Daily Inspiration: Meet Kymberly Harris

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kymberly Harris.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I started in theatre. I acted in plays for as long as I can remember and have always been passionate about learning and teaching the craft of acting. I started in Chicago theatre, then moved to get my graduate degree in New York City. There I also became interested in film and started acting, writing, and finally directing film, which is what landed me in LA.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The greatest challenge was always pursuing my dreams and balancing that with a great education for my son. I had him while in graduate school, and with what I made acting in plays, commercials, and independent film, I couldn’t send him to the schools in our area that had the best curriculums, even at five years old. Education has always been a huge priority. Wanting my son to have the best, I moved back to my hometown and started an acting school, first for at-risk youth, and then it expanded to actors of all ages coming from all over to learn what I was teaching. The classes would culminate into plays. I started this to stay in the art I loved so much, but also so my son would have the quality arts education every child deserves. This obstacle ended up being an opportunity for a creative solution that really enriched us. I started directing consistently and was able to provide an artistic home and training for a lot of creatives where there hadn’t been one.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
What I’m told sets me apart is my ability to bring out great performances from actors. My manager calls me “the actor whisperer.” My great passion now is directing, but since I am an actor first, I suppose I have a certain understanding of how to serve the actor’s process. Also since I’ve been coaching and teaching workshops to actors for 15 years, I’ve honed a technique of my own that I stand by wholeheartedly. I employ it in all of the plays and films I direct, and the actors I work with always appreciate it. It’s character-driven work that inspires me most, and I will always consider the specific psychology of each character in a script and make sure it’s expressed personally by the actor. This proves to be empowering and fulfilling for the cast and also brings out the best in a story.

What would you say have been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
I feel like we’re in a creative revolution, and it thrills me. It seems this moment of forced introspection has inspired us – mainly the storytellers whose voices aren’t included enough – to find a way to share our stories. Even those of us that felt we were empowered, I think, are realizing how we have been making ourselves smaller to somehow fit into a status quo that really doesn’t serve us at all. It’s beautiful to feel this awakening happening. I just directed my first film with an all-female producing team and BIPOC/LGBTQIA + inclusive cast and crew, and am attached to direct another film with an all-female team. Somehow these stories feel more reflective of my personal experience, and I think we all thrive when we see stories we can connect with on the screen.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: https://kymberlyharris.me
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/firsthand.films/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kymlharris
• Twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/kymberly_harris