Rising Stars: Meet Nathan Kendall

Today we’d like to introduce you to Nathan Kendall.

Hi Nathan, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I started acting at four years old when my mom thought it might be fun to get me an agent. I went on a ton of auditions, didn’t book much, but I was really little. I took a break when I was around six years old because my dad was deployed a lot and it was harder to go to auditions after my little brother was born. Then a few years ago I really wanted an Apple Watch! And basically, money to spend on stuff I wanted.

My Mom signed me up to work background on a few shows, and I found that I really loved being on set. I loved getting to see behind the scenes how TV and movies were made, and I was fascinated by the main actors and watching them in character. One day, I got an audition for a YouTube video; I had no clue what it was for, but I did know it was for a featured role. I got the part, and that was my first Dhar Mann video as a bully. It wasn’t long after that Dhar Mann Studios called me back for another role, and this time it was the lead! My character Lewis Howes was a lot like me, and it felt very natural to play that character. It was on that video I thought that I really love this, and maybe I’m good at it too!

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I wouldn’t say it’s been smooth but it hasn’t been rough either; more of a roller coaster. Some ups and downs mostly because this business is so unpredictable. There are times I have multiple auditions in a day and then will go weeks without an audition. Or I have a bunch of auditions but don’t book anything and I have to try to stay positive because if it was meant to be it will happen.

In school, I was bullied a lot for my learning disabilities and for doing things other kids weren’t doing. When kids want to be mean, they will just find something different about you and make fun of it, even if it’s a great thing! I was in competitive martial arts and working on my acting career but kids wanted to be mean and call me names because of it. Or they would tell me I’m dumb and can’t read because of my dyslexia. It can be hard to close out that negativity and stay focused and positive on your goals and what you want for your life. So I just kept going with the support of my family.

Being more confident in myself has kept me going in my career but that also brought on other struggles. The biggest struggle for me now usually is managing school and my career. When I have a lot going on that takes me away from school work I have to work harder to catch up and make sure that I’m not falling behind in my classes.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’m most known for being an actor or an athlete, but I also create content on social media and support charity events. I’m most proud of my role as Lewis Howes on Dhar Mann studios short film. I won an award for Best Actor in a short film from that role! I think what sets me apart from others is that I have to work really hard sometimes at my auditions and scripts. I know everyone works hard, but I have dyslexia and other learning disabilities that affect my short-term memory. Sometimes it’s really hard to remember lines and I’ll forget something I just read. But when I really connect with a character, like I did with Lewis Howes, it feels so natural to deliver the lines. It’s not always that easy though, and I have to work really hard to get the words right with the right tone of the character. That’s not always a bad thing though because it does give me the extra opportunity to explore the character and work through the dialogue if it’s a scene with another person.

The crisis has affected us all in different ways. How has it affected you and any important lessons or epiphanies you can share with us?
In a general sense, I have learned that not being able to socialize sucks! It’s great to have friends, but not being able to see them can be really hard. There was a lot of learning how to cope with just talking to friends on Facetime or social media and not really being able to go places since everything was closed. But I also think it changed the way we communicate with each other since we had to do so much hanging out over electronics. I’m also super grateful for my family because we got to still hang out with my cousins and aunts, and we still traveled and worked after the industry reopened. So I learned that I was super lucky to have a family to lean on.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/nathan.kendall05
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/Nathan.Kendall05
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCF3X3TEVrh5tM42hOZ8MNfQ?sub_confirmation=1
• Other: https://tiktok.com/@nateninja05

Image Credits
Rachelle Shank (first photo)