Today we’d like to introduce you to Frankie Kevich.
Hi Frankie, 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.
Thank you so much for having me! I definitely entered the performing arena from a fan background first. Growing up in Vancouver, Canada, I was a quieter kid that just really loved going to movies on rainy days (of which there were many in Vancouver…), falling asleep to my favorite shows, and binging video games every school break when my mom finally allowed me and my brother to break out the consoles. It wasn’t until the middle of high school, when we got the opportunity to immigrate to Southern California, that I seriously considered pursuing acting.
I’d done other performance-related stuff: figure skating, dance lessons, choir, and a lot of public speaking. Acting was something I had always desperately wanted to explore, but I think when you’re young, you try really hard to look like you’re not trying hard. I often shied away from things that required me to be vulnerable in front of an audience.
I started acting in the drama department at my new high school, a true privilege because I was with a group of insanely talented individuals, many of whom are absolutely crushing it right now in performing arts. I also took acting classes outside of school, which was a real game-changer. My coach called me out on a lot of my defense mechanisms: the tough, quiet exterior and the humor I used in order to avoid being vulnerable. He told me that if I really didn’t want to show that soft underbelly, I was in the wrong profession. It tore me open; everything came flowing out but in a really positive way. Acting introduced me to a whole new part of myself that wasn’t afraid to be bold, big and meet new people and experiences with open arms.
I put acting on pause for a while at the beginning of college until I transferred to UCLA for my BA in economics. There, I joined LCC, which was UCLA’s Asian American theatre company, and FPS, the film club. I jumped back into acting, improv, writing, directing, filming, everything that I could possibly want to fulfill the creative thirst. I wrote a play that I got to actually see people put on, acted in short films that won awards, and got to be a part of every crew position with the film club at UCLA. I was super excited to attack acting full-fledged after graduation, but as soon as my last quarter came around in March 2020, the world kind of shut down.
As chaotic and devastating as the pandemic was in multiple ways, I took it as an opportunity to play catch up in the professional realm until the industry “re-started.” I began auditioning and working with creatives I knew and new ones I met to start building materials and connections and taking more classes. I fell madly in love with voice acting after doing my first short film playing brother and sister birds. I thought, “Dang… this feels right.”
Since then, I’ve gotten some amazing opportunities in voice-over, getting to be the voice of some iconic dolls in the worlds of LOL Surprise and Rainbow High, which led me to my current powerhouse VO agency, Atlas Talent. It opened doors to some really awesome opportunities in video games. My character in Apex Legends, Conduit, came out last October, and it’s been such a surreal experience getting to be the voice of such a funny, passionate, close-to-my-heart character in such a LEGEND-dary game!
I found a real passion in voice-over work, but all the while, I’ve loved and found great fulfillment on screen. I’ve gotten to work with some genius creatives on all sorts of projects, from award-winning horror shorts to the wackiest, zaniest sketch comedies! Getting to work on these types of indie projects really inspired me to explore artistic expression in all sorts of ways and invigorated not only the actor’s side but also the writer-director’s work. I directed my first short film last summer, called The Commedia, and it’s kind of like a contagious bug where all you want to do is create more.
Overall, the more I learn about the entertainment industry, the more things I want to explore and try out, and the more I realize how much freedom there is in this performing medium. I think young Frankie would be super proud of where she’s at now, and she has always been up for a challenge, so as the industry continues to evolve and change, I’m eager to try and adapt to it and see where it leads.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I’ve been fortunate to have a really supportive family and close friends that have made this journey a lot smoother. But getting over the perfectionist in me has been a big challenge. Growing up, vulnerability was not an easy thing for me to access out of so much fear of being judged. So, a lot of the hurdles I’ve had to jump (ironically) have been getting out of my own way and not only embracing the scary new things, embracing the possibility of failure, but also being proud to share my wins with the world. I’ve always considered myself a very scrappy person, a quiet underdog that you didn’t expect, who hustles in silence until the work speaks for itself.
On top of that, it’s difficult when you see yourself in a whole different box than the box that people want to put you in, or even worse, when people don’t see where you fit in at all. It’s been so hard to find what connects with reps or casting about what you’re trying to say in your performances or what types of characters you’re trying to bring to life.
Having no real connections in the entertainment industry coming in, you simply have to be competitive and push yourself to be the best you can be and not take the rejections personally. I think that’s where the scrappiness comes into play, that I haven’t had many opportunities that serendipitously fell into my lap. That’s not to say I haven’t been very fortunate and lucky in some of these great opportunities, but I think you get those from relentlessly trying new things to find what works and being persistent until those opportunities arise. Persistence through the things that don’t work out help you get to the thing that does. I’ve found amazing creatives to work with that understand my vision, amazing reps like my manager Renee Story at Established Artists and Heather Dame at Atlas. The more you work and meet new people, the greater your network grows, and these people keep you going even when you’re getting the ‘no’s’.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar with what you do, what can you tell them about what you do?
A lot of my bigger credits have been in voice-over, and it feels so right that that is the sector that’s taken me so far. I’ve loved the medium for so long, and the projects I get the chance to audition for have been projects I’m genuinely enamored with. It feels like it fulfills your purpose, and as my coach Mark McPherson says, “purpose cuts through steel, in this career”. I’m a type of person where I like to fully commit to the bit, I find that being someone else gives me the most freedom to express myself, so the things I’m drawn to are roles that require that 110% commitment. I love voice acting, where if they ask you to be a 10-year-old boy, you leave the person you are behind and become that 10-year-old boy. If you’re doing sketch comedy with absolutely insane characters, the character doesn’t know their insane, you have to fully believe in what you’re saying. The same thing goes with any dramatic piece too. I specialize in the manic, the 0 to 100.
Another purpose as a performer is to bring to life badass women with agency and intellect, and I’m super proud of the characters I’ve gotten to play that show that. Conduit in Apex Legends is the definition of scrappy. She was a fan from humble beginnings that went off to play in the big leagues. She’s family-oriented, out here representing the Filipino community, and brings optimism despite her difficult situations. I related to her in so many ways, and it’s been really rewarding getting to see the fans react to the weird, silly, but truly genuine takes that I did for her voice lines.
What I’m trying to bring into my performances is that manic, sometimes intimidating, sometimes weirdly charming side of humanity that often gets left to men’s roles. There have been several projects that I’ve worked on that have either originally been written for a man or an archetype that typically goes to male actors. I’m really trying to bend gender roles through that irreverence and steely hard exterior to show that these complex, suave, ferocious roles can be done by women. My goal in life is to be the next Kylo Ren.
We’d love to hear what you think about risk-taking.
As a very calculated person, I’m always evaluating if the benefits outweigh the cost of any risk. More often than not, in this industry, taking risks makes you stand out, which is half the battle! But I also am always leaning on the side of caution of not wanting to stand out for the wrong reason. I think risks need to be approached on a case-to-case basis. Whether it’s turning down a great a role or not making character choices you’re just not right to represent or making a wild choice that casting might seriously hate. It’s a gut decision that needs to be made, but I have noticed that a lot of the roles that I’ve booked, I auditioned doing something big, bold or taking the character beyond the script.
I still remember booking LOL Surprise, I saw that the character description said she’s a lyricist, so I rapped for one of the lines. I ended up rapping in the episodes and even the Netflix film. I booked a feature film last October, one of the few SAG interim-approved projects, and for my second take of the audition of this dramatic scene where they’re playing basketball, I fake shot a three-pointer, yelling, “KOBE!” at the top of my audition.
The risks definitely do pay off, but I think you need to be strategic about them. I took the big risk of quitting the day job last year and was trusting that the right opportunities would come. Turns out that I actually needed all the extra time to put into the acting and voice acting, and it has been really rewarding.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.frankiekevich.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/frankiekevich/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/FKevich
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgvqYlG2d716veNP4lU2Lrw
Image Credits
Cathryn Farnsworth
Leo Matsuyama
