Check Out Kerry Marlowe (Finlayson)’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kerry Marlowe (Finlayson).

Hi Kerry, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I grew up as a theater kid in the UK. Dreaming of living in Los Angeles, becoming a movie star in Hollywood and walking down Rodeo Drive like I was in the movie “Clueless”. I knew one day I would make that dream come true, as persistence is something I have always valued.

My life has always revolved around performing arts. I started dance classes at the age of three and later acting and musical theater around the age of six. This led me to performing in various musical theater productions as a kid from “42nd Street”to “Fiddler on the Roof” and “Bugsey Malone”.

Growing up I loved watching American TV shows and often mimicked the accent, pretending I was actually from America and ordering food like a californian and often saying “as if”, ala Cher Horowitz.

I studied at The Brit School in the UK, where many celebrities have graduated; from pop stars to TV/Film actors. I loved every moment there, as I felt like I was in the movie “FAME”.

After college I attended a Film and Acting school, where I learnt how to work both behind and in front of the camera. We were taught many roles including but not limited to; how to vision mix,use a studio camera, work on boom, lead as a theater stage manager, create and run a theatrical lighting board and write screenplays, make movies, costume and makeup design etc.

Then from an acting stand point we were non stop studying and performing in theatrical shows, hosting mock TV broadcasts, shooting commercials and films and being fully immersed in performance six days a week.

Now with a background in acting and filmmaking in the UK, Los Angeles was the obvious transition to further my career. I researched everywhere I could on how to get my visa and make the move. After visiting LA numerous times, I knew I had to get over to the US properly to start my Hollywood journey.

After a year I got my visa and moved solo to Los Angeles, only knowing one person in town. This had been my lifelong dream.

Standing infront of my apartment block in West Hollywood, with two suitcases, I thought “let’s give this a year and see if I can really make this happen”. Over twenty years later and I am still here in Los Angeles.

Not long after arriving in LA I realized that I needed to utilize all of my past studies and become a hybrid at my job. Everyone seemed to work both in front and behind the camera and be creating projects themselves. This gave me the inspriation to form my own production company Sweet Home Films back in 2009.

Since then I have been making various projects through my company as an actor, producer and writer; such as nusic videos, commercials, web series, feature films and TV pilots.

Throughout this journey I have made a lot of close friends, built a wonderful family with three kids and continue to pursue my dreams in the entertainment world. I may not be a Hollywood Star, but I am an actor and I still love performing like I did at three years old.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Moving to Los Angeles from another country can be lonely and I often felt a little isolated in this big city. As open and friendly as most people were, I missed my family and friends back home and no one really seemed to get my British humor.

Eventually I found my rhythm and discovered a British community called BRITSinLA along with some Americans who are Anglofiles. I finally felt a little piece of home to comfort me.

Being an actor is not an easy road, there is a lot of rejection, self doubt and personal body issues can dominate your thoughts. You definitely need a thick skin to weather the comments and judgements.

Los Angeles is so fast paced and you often feel left behind if you aren’t working on something. I have many friends who started out like me and are now working on big films, TV shows and productions and at the start I was jealous of their achievements as I saw myself working just as hard as they were. That’s when I started to question, ‘Am I pretty enough? Am I skinny enough? Are my teeth white? Did I stumble my lines in that audition?” and a dark cloud forms over you suppressing all the good qualities you have.

Luckily I have a wonderful famliy in the UK who support all of my dreams and when I found my husband that dark cloud wasn’t as oppressive any more, I had someone to help lift me up.

I am not very good at asking for help and often take on too much. I’m in constant producer mode and now Mom mode. This is both a blessing and a curse.

I’m probably too empathic and want everyone to be happy in life and I will strive to help people where I can. Be it agent introductions, putting them in my movies, sharing audition information, looking after their kids, driving them around LA when their car is broken, showing up where I can.

I guess at times I am very self sacrificing, but if others can be happy even for a little while, then that is a win.

After having kids and hitting forty, I found I no longer worry so much about what people think or whether I am “good enough”. I am thankful for every audition, every chance to be on set, for the good people who are there and my family.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am proud to call myself a filmmaking actor. Someone who understands all areas of production both in front and behind the lens.

I love writing and creating stories as much as I love acting them out. I am non stop writing, some work goes unfinished for a while but I always come back to it when I am inspired by an encounter, a movie or a person.

I have been fortunate enough to produce a few films that I have written myself and that in itself is rewarding.

The last movie I both produced and acted in, is called ABRUPTIO. It was released theatrically across the US and is now available on various platforms. The movie took ten years to make as it is a live action puppet horror. It took so many years to complete due to each puppet being carefully constructed by our fabricator Jeff Farley which took around two to three months to make per character.

Covid also hit during production so me were sidelined briefly but as I work with my husband in our production company, we were always working on set pieces and props and future scheduling even while being stuck at home.

ABRUPTIO had an amazing cast to voice the puppets, from; Jordan Peele, James Marsters, Christoopher McDonald, Hana Mae Lee, Sid Haig and Robert Englund to name a few, as well as myself. I got to play James Marster’s girlfriend voicing the obnoxious Allison, along with Janie a sweet little girl.

I am so proud of what our little indie production company has achieved so far. Along with my husband Evan, who co-owns the company and directed/wrote ABRUPTIO, we are always busing creating or working on something.

I am currently writing a TV series geared towards Netflix and is inspired by K-Dramas.

Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
I have been studying Korean for almost a year now and one of my current dreams is to act in a K-Drama. I have a huge I have a huge affinity for their emotional stories and natual comedy. One day in the future I would love to work for some time in the South Korean TV/Film industry.

I have also just recently started learning Chinese, after having performed in a vertical drama which was produced by a Chinese company. Now my kids are getting older, I have more time to try new things and have fun with my mid life adventure.

Currently I am enjoying understanding the beautiful stories, cultures, traditions and passions behind these two countries.

I am also a huge Stray Kids fan and love most KPOP music.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.kerryfinlayson.com
• Instagram: @kezbritmum
• Other: https://www.abruptio.com

Image Credits
Todd Tyler Photography

People in photos credit: Hana Mae Lee, Evan Marlowe, Jordan Peele