Meet Stephanie Kutty

Today we’d like to introduce you to Stephanie Kutty.

Stephanie, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
If you have seen DISNEY’S “MOANA”…that’s basically me! I was born in Suva, Fiji Islands. My Father is Fijian, Indian, Irish, Chinese and my Mother is Burmese – you could say I am a “fruit salad” mix. My brother and I grew up with cold-water showers, Velcro school sandals, homemade curries and only one TV channel called “FIJI ONE”. To put in a bit more perspective; the first McDonald’s opened in Fiji when I was like seven years old.

Every year or so, my family would travel to Gold Coast, Australia to visit my Nanna and some of my extended family and that’s where I found my love of Disney & Nickelodeon shows. I hadn’t seen TV shows with children like me until I started watching stuff like “THAT’S SO RAVEN”, “THE AMANDA SHOW”, etc. and it was mind-blowing! Fiji never shows like that and to see kids like me working on something so fun…that was the dream.

In 2000, I was in Grade 5 when Fiji went under its second Coup where the people tried to overthrow the government. It was pretty scary. At school, we would go into lockdown for guns or bomb threats whilst people marched the street with rifles. We then had to stop going to school for 4 months because it wasn’t safe and so my parents decided to send my brother and I to live with my Aunt in Australia without them. Soon after, they made the official move to join us and we lived in Australia ever since.

During my high school years, I was an above average student and even graduated the University of Sunshine Coast with a Bachelor of Biomedical Science Degree at age 20 before I was granted a talent-based scholarship to New York Film Academy (Los Angeles). Eight years back and forth to LA and three visas later, I now live in Burbank and am a working Actress. I currently work for the Murder Mystery Company performing various themed shows around California and surrounding areas. My last show was “Midnight at Masquerade” in Nevada for 80 guests and it was so fun playing an undercover Mystery Writer at a Billionaire’s Ball! The journey has been a roller coaster to say the least but everything I have been through has led me here so I am very grateful!

Has it been a smooth road?
It hasn’t been a smooth road but looking back I have enjoyed the journey, I actually didn’t know HOW to become a working actor, growing up in Fiji and even in Australia…acting is just seen as a hobby and not a really a Career. So, I graduated high school, graduated University and worked multiple jobs from waitressing to a Sleep Science Specialist Assistant where I monitored patients with sleep apnea overnight and tried to figure everything out along the way.

In 2014, I sat the Graduates Australian Medical School Admissions Test (GAMSAT) and Passed but did not get an interview and so I decided to pursue Acting full time. I enrolled back into New York Film Academy on the Gold Coast for their two years Advanced Diploma in Screen & Media. I find myself always finding a way back to acting. At the end of our program, we were granted with a trip to New York Film Academy in Los Angeles, my second trip to the States. This trip made it certain that I had to come back to work in LA – there’s just so much going on and so much magic I want to be a part of.

Over the years, I have had to prove to my family and friends that I needed to do this. It’s been tough but now they are very supportive of my decision to pursue my career in LA and I wouldn’t have been able to do this without them. I’ve now been granted my 3rd visa being the “O1 Visa -Extraordinary Abilities for the Performing Arts”. I had to fight for it and I had to ignore all the people that said I wasn’t “famous enough” to get it and listen to those that said it was possible. The 9 years of acting in theaters, commercials, films, voice over, theme parks, standardized patients, mascots  was all  well worth it especially since I have made a lot of really good friends along the way.

It was very hard to get on TV in Australia being of mixed ethnic descent. I wasn’t able to play a typical “Aussie kid” even though I had lived in Australia almost my whole life. It’s one of the reasons why I made the move to Los Angeles; American Film and TV are much more inclusive of diversity and so far, I have had way more success in being cast as “real characters” here than I ever had back at home. I love Australia and they are progressing…but it is very slow and I didn’t want to wait for my turn. I came here to get my turn.

We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
I am a working actress. I currently work with the Murder Mystery Company; one of the largest Immersive Improv troupes in the US. We do shows every week in various locations and events. We have multiple themes including 1920’s Speakeasy, Midnight at Masquerade, A dance with death – 80’s theme, etc. I love it so much!

What sets me apart from every other actor here, I guess is just being me. The longer I live here, the more I realize that people are casting REAL people – yes there’s acting…but it’s always about WHAT YOU BRING to the table and that all encompasses e.g., how you grew up, laugh, cry, what makes you tick, etc. I am loving the diversity that is happening right now and I am so glad I get a chance to play too! Just recently, I got a Callback for a half Indian mix girl and I almost cried. That’s exactly me! You want someone like me? As a LEAD? WOW! I cannot wait for the future!

My last short film was on set of “SILICONE CAESAR” directed by D. Charles Griffith (NO WOMAN’S FACE REMEMBER, THANK YOU GOODNIGHT) and Produced by Robert Zimmer Jnr known for SUNSET BEACH, a hit 90’s TV show. SILICONE CAESAR has already won a few awards including LOS ANGELES FILM AWARD and INDIE SHORT FEST MAY 2019, both for BEST SCREENPLAY.

I have also taken it upon myself to write my own material. I am now in talks with a few people to produce my short film called “ESCAPE TO S.A.W”, based on a family in Burma who has to find refuge in S.A.W; which stands for Social Action of Woman and Children and is a real Camp on the Thai border run by one of my Mum’s friends. S.A.W helps over 1000’s of Burmese people who have fled due to military attacks. I decided to write a short film about this place to bring awareness to what we don’t realize is happening there and maybe down the line we can figure out how to help them.

How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
I see mixed actors getting a chance to play lead but also with their original accent! I cannot wait to not have to do an American accent all the time, an “Indian” accent, or an “Asian” accent just because of my background.

I hope being inclusive of everyone also allows me to truly be me and enter a casting office and say “Hi, this is me; a Polynesian/South East Asian mix with an Australian accent…but I am here to play Sarah from next door in your TV Series”. Everyone wants to be represented and it’s already starting, especially with movies like CRAZY RICH ASIANS, where they are Asians being able to be seen with their natural accents and it was the best Rom-Com of last year! Even I watched it 4x at the cinema. That’s the dream.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.stephaniekutty.com
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: Kidkuttyy
• Other: www.esprittalentagency.com

Image Credit:
Joanna DeGeneres (Pink Headshot only)

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