Keeya King gets physical on the Van Helsing set
Keeya King-photographed by Ralph Palumbo-Los Angeles, CA
Let’s Start from the beginning, when did you start acting?
I started acting in High School, I was new a new student, and spent a lot of time having lunch in the library. I wanted to get out and meet people and acting was the way to do that. I wanted to build community and experiment with creativity. So, I started taking drama classes. I started with little plays, and theater shows. From there I knew I wanted to do this professionally. I remember being 16, and looking up online, how to act in Toronto, I found a lot of acting pages, and ended up going to acting school.
Tell us about your role on Madam CJ Walker.
The show is about the American billionaire in the 1920’s, and Octavia Spencer plays the lead character, Madam CJ Walker. She plays it so fiercely, and so beautifully, and Im excited for everyone to see her performance. I play a character named Peaches, who is a singer, and comes across Octavia’s character, Madam CJ Walker, and Tiffany Haddish’s character, Lelia Walker, they cross paths and you see that unfold throughout the show.
The popular, Netflix show, Van Helsing, is going into season 4. Tell us about your experience with the show.
It’s about a character named Vanessa, who is this amazing killing machine, who is trying to save the world from vampires. Along the way you meet my character, named Violet, she is extremely badass, she’s a fighter, she’s dangerous. But, the thing about her is that everyone else in the world knows about the vampire apocalypse, Violet has not experienced it yet, she lived a very sheltered life in this apocalypse. Violet’s father, Hansen, played by the amazing Neal McDonough, keeps her safe in a military compound. There, she learns fighting skills for protecting herself, but she hasn’t used them yet. In season 4, you see Violet trying to venture out into this vampire driven world. I feel like viewers are going to be for a real treat this season, the new show runner, Johnathan Walker, is absolutely amazing, and he’s taking a lot of risk’s this time around.
What was your most challenging role or scene?
One of my hardest scenes, without giving too much away, was between Neal McDonough and I later on in the season, I don’t want to give it away, but the emotional depth that we both had to go through, over and over was challenging.
Fighting is hard as well, remembering all of those beats, because I never fought before, laughs. Maybe, I’ve taken a kickboxing class before, but never had to bring down a 7 foot man, which is what Violet does. Remembering the different moves, jab, punch, hook - that whole dynamic is very intense. My first day of shooting on Van Helsing, was a fight day, from 10:00 am to 10:00 pm. I think that was my hardest scene.
What is it like working with Octavia Spencer?
Octavia is an amazing human being! One day on set, she got everyone to sing me happy birthday. She is so sweet and insanely talented. I feel that when she looks at you, she is literally looking right at you. I would love to work with her again, that’s for sure.
What’s next for Keeya King?
Training, a lot of training. The next project I’m working on is going to have a lot of bow staffing, so I’ll be learning that, and also gymnastic training. I have to be in top shape to keep up with these fighter, characters.
Keeya King-Los Angeles,CA