Rising Star Lexy Kolker On The Five Things You Need To Shine In The Entertainment Industry

An Interview With Ming Zhao

Do your very best on every audition. Sometimes, I get frustrated and just want to send it in and think, it’s fine, it’s good enough. But you never know who is going to see that tape, and if you turn in your best, maybe you are not the right fit for this role, but they will remember you for the next one. It’s about making fans with every casting opportunity.

As a part of my series about pop culture’s rising stars, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Lexy Kolker

Lexy Kolker is best known for her recurring roles in Shooter playing the daughter of Ryan Phillippe and Shantel VanSanten for all 3 seasons of the series as well as a heavily recurring role in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. with Clark Gregg and Ming-Na Wen. In the 8 short years she has been working in the industry she has built an extensive resume. Other notable television roles include Rachel Dratch’s Late Night Snack and Criminal Minds. A few of her film roles include Netflix’s Freaks with Bruce Dern, Female Fight Squad with Amy Johnston, and The Little Mermaid playing the granddaughter of the incomparable Shirley MacLaine. Freaks went on to win several awards and Lexy’s powerful portrayal of a young girl who discovers a world she wasn’t allowed to be part of garnered her 3 Best Actress Awards. Her newest film is the gritty drama, Manifest West, which has her starring opposite Annett Mahendru and Milo Gibson. When not working this young Social Media Influencer makes charity appearances with her sister and enjoys singing and performing live in the theater.

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?

Sure, I grew up in the San Fernando Valley North of Los Angeles, with my 3 older sisters, Ava, Jade, and Kayla. We moved around a lot but were always very close, so I didn’t mind it. We have a huge family with lots of aunts and uncles and cousins who live close by, so we were always active with family events, school and activities.

Can you share a story with us about what brought you to this specific career path?

I watched my sister Ava on TV since I was 4 years old. She was always on Disney Channel on Girl Meets World, and I would get to go watch her on set and I decided that it looked like so much fun and I wanted to do it too. So, we spoke to Ava’s team, and they took me on and I started auditioning when I was 5 years old. I was pretty lucky and booked 2 national commercials my first month and the rest is history.

Can you tell us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your entertainment career?

I would say my most memorable booking was Searchers. It was a pilot on the CW channel, and we filmed it in Cape Town South Africa. It was insane, I got to work an amazing project and we did a couple of safaris, one with the whole cast and crew, and we climbed Table Mountain at sun break, and I swam with crocodiles and went zip lining in the jungle. It was the biggest adventure and all because I booked a great project. It made me want to act even more.

It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. 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?

Yes, actually auditioning for Searchers, I kept saying the name of the monster wrong, and the casting director worked with me again and again till we got it right. Then we got the notice of a pin, and I was sure it was for Ava, but it was for me and then I booked it. I realized that when you are the person for the role, it doesn’t have to be perfect. If you fit their vision, it will be yours.

What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now? How do you think that might help people?

I am doing the walk/run for St Jude and we hope to raise money for a great cause since St Jude doesn’t ever charge the families of the children they serve. I hope it will help many kids.

Most young people your age don’t have to balance work and school. Can you tell us how you manage to balance your schoolwork, auditions, and time on set?

I try to always be ahead in school, so when I am not working, I just keep going and sometimes I am weeks ahead. That way, when a project comes up, I don’t have to stress. I can do less school and never get behind. One year, I finished my school the first week of march and had a 6-month summer, so that was pretty cool.

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?

Definitely my sister Ava. She helps me with all my auditions and doesn’t let me get discouraged when nothing is happening. I don’t think I would have done any of this without her. There was a period of time when I wasn’t booking anything and thought I wanted to quit because it’s audition after audition and no success. It’s very depressing. But she told me I was too good to give up and that she’s felt that way many times, but that we just have to keep going and have faith in the process.

Ok, thank you for all that. Now let’s jump to the main part of our interview. 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) Be ready for a lot of rejection: I think when I was little, I was getting booking after booking and I thought it was normal and easy, but the momentum can change at any time so you have to be ready for the bad times

2) Do your very best on every audition. Sometimes, I get frustrated and just want to send it in and think, it’s fine, it’s good enough. But you never know who is going to see that tape, and if you turn in your best, maybe you are not the right fit for this role, but they will remember you for the next one. It’s about making fans with every casting opportunity.

3) Be prepared and improve your skillsets so that you can maximize on every opportunity. Whether that is singing, martial arts, anything you are good at, be ready to differentiate yourself.

4) Grow your social media following. You never know when that can make a difference if you are one of the final choices, it can make a difference.

5) Network and meet people in the industry. Sometimes, you will get a role, because someone will talk to someone about what they’re looking for, and you can be that perfect fit even before it goes to breakdowns.

You are a person of enormous influence. How do you think you can use social media as a platform to be a positive influence to your fans, and for society at large?

Thank you. I think it’s important to use your platform for joy and to spread kindness and to bring awareness to causes that are important to you. I hope to continue to do that as I continue to grow.

If you had the ability to choose to work on any TV show or film, or work alongside any co-star, or with any director, what or who would that be, and why? You never know who might see this article, especially if we tag them. :-)

I did an arc on Marvel Agents of Shield, and I would love to work on Marvel again or Star Wars or a project like that with Lucas Films or Disney Plus.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

I am @lexykolker on Instagram and @lexykolker17 on tiktok

This was very meaningful, thank you so much!