Meet Kenny Bernisky

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kenny Bernisky.

Kenny, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Growing up in central New Jersey is as glamorous as it sounds. There are people who will try and tell you a “central” Jersey doesn’t exist, but they’re wrong and rude. Growing up in my hometown, I lived exactly 30 minutes from New York City and 30 minutes from the closest beach of the Jersey Shore. Usually, when I tell people I’m from New Jersey there’s an instant response of sympathy as if I just told them I was mistakenly sent to Guantanamo Bay. But, I wear my New Jersey roots very loud and proud. Family is so important growing up in a New Jersey household. I hold an equal amount of love and angst for whatever person decided that was the rule for living in our state.

That being said, my family is a lot of the reason I decided acting and writing was my jam. I think being from a big family automatically puts a desire to be seen constantly by people. You’re always trying to make sure someone knows you’re there. I never wanted to be left behind or forgotten, so more times than not I found myself causing some sort of chaos for the sake of a joke. I grew up in a home that though filled with love, seemed to somehow end up embedded in some sort of turmoil. My dad was always sick and in and out of hospitals which took a lot of time away from myself and my parents. I spent majority of my middle school years being watched by a grandparent, an aunt, or a family friend. Looking back, it was hard to find consistency. The one thing that remained a constant in my life was television. It was always on. When I was with my grandparents there was usually a game show marathon, if I was with my aunt there was a sitcom or an HGTV show playing in the background. (It is because of the HGTV and TLC house hunting shows that I know every complaint to NOT tell a realtor.) I found comfort in knowing that no matter what house I was hanging out at that day there was going to be a television on with a familiarity I craved.

By sixth grade, I knew I wanted to be an actor. As a self-proclaimed ABC Family (now Freeform) connoisseur, I knew I wanted to be a part of some sort of escape for people. I vividly remember coming home and watching Amanda Bynes in What I Like About You and just loving the thought of making a living out of being funny. Eventually, I moved onto watching other comedy staples that were not limited to the ABC Family network. Shows like I Love Lucy, SNL, Veep, 30 Rock, and Friends, became these markers of the type of work I knew wanted to be doing when I grew up. (It also helps that I lack math skills and still more times than not, use commas and semi-colons incorrectly so a job in those areas of academia simply was not to be.) By high school, I decided to attend a performing arts school a few towns over. It was then that I started to write comedy for the sake of passing time in class. My notes in my phone were always filled with ideas of funny scenarios, joke set ups, random dialogue, etc. From there, I auditioned for what felt like every BFA acting under the sun and by some streak of luck ended up at California Institute of the Arts where I’ll be graduating this May with my BFA in acting.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Nothing about my life (or anyone’s for that matter) is or was a smooth road. I mean when you think about it our first introduction into this world is a room filled with strange people wearing surgical masks, awful institutional lighting, screaming, crying and from what I’ve seen on television some blood; from day one it’s a mess. If I was given a heads up before leaving the womb, I’m sure I would have prepped myself better for that scenario.

Yet, I digress. In my journey as a creator, my biggest struggle ended up becoming my superpower, which sort of sounds like an oxymoron. When I was in the thick of it, that diagnosis of the situation did not seem at all feasible. For me, I always felt like I had to do things on my own for the sake of not having to bother people who seemed to have more important things going on. Being eleven years old and having my dad in the hospital for a year straight and my mom working a full-time job to support a household on her own, while also trying to be there for her partner not knowing how bills were going to paid or what state of being her husband would be in, I felt it was necessary to just figure things out on my own. I developed this noise in my head that kept telling me to just figure it out. After all, how hard can it be?

There’s only so much an eleven-year-old can process at once. I never shared what was going on in my life because I had no desire to be around forced pity from teachers or friends. Granted, looking back I probably should have said something. I recently found a report card from that year in my life and it was a ROAST session! Ironically every teacher said I was too loud and really did not appreciate my desire to talk back to them. Ironically, it’s now a part of my job to talk a lot and make sure I’m being heard. I think I won. Anyway, this weird jilted time of my life forced me to grow up a little sooner then I wanted. There are still days where I look back and I’m overwhelmed by how many “normal” things I missed out on. But, I learned to get my hands dirty early on. I say it ended becoming my sure power because now, I expect nothing to be handed to me out of life. I can appreciate every small moment of what I deem to be success.

I approach everything being fully aware of what may or may not go wrong, and I see things for what they are. As an artist, that tool is incredibly helpful when it comes to how I react to the uncertainty of the business I’m in. I’m able to work from a place of reason and awareness. As an actor and writer, I make it my job to make sure my voice is being planted in whatever project I am working on. In my opinion, and I encourage people to disagree with me, there’s a very dangerous idea that in order to be an actor you must reach this level of full transformation so who you are as a person is cloaked. I tend to disagree. Because I have chosen to rely on my own voice both realistically and metaphorically, I’m drawn to performers who showcase who they are in their raw, sometimes hard-to share, truest forms.

We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
As an actor, I’m constantly searching for stories that allow performers to bring themselves to the role. I think of performers like Sean Hayes and I’m just so in awe of what magic happens when an actor is unapologetic and fully themselves. That’s what I aim to bring to the room. All people want in life for the most part is a real genuine moment. Even in something as taunting as the audition room. The audience, the actor, etc. we all want to feel an authentic connection and moment with the people we’re sharing space with. I think the avenue of comedy (both acting and writing) forces me to be so overly honest with myself in order to find themes that every human can connect with. Often, the hardest moments in our lives can lend to be the funniest and vice versa. I think there is a beauty when you step back from a script you’ve written or have read and are surprised by how one word said with a specific intonation or set up with just the right lead in can evoke pure joy or heartbreak. (Sometimes both at the same time.) The business of acting at its very, most basic core, is human solidarity. I think that’s my lane in this business. My toolbox is made up of my special ability to hear the rhythm of a joke in myself or the character that I am writing for at that time. Everyone has their own tools and we should be using the ones that help us break through doors and barriers.

So, what’s next? Any big plans?
I’m so lucky to look at my calendar and actually have things going on in the upcoming months. I’ve finished writing a comedy pilot based on my very weird but exciting college experience. The show is called “Life of Ben,” and you can read a sample at kennybernisky.com/writing. So I’m excited to move out of the writing process and hopefully get it up on its feet. I’m also performing in a show having its world premiere at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland this summer. The play is called, “Three” and it’s a beautiful, absurdist dramedy that explores what happens when we’re faced with the daunting questions of fate. I’m so excited to be traveling to Scotland with is and get the chance to share that story. I’m writing a lot. Everyday there’s a new idea for a web series that comes into my head so I’m constantly keeping myself busy with getting material from brain to paper. I’m also graduating from CalArts with my BFA in acting! So it’s definitely a time of transition but it’s the most exciting time I think. The unknown is a powerful friend to an artist.

Contact Info:

• Website: kennybernisky.com
• Phone: 7327101587
• Email: kennethbernisky@alum.calarts.edu
• Other: https://vimeo.com/394584249

Image Credit:
Daniel Loyola

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