Writer's Avenue

Kyla is an award-winning actress and model hailing from the East end of London and has appeared in television programmes and film alongside Ashley Walters, Noel Clarke, and Aml Ameen. Kyla has just finished playing the lead, Yemani, in the gritty urban short film, 'Zion', due to hit film festivals later this year.

I first saw Kyla perform in a rehearsed reading The Play by Noel Clarke at Soho Theatre and she did a fantastic job. When I met Kyla a couple of months later for the interview she was full of energy, positivity and smiles. Kyla is a passionate and talented actress who is going places.

I’m a born performer so it was a case of finding out where my strengths lie, whether it was dancing, singing or acting. I think it was when I joined the youth theatre at Theatre Royal Stratford East that the acting really started to come out for me and even more so when I joined Identity Drama School when I was seventeen, that sealed the deal for me.

It was great; it’s a part time drama school. In conventional drama schools you don’t get many people that look like you and me so it was nice to be in a drama school where everybody looked like me. I love to learn and it was nice to learn about something I was passionate about and put that in to practice. We had a showcase and we got to perform in front of industry professionals. It was a family environment; everyone was supportive of each other.

I’ve never gone down a traditional route to be honest with you just because of finances. My sister and I do everything together really and it was my mum taking care of it all, so financially she wasn’t able to spend however much twice over. We had to make the most of the opportunities that were around us. I simply came across a flyer, Identity the UK’s first black drama school and I saw it was based in Hackney and I could walk there if I needed to, so I thought I had to at least try.

No I stopped when I was in my second year of university because it was just too much to do both.

That it’s not me. I love to be someone else and tell someone else’s story. I draw on my own experiences but I twist them and flip them and find a way to relate them to the character I’m playing. I find it challenging and exciting. I love being able to get lost deep within the character and then the surreal experience of coming back out of it and returning to my regular self.

If I look back it’s that kind of feisty, strong black, kind of whip my neck back and forth type roles. That kind of fiery strong black woman stereotype unfortunately. I get them more often than I get anything else. For example, Felicity in Bag Ladies; she’s very fiery but there are so many layers to her which makes her a very interesting character to play and watch. Then Emma in The Play (Noel Clarke) and she’s all about being a strong black woman. So it’s kind of like, where’s my story or my friend’s story, because we’re not all like that. Yemani, the role I played in Zion, she was more broken and true. I think there are more stories to be explored than “I’m strong, I’m not having it” black woman or the “I’ll have you up bruv” thug.

There is a danger of black stereotypes and if people are not used to mixing with all types of people and that’s all people see they may think that’s all there is.

Exactly, especially if it’s written by ourselves. It’s also about what the “gatekeepers” are willing to put on. It’s a catch 22.

We must become the “gatekeepers”, we need to do it ourselves. It’s about us writing together, working together, and supporting each other.

Yeah. Sophie Okonedo, Naomie Harris, Thandie Newton, Marianne Jean-Baptiste and Cathy Tyson, these are black British females who have knocked down the walls, cracked the States and said “we can do this”. I love Taraji P Henson I think she is just... I love this woman as an actor her versatility is far and wide. She just has this spark, whether it be in Baby Boy, whether it be in The Curious Case of Benjamin or Smokin’ Aces... I love her character in Talk to Me she’s just got this fire. I love that charisma, but also when she is playing sensitive or broken it’s just as real. Kerry Washington is just the same. Angela Bassett, Angelina Jolie. Sandra Bullock is a great comic actress. There’re so many.

For those who don’t know, how difficult is it to break in to the acting industry?

I’m still trying to break. That is no lie. I feel like I’ve hit a glass ceiling and obviously that comes from having the right agent and having the right connections. You haven’t seen me in Eastenders... Yet I’ve still done a fair amount but that’s all be in the “urban” circuit and as much as I’m thankful for the blessings I have had, that’s only going to take me so far. Personally I feel it’s take me as far as I can go. I’m waiting for my big break, it’s very difficult.

A lot of black actors are moving to the US is that something you would consider doing?

Yes. There is no shadow of a doubt that I need to move. I went to a talk at BFI with Ellen Thomas, Nikki Amuka and Bird Cathy Tyson and that was very insightful it happened to change my mind set. They highlighted that the UK industry is one where black actors aren’t really taken as seriously as their white counterparts, we’re either the best friend of the lead or the stereotype... we’re not taken seriously to hold down a lead role by ourselves. That was until Luther with Idris Elba and Shadow Line with Chiwetel Ijiofor, we’re seeing some changes which is fantastic but they weren’t being offered that before they had already gone to the States and done big Hollywood films and then came back. Aml Ameen did exactly the same thing, he is a fantastic actor, I’ve worked with him before but obviously doing Kidulthood he was playing those kinds of roles. He’s now been able to go to the States and he’s doing Harry’s Law but the disappointing thing for me is that he wasn’t able to do that here.

It’s important for us to be able to establish ourselves as actors here in the UK because fundamentally we are British- We are Black British. It’s a shame we have to move to the States but I’m excited that we won’t have to do that much longer because times are changing. We are making the changes now. The people I have worked with they shared the vision of being the best writer they can be, the best director they can be, the best producer they can be and I’m trying to be the best actor I can be. We can all be the best and have our own industry here in the UK so we won’t have to go to the States. It’s inevitable that I will eventually go to the US because that’s where Hollywood is, however I still want to be at the top of my game and for there to be a booming industry here in Britain inclusive of all races.

You mentioned Aml Ameen who you have worked with on The Naked Poet a feature film and he also featured in Zion, a short film. Can you tell me about that project?

It’s a look at two individuals and how their lives cross over. It looks at the significance of life and how their presence in the world has affected it. So it focuses on a young boy, sixteen years old, Zion and his relationship with Yemani who is twenty six. They randomly meet in the park. They have a connection. Yemani’s maternal instincts kick in and Zion needed someone to look after him, someone to care for him and give him love and he gets that from her. It’s also about the cycle of life and the ‘council estate of minds’. It’s very raw and gritty. It’s set in South London. Ashley Waters makes an appearance too. His character is basically saying “look I’ve been there, I’ve done it, we don’t need to do it anymore and if we continue there will be nothing left” he brings a more positive message to the film.

Great we all loved the script. Sheila Nortley wrote and produced it and she is one of the most beautiful people you will ever meet. When you have so many great people that you are working together it’s a wonderful experience.

Do you have any other ambitions in the entertainment business?

I’ve always wanted to try my hand at directing. It’s something I want to get in to down the line but for now I want to solely concentrate on acting. I want to get it down to a tee. Denzel Washington still takes classes, he still has an acting coach for every film he does. I want to stretch myself.

I want to do a Steven Spielberg film. That man has mad visions. He does out of this world stuff. Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino also.

All the time. Dreamgirls, all the costume changes. I’d love to do that. I’d love to do animations. I grew up with Disney. I’d love to play a twisted character like Monique played in Precious. I’d also like to do some action one day, be a Bond Girl or like Angelina Jolie in Salt.STARmeter

What kind of qualities does someone need to have to be an actress in this industry?

You need to be a really hard worker as no one is guaranteed anything in this world. Passion and belief too. You’ve got believe! If you don’t believe that this is what you are supposed to be doing, no one else will either. You have to be very resilient. You have to be strong. Believe me I’ve cried when I haven’t got roles before. For example when I auditioned for the role of Alisha for Misfits it was between me and Antonia Thomas. I saw it on TV and I saw how gritty it was and I saw how everyone was raving about it and how it was going to the States and I thought “I can’t take this”. Things like that grate on you and upset you but you have to remember that this is a career and I intend to be here for the next twenty, thirty forty years. So if I don’t get one role I know one hundred percent I will definitely get one that will knock down the walls. It’s about being strong enough to keep going, being strong enough to keep taking rejection, being strong enough not to doubt yourself, to have faith in God and believe in your talents and know that one day it will happen.

Yeah. I remember when I did West 10 LDN, my first proper job and we were doing a rave scene and Noel Clarke was there, Ashley Walters was there, Adam Deacon was there, all these actors whom I’d watched in Kidulthood when I was still in school. I thought “this is so cool”.

Have you ever had an embarrassing moment on stage or on set that you can chuckle at now?

Oh gosh yes. In West 10 LDN there’s a scene where I’m dancing in these hot pants, a little vest top and a big red afro. I was twenty years old at the time and the extras that they got were between fourteen and sixteen. The director wanted me to really go for it but the guy they got me to dance with was about fourteen years old and my butt was hanging out of these shorts. There was Ashley and Noel making jokes about my tiny hot pants, doing what guys do and I remember cocking up my leg and proper doing some next carnival move. I remember thinking “I hate this”. I gave it everything I could but I hated it. It looks good on screen for who the character is, it worked but I was surrounded by mainly men, some women and I was the only one half dressed! It still makes me cringe when I watch it.

Kyla has won the following awards:

Black Youth Achievement in The Arts Award 2011
BEFFTA Best Actress in Film Award (Nomination)
Future Leader ~ Top 100 Black Graduates 2010/11
BEFFTA Best Female Model Award 2010
BFM Best Actress Award 2008 (Nomination)
Miss Black Britain Best Personality Award 2007
Miss Black Britian Most Likely To Be On TV Award 2007