Meet Kyle Maddox | Actor & Writer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kyle Maddox and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kyle, is there a quote or affirmation that’s meaningful to you?
I listen to a lot of podcasts, most having to do with the art of acting, and I loved a quote I heard from the actor Michael Shannon. The quote was “It’s going to be interesting to somebody, and it’s going to be uninteresting to somebody else. You can’t win and you can’t lose.” He is talking about acting in this quote, and I think what he is communicating is that your performance will be graded one way or another, so don’t worry about it. It will affect some people one way, and others another way.

I love this quote because since I started acting, I have always set out with one goal: To make you feel something. That thing may be love, it may be hate, sadness, grief, laughter or any number of things. But at the end of the day, if my performance in a given role made you, as the audience member, feel something, to me, that is the highest compliment as an actor.

Acting is a tough job, and it’s hard enough before you even step on set and book a job. You’re constantly being told no, so once you’re in a role I feel like there is a lot of pressure to “be good.” This quote is a great reminder to me to just be honest with the performance without caring or thinking about the end result. Through that truth you can most effectively reach people and make them feel something.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I wouldn’t say this sets me apart, because I know several hardworking actors, but I know that my work ethic will ultimately lead me where I want to be in this career. I was fortunate to have gone through things like police academy, and intense and rigorous testing processes during my law enforcement career, and that discipline has carried over to my entertainment career. Whether it’s prepping for a role, writing a script, or just staying motivated each day, entertainment is a long journey and requires that focus and discipline to keep on the path. I’ve had that help me so much in the last five years, and I look forward to seeing where that takes me moving forward.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I’m a big history fan, and I love entertainment history. That’s my favorite part of LA, is the rich history behind some of the places. I’d take them to the Chateau Marmont for brunch, maybe we would go hit a hike in Runyon or Griffith Park, then spend the rest of the day cruising through old Hollywood seeing sights like the Hollywood Roosevelt where Clark Gable and Marilyn Monroe lived, some of the old studio lots at Paramount and other filming locations of iconic films in the area. To cap off the evening I’d take them to the Italian restaurant at the base of Laurel Canyon, which also sits across the street from Jim Morrison’s first LA apartment.

Some other great places or things to check out would be a show at the Hollywood Bowl, the Academy Museum on Wilshire, and Frankie’s, a great little restaurant on Melrose. Any time left over would be well spent on any corner of downtown or Santa Monica people watching!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
There are so many people who have helped me get to where I am now, and I’m thankful to still have relationships with most of them to this day. Obviously, I’m grateful for my parents who have supported me through multiple dreams of mine. They supported me when I wanted to become a police officer even though it terrified them, and then when I decided to completely overhaul my life and move to Los Angeles to pursue acting they were the first ones to believe in me.

A couple of others who stand out in my mind are a professor I had in a college film class and one of my police sergeants. The professor, who always encouraged me to be creative, invited me to a play at the campus one evening. I went with a few friends and met up with him and his girlfriend, and it was a great viewpoint into acting for me. I had always been interested in acting but never seen it up close like that before. The play was great, and even though it would take years for me to circle back to an entertainment career, it definitely got some gears turning.

The police sergeant has been another mentor and support figure in my life. We still get on regular phone calls even though I haven’t worked for him in almost six years, but we just check in with each other. It’s a hard job to be a cop, and it’s hard in very different ways to be an actor. I value our calls because we can catch each other up on our lives while getting to talk about something totally separate from our own day to day grind, whether it be police or entertainment.

Website: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm10276270/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk

Instagram: kyle_robert_maddox

Image Credits
James Lamar, Al Burke.