Inspirational Women In Hollywood: How Kalen Bull Is Helping To Shake Up The Entertainment Industry
I would love to assist in minimizing female-on-female bullying. It’s so common, it’s even a regular plot in almost every single movie played. Which I can prove, I’ve played that character. It impacts so many young girls and even adult women and only worsens their insecurities and general confidence.
As a part of our series about Inspirational Women In Hollywood, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Kalen Bull.
Born and raised in Bullhead City, Arizona, 19-year-old Kalen Bull is an up-and-coming actress proving she is one to watch in the industry. With a passion for dancing and acting, Kalen grew up with a love of performing. In the past year, Kalen has appeared as the leading lady in 3 Lifetime movies ‘The Wrong Cheerleader’, ‘Dying to Be A Cheerleader’, and her latest project ‘Her Boyfriend’s Deadly Secret’ which was released on October 15th at 8/7c on LifeTime.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Our readers would love to get to know you a bit better. Can you tell us the story of how you grew up?
I grew up in a small town in Arizona, mostly just dirt, the river, and some buildings. I grew up with a love of books, fashion, and drawing. I also found a love for forensic anthropology through watching tv as a child with my father. My parents put me in dance when I was three and I got serious about dance around 7, but after 5 more years and too many injuries to count, I was forced to stop due to needing hip surgery. That’s when I got into acting and just never stopped. I got my CHSPE when I was 15 and went to a junior college from there since I was so young and I continue to take classes when I can and film as well as keep up with my dance training.
Can you share a story with us about what brought you to this specific career path?
When my parents asked the question, every parent asks their five-year-old, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” I didn’t say doctor, lawyer, or astronaut. I said, “Famous,” to which you might be rolling your eyes but hang in there because it was followed up with, “because people listen to famous people, and I want to change the world.” I just wanted to help people but didn’t quite know how to do it. When I got injured around 12/13 years old and stopped dancing I unknowingly fell into the wrong crowd, which my mother was aware of, so she bribed me to take an acting class 2 hours away from my hometown. She offered me a whole $5. So, I went and I realized that I figured out a way to change maybe not the world, but a few people. Television holds so much power.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
Three weeks after I started acting classes I was offered a supporting role in an indie feature film and I knew absolutely nothing about being onset outside of “action” and “cut”. I ended up hitting my head on the boom, hard, causing the operator to throw his headphones across the room and yell. However, it was not my fault. He knew the choreography and just zoned out and forgot to lift when he knew I’d be moving. I learned everything about being on set and filming that day, as well as verifying choreography with all the crew members involved.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
My family has given up everything for everything I’ve worked for. They gave up their dream home that they built in my hometown to relocate the family to somewhere with more opportunities for both my brother and me. On top of that, we’ve all made sacrifices with family time since my mom was always with me working on my acting career and my father was in charge of my brother.
You have been blessed with great success in a career path that can be challenging. Do you have any words of advice for others who may want to embark on this career path, but seem daunted by the prospect of failure?
Anyone wanting to get involved in this industry needs to know that they’ll become professionals when it comes to rejection, it’s not made for everyone. It will also test your patience regularly, there’s no form of instant gratification. It may not sound like it, but not fitting in with everyone else is a compliment. You need to just enjoy the journey and stay as homegrown as possible.
What drives you to get up every day and work in TV and Film? What change do you want to see in the industry going forward?
I’m not driven every day. As far as I’m aware, I’m not the only actor that feels this way. Wondering when to call it quits and get a normal 9–5 is a regular struggle. On the days that I’m hellbent on acting it’s the feeling of being on set and getting to immerse myself in a whole new world that keeps me going. Also, the everlasting relationships and friendships I’ve received helped keep me going. The industry is very political, I’d like to see it start to move back to just being about the art.
You have such impressive work. What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now? Where do you see yourself heading from here?
Right now, I’m back in the process of auditioning and getting to play with new characters all the time until the right role pops up that’s perfectly me. I’m also focusing on creating my own opportunities, filming YouTube videos with friends, writing my own projects, and acting and producing with friends. If you’re not working in this industry then you can always create opportunities for yourself which is amazing.
We are very interested in looking at diversity in the entertainment industry. Can you share three reasons with our readers why you think it’s important to have diversity represented in film and television? How can that potentially affect our culture and our youth growing up today?
Art should fully imitate life. Plain and simple. Everyone, child, or adult, should have someone they resonate with on television. People don’t realize how motivating that is regardless of age. Our youth need mentors and people to look up to.
What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why? Please share a story or example for each.
1. It takes 5–10 years to even become remotely successful. I’m here about 7 years in and boy is that true, I’m on a very small scale compared to those who are considered “successful”.
2. Everyone knows everyone. If one person dislikes you then they can easily make an additional ten people dislike you. In short, the young “influencers”.
3. Until you reach the A-list level you practically won’t sleep each time you film a project, and it will take up an entire month of your life. Each film I’ve done I think I’ve gotten 2–3 hours of sleep total each night. There were nights with only a single hour of sleep.
4. You will lose yourself and find yourself repeatedly, but then again that’s just a life thing. Acting just kind of gives you an identity crisis always trying to be other people and characters until you finally realize that it’s all about playing yourself.
5. It will push your vulnerability to its limits. You know how some people don’t like hearing their voices in videos? It’s like that but knowing the world could be watching as well as you watch every part of yourself ridiculing how you said that line, what you looked like, the angle of your body, etc.
Can you share with our readers any selfcare routines, practices or treatments that you do to help your body, mind or heart to thrive? Please share a story for each one if you can.
I workout as frequently as I can as well as reading, it makes me feel in control of my life and whenever I’m feeling a little down I just put on a face mask and use a bath bomb.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
In my college sociology textbook, I was introduced to Charles H Cooley’s looking-glass self-theory. He said, “I am not what I think I am, and I am not what you think I am. I am what I think you think I am.” It shows that we base our self-worth on what we think other people think of us and that helped me learn to let go and just live for myself, as myself.
You are a person of huge influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be?
I would love to assist in minimizing female-on-female bullying. It’s so common, it’s even a regular plot in almost every single movie played. Which I can prove, I’ve played that character. It impacts so many young girls and even adult women and only worsens their insecurities and general confidence.
Is there a person in the world whom you would love to have lunch with, and why? Maybe we can tag them and see what happens!
I would love to sit down and pick Kristen Bell’s brain.
Are you on social media? How can our readers follow you online?
You can follow my Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok @itsreallykalen
This was so informative, thank you so much! We wish you continued success!
About The Interviewer: Growing up in Canada, Edward Sylvan was an unlikely candidate to make a mark on the high-powered film industry based in Hollywood. But as CEO of Sycamore Entertainment Group Inc, (SEGI) Sylvan is among a select group of less than ten Black executives who have founded, own and control a publicly traded company. Now, deeply involved in the movie business, he is providing opportunities for people of color.
In 2020, he was appointed president of the Monaco International Film Festival, and was encouraged to take the festival in a new digital direction.
Raised in Toronto, he attended York University where he studied Economics and Political Science, then went to work in finance on Bay Street, (the city’s equivalent of Wall Street). After years of handling equities trading, film tax credits, options trading and mergers and acquisitions for the film, mining and technology industries, in 2008 he decided to reorient his career fully towards the entertainment business.
With the aim of helping Los Angeles filmmakers of color who were struggling to understand how to raise capital, Sylvan wanted to provide them with ways to finance their creative endeavors.
