and the
Missing Jade. Oh yeah, thanks for listen
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