Today we’d like to introduce you to Kenzo Lee.
Hi Kenzo, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I’ve always been interested in the arts. Growing up, my parents always took us to musicals, theater, dance, and concerts. I can distinctly remember sitting in a packed theater at five years old, watching the entire Star Wars originally trilogy in a row. I don’t think I left my seat once. In high school, I saw my first high school production, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Evita performed by my peers, and I thought, “hey, I can do that…” The next year, I was in the spring musical, and a few years later I was performing on the stage at UC San Diego. My love of theater was all over the place in San Diego: I got to work with the La Jolla Playhouse building sets, performed in the world premiere of a jazz version of Alice in Wonderland aptly titled Alice in Modernland, and I got to work with my first Asian American theater (AART). On a whim with very little to my name, I came to Los Angeles and started working on my career in film and TV. Years later, I’ve now been in over 50 commercials, dozens of appearances on network television, and even fulfilled one of my dreams of being animated in the Disney Plus movie Rescue Rangers. I’ve spent the last few years during the pandemic developing a teaching system to help actors understand how to compete with the new self-taping and remote auditioning systems in place and how to streamline their careers and not deal with some of the pitfalls that I went through.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
No, definitely not. I mean, II was kind of all over the place when I started. I came to LA not knowing anyone. I had a roof over my head, a few hundred dollars in my bank account, and a food service job. In the first few years, some roles in feature films and commercials came pretty quickly but I wasn’t working consistently. I just thought that there was no rhyme or reason to it. In those early years, I shot a few commercials, did an indie feature film called Baby with some of my fellow Asian filmmakers that saw some festival attention, and even was a recurring on one of the first “web series” which was called Connected, developed by MTV and T-Mobile. I was still doing food service jobs and working at nightclubs. I was still trying to figure it all out. It wasn’t until a few years in that things clicked. I guess you could say that I learned along the way.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
So, I probably spent the first five or so years of my Los Angeles acting career floating around. I really didn’t have a structure or understanding of what was going on. I would get headshots taken by random photographers on Craigslist, I would submit my headshots for anything and everything. I didn’t understand that there was a method to all of this: that consistency would pay off and that doing the right things to market myself would end up working. When everything started clicking, my career really took off. One year, I was barely making ends meet, the next I had over a dozen commercials and TV jobs. I had to really re-examine what worked and what didn’t.
After about ten years of working consistently was when the pandemic hit, and I was able to actually look back and see what had gotten me that work. I had played all these small roles in big TV shows: How I Met Your Mother, Modern Family, Brooklyn 99, New Girl, Happy Endings, just to name a few. What was it that had gotten me this work? What were the things that I had learned? I started really trying to put together all the pieces, you know? All we had was time, so I spent mine trying to figure out where my future was going to be.
So yeah, I used my previous knowledge of headshots and self-taping to create a pretty efficient setup, and when things started coming back, I was sure to be ready. I booked roles on Call Me Kat, Miracle Workers, Home Economics, and Young Sheldon. That’s when East West Players came calling. East West Players is the longest-running theater of color in Los Angeles and has been a staple of the theater scene for as long as I can remember. I was referred by my fellow actors to help teach a self-taping and remote audition class for them in conjunction with NBC Universal, and it gave me an opportunity to try and really hone my breakdown of auditioning mindset, and understanding a lot of the process from more than just the actor’s perspective.
Since then I’ve now worked with East West Players and NBC multiple times. I have begun teaching my technique over Zoom to students all over the world, and my students have really begun to see the results for themselves. One student of mine booked their first Guest Star and, while on set, was offered a CoStar! I’ve seen more mature actors revitalize and revamp their careers and gotten to see some of my actors on their first red-carpet premieres. It truly is a wonderful feeling to give to others.
So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
I really love teaching. Aside from acting, it’s become the thing that drives me. I love seeing someone’s face when they figure out the circumstances of the scene, like that eureka moment when they figure it all out. I’m always looking for new students and my 6-week intensive program is constantly in rep, so I guess the best way to work with me would be to send me an email ([email protected]) and I can go over the program with them.
Of course, I’m still working constantly. Even though I’m not good at it, I really do like Social Media. It’s fun to be able to interact with a worldwide audience. Back in my day… I say that a lot… all we had were pen pals. And my handwriting was atrocious. So, yeah. Instagram is much easier. My username is @whoskenzolee across most platforms. I usually post about my acting work and also tidbits about how to make things a little easier for actors on my reels.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: http://instagram.com/whoskenzolee
- Twitter: http://twitter.com/whoskenzolee
Image Credits
David Chan Photo Click West Photo
