Today we’d like to introduce you to Kennedy Del Toro.
Kennedy, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
My story began in New Mexico in amidst of tragedy. I was a young fourteen-year-old athletic cheerleader on an away football game trying to cheer my heart out.
Unfortunately, that was the very first night I started experiencing what is called pleurisy in my right lung. It was incredibly painful anytime I would move or talk or even breathe. That night was the start of a new lifestyle that I wasn’t familiar to at all. I went from jumping around like crazy with tons of energy to barely breathing and extremely exhausted. I couldn’t walk and talk, I couldn’t climb any incline, and I couldn’t eat and sit up. Basically, I had to focus on doing one task at a time. After ending up in the emergency room night after night, they told me I had pneumonia and fluid in my lungs. Unfortunately, It turned out I was misdiagnosed and my actual illness was far worse. Thankfully I went to an incredible family doctor in Artesia, New Mexico who saved my life just in time by finding out I had a blood clot in my right lung.
He flew me out instantly to UNM Children’s Hospital in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The doctors there are true fighters and very hard workers. They fought to save my life, I will forever be thankful for them all, but especially for my heart doctor, Dr. John Clayton Love, when I was weak and ready to throw in the towel he was always there to remind me the battle wasn’t over and failure was not an option. I was completely thankful.
I learned there that not only did I have a blood clot, but it was cutting off blood flow and oxygen to my lung which leads to me only having around 7% of my right lung functioning. It was insane, the doctors really had no idea how I was still alive. But I was alive and ready to fight. It was hard, it was a very long time, and it was the scariest point in my life. The greatest thing I took from my whole experience was that life wasn’t done with me, I felt there was much more waiting for me.
My lifestyle changed in a big way. I had to be careful with everything I did which meant I wouldn’t be doing cheerleading anymore. This was one of the biggest heartbreaks. It was really a passion I enjoyed. My life got a little depressing, my parents really encouraged me to find other passions to pursue. I told them I wanted to act and model, I begged and begged them to take me to an audition at an acting school in Albuquerque and they finally did. My mom was so amazing that she would drive me 4 hours one way to go to the class every Saturday and 4 hours back. Talk about supportive, I LOVE YOU MOM!
It was then that I learned I qualified for a wish through the Make A Wish Foundation. My wish granters allowed me to pick three wishes and they would make one of them come true. My acting class told me about an upcoming convention where I could possibly compete and get signed. The Make A Wish Foundation granted that wish for me!
It leads me to Las Vegas to compete where I left there with a manager that wanted to sign me. Which lead me to New York to sign with them. However, they said they couldn’t work with me living in New Mexico and that I would need to move to either New York or Los Angeles. My supportive parents then said “which one? Pick.” So eagerly I picked Los Angeles and just a few months later we moved!
It was like a dream. I was so happy. The start of my LA life was full of finishing high school and acting classes. I had never been on set before so when my acting coach was casted in a pilot, he asked the class if they wanted to be background in it, and of course, I jumped at the opportunity.
I was in love, it was such a great experience seeing how everything worked and seeing actors right in front of my face, instead of on the screen. I didn’t want to leave after they were done with us so I asked to be a production assistant. They said yes and I came back for the remainder of the shoot, it was so fun.
The Script Supervisor on the show, Shawn Tira, had to leave and production really needed someone to fill in for him. They told him to pull a PA and teach them how to do the job to finish the day. He pulled me and taught me for around 30 minutes then left. He came back the next day, checked all the work I had done and said I did great and asked if I enjoyed it. I said, “I LOVED IT.”
From the paperwork, watching the acting and scenes, to being behind the monitor, to working next to the director, to seeing how every single job worked on set. It was incredible. He then said since I did love it that he would teach me everything he knows. Yet another big blessing. I can thank him for my career as a Script Supervisor.
That was the start of a career for me that I never expected I would have, but I truly love my job. I have been doing it for around eight years and I plan to do it for the remainder of my life!
The greatest part of everything, proving that many years ago when my life was nearly over, that it wasn’t going to be over yet, was the moment when I got a script supervising job in Arizona. It was about the founder of the Make A Wish Foundation, Frank Shankwitz. I got to meet a man who played a part in changing my life and changing millions of kids lives in the world. I was so nervous and excited to meet him on the first day; it was huge for me.
I was so thankful for my wish that I thought the biggest thing I could do to give back is become a wish granter and grant wishes for other kids. I never imagined that I would be able to be apart of telling the story for the world to see. It was full circle for me. It showed me why things happened in my life, where it leads me, and why it lead me there. I am completely in love and thankful for the blessing and struggles in my life. I truly know I am where I’m supposed to be.
The best part is, the movie “Wish Man” premieres June 4th, at the Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. Which happens to be my beautiful mothers birthday, and she gets to accompany me and my boyfriend, who also worked on the film, to the premiere where she will get to meet Frank! I am so excited for that day because my mom was present through it all.
I am healthy, living with a pulmonary embolism, still having my tiny lung, and living my best life, remembering the battle isn’t over yet and failure isn’t an option.
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?
Life is not a smooth thing but I think that is one of the best parts of life. I think once you have worked hard on yourself and your craft to get where you want to be, that is when it will be most rewarding.
Many of the best memories I have came out of struggle. It’s amazing to look back because I can be very thankful for where I am today because of all the challenges I have faced.
For me, at such a young age, I had to grow up. I had to deal with the issues in my body, to understand what was happening, and to be hopeful.
The medicine I had to take, which was pretty much my lifeline, was a shot in my stomach daily. I was so proud of myself for taking it so seriously that I counted the days and partied on the 365th day. I made it a whole year without missing a dose! It was incredible but with that accomplishment, I also learned that my mind tricked me into believing I was fine because I felt so good. I then began to miss doses and it would be harder to take it because my skin surrounding the injection was so tender. It was painful. I realized that I would have to work really hard on my mind for me to actually take the injection day after day. That was a huge challenge for me because I would most likely not be here today if I didn’t continue the medication.
For any challenge that presents itself to me, I know the outcome won’t always be rainbows and flowers. However, I truly believe that if I work hard on my mindset and thoughts, it is going to make challenges easier and I can be proud looking back on how I handled them knowing that I got the opportunity to get much stronger and to fight harder. Show yourself what you are made of and that nothing can stop you.
I think the biggest struggle with my business is the fact that it is freelancing and there is a consistent seeking of your next job. It is a beautiful thing but sometimes there are dry spells depending on the time of year. So again, it’s important for me to continue to be positive knowing the work will come at the right moment.
But all in all, I welcome challenges. It keeps me on my toes!
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Script Supervisor story. Tell us more about the business.
My lovely career choice is being a Script Supervisor, I get to make pretend for a living and it is a blast and a blessing.
It’s quite fun to be able to adjust and collaborate with others to tell stories. Script Supervising is a very important job. We can really help a production save money by preventing reshoots and errors.
The job requires you to pay attention to the tiniest of details such as the lines, the actions, the story, the directions, the moment actors eat or drink something, when they do it, how things are placed and positioned, and so on. Even being ready to give the actors their lines if they ask for them. It’s a lot of paying attention and multitasking. We also get to do notes so that the editor and post-production team can know where to find all the footage per scene and any notes and the circle takes the director has chosen. I absolutely love paperwork, not most people do but for me, that was the first thing I fell in love with when I was learning how to be a script supervisor.
As a script supervisor we don’t get to work with other script supervisors too often on certain shows but what I am most proud of is that we do have a network of script supervisors that have each other’s backs when they need covers, tips, and advice, or even just getting together as a group or passing off a job they couldn’t do. It creates a support group and family.
What sets me apart from others is that I truly care about making everything as close to perfect and work correctly. If I have the opportunity to change something to make it right, I do. Yes, even if it doesn’t seem that important or people think no one will notice that which you tend to hear that from everyone because they want or need to move on to the next setup. We have a job to do and I take pride in it.
All I know is that I love my job, I love the people I get to work with, and I love what I do.
Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
I love LA. It’s home for me! It is such an inspiring city. Most people I meet have come from other states or countries so I really feel like I get to meet people from all over the world. The biggest thing I love about LA though is that there is so much passion and pursuit within people here. So many people have different stories to tell and experiences to share. It’s incredible to see people go out and get what they want in life.
As of dislikes… the price of rent and gas. Lol, That’s all.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kennedy.del.toro/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kennedy.del.toro
Image Credit:
Josh Brown
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