Today we’d like to introduce you to Kristine Kay Larsen.
Hi Kristine, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’m the cliché story: I grew up in a small town in Denmark (Europe) since I was a little kid, I fantasized about living in America. Growing up in a small town where everybody knows everyone, there was something so fascinating about living in a city that never sleeps. That was when I dreamed about living in New York when I was four years old. How I ended up in LA is a different story.
When I was a kid my brother and I would wake up super early in the morning and play these imaginative games. He got diagnosed with autism early in his life and felt like he couldn’t communicate like others and I had undiagnosed dyslexia and was doing bad in school and felt like everyone misunderstood me. But he and I always understood each other and could communicate when we played together. One time in school we had to put on a tiny play and I performed like I was playing with my brother. My teacher said to my parents afterward “That girl needs to get into theater”. And so I did. I stayed doing musical theater when I was 11 years old. I loved it, but soon I felt like I had accomplished everything I wanted there. I went to the US and did musical theater there too but it felt like that wasn’t really my calling. So, I started pursuing film acting. As a kid, I dreamt of going to New York and Broadway but then my acting teacher told me “If you want to be in film, you have to go to LA”. I don’t listen to a lot of people but I do listen to my acting teachers.
I started working at an early age to save up enough money to one day move to the US. First I needed a jumping board so I took English literature in the gymnasium as we call it in Denmark (it’s basically like a basic associate degree). Then I applied to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, and I got in. I was finally going to the US to follow my dream and do acting.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I don’t think any actor has a smooth road because it’s a road filled with rejection and competition. I got my first rejection for a role very early in life. It wasn’t even important it was for theater as a kid. I didn’t get the role I wanted. Not that big of a deal now, but eight-year-old Kristine who hates competition this was awful. But you learn from this and grow, I got really good with rejection. I learned how to shine brighter than my peers and use my own charisma to make myself stand out. Growing up my family went through its own problems but acting was my coping mechanism. When I was 18, I finally got diagnosed with dyslexia, but at this point, I had found a way to use dyslexia to my advantage. Yes, I cannot spell to save my life. I’m writing this with my faithful autocorrect, but I can memorize lines by taking a mental picture of them. This became my strength. Through money problems, working three jobs at the time, covid and struggling made me the fighter I am that I then brought to the US.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am now a movie actor. I graduated from The American Academy of Dramatic Arts with a degree in the fine arts of acting. This involves both theatrical and onscreen acting training. Here I had many acting teachers with different acting methods from character acting to Meisner. This really helped me develop my own process as an actor. I don’t follow one set philosophy of acting, and my technique and approach change for every set I’m on. I think this is what sets me apart from other actors is that I never have the same process on any of my projects. I graduated right as the actor’s strike happened but as you know by now nothing stops me from following my dreams. I fully support Sag and hope to be a part of Sag in the future.
I’ve worked on commercials, shorts, and features. My proudest accomplishment at the moment is the feature film The Black Box. It’s probably going to be in the post when this article comes out. In this movie, I’m playing the character Cindy and I’m not just proud of my own acting in this movie I’m proud of everyone’s hard work on this movie. Can’t wait for everyone to see it.
Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
I studied a bit of psychology just for fun in college. Little did I know that it would help me so much not just in my personal life but in the industry. I use psychology in my acting work to help create the character’s minds. Also, I didn’t only travel from Denmark to the US; I’ve traveled all over the world and been so fortunate to experience many different cultures. Seeing the world has made me the woman I am today. Also fun fact: my first kiss was a giraffe from Kenya.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: KristineKayLarsen
Image Credits
Lucas Daniel Guerilla Film Festival
