Check out our exclusive interview with star of KC Undercover Kamil McFadden!
What was your inspiration for acting?
Kamil: My inspiration for acting, I have two of them, was definitely Will Smith. He’s someone I strive to be like because he does comedy and drama as well. Then of course Denzel Washington for his dramatic capability. I think he’s an awesome actor and those are my two inspirations.
How do you relate to your character, Ernie, on KC Undercover? I understand he’s kind of a nerd and he’s the middle child. So do you relate to him at all?
Kamil: What I take from his situation is he is a bit of an underdog, and I view myself as an underdog sometimes. So we relate there because most people overlook us and that’s okay, but when we show our skill set and people are like ‘oh, this guy can actually do it’. They don’t believe until you actually do it and I feel we connect with. And also being smart. He is a little socially awkward and I am not. I think his character is showing people that it’s okay to be smart. And it’s okay to not be out-there and just keep trying.
He’s definitely very relatable. So, if you were not acting, what would you be doing instead?
Kamil: I think I would be playing basketball. I really like basketball and two favorite players of mine are Steph Curry and LeBron James. LeBron James is almost superhuman and Steph Curry, he is the size of your average man which I think is why everyone connects with him. People see some of themselves in him, but he’s giant. He’s becoming the face of the NBA and he’s a normal guy. His jump shot is amazing-it’s out of this world. I don’t think we’ll ever see someone who can shoot as well as Steph Curry.
Do you play a lot? Are you as good as them?
Kamil: Absolutely not! I am an actor first, okay, I play casually. Sometimes I have good days and other times I have bad days. You just never know what you’re going to get.
On set, who is most likely to break out of character? For example, who’s most likely to laugh in the middle of a line?
Kamil: Oh man, it depends honestly. Zendaya, she can’t go through a line if it’s said incorrectly. She’ll stop in the middle and laugh or have to do it again. Kadeem, when he says his lines in rehearsal, he mumbles, but has the inflection right. He’ll get a lot of it right but doesn’t say the words. I think between them two, Zendaya is most likely to break out. She’s funny-she’s hilarious!
I bet that creates fun times on set. I kind of have a possibly trick question. Well, not horribly tricky. If you could do a movie or TV show with any actor, deceased or alive, who would it be? And it cannot be your acting inspirations. No Will Smith or Denzel Washington.
Kamil: Okay, okay…a movie or TV show with anyone…I would love to do a movie with Sydney Poitier. I did a project on him when I was in elementary school, a Black History Day project, and I was just fascinated that he was the first black person ever to win an Oscar. He paves the way for a lot of us today, so I would definitely want to be in a movie with him. I would love to talk to him to get some perspective of what he went through to get to where he is and the path that he showed us.
Good answer, I agree. What advice, if Ernie was a real person, would you give to him if you could have a conversation with him? If he was standing in front of you right now, would you tell him maybe to be less awkward or something like that?
Kamil: I would tell him to continue to be himself and the right people will come to him. You shouldn’t change who you are or try to be anything different than what you are because then you’re just putting on a front. You’re not genuine or real and people will see that. Just continue to be who you are. If you are socially awkward, it’s okay-there is nothing wrong with that. Overall advice is to just be yourself.
He is pretty unique and we have that. Finally, one last question. What advice would you give to aspiring actors. Like someone who wanted to break out into the field, but didn’t exactly know how.
Kamil: I would say that you need a lot of dedication, a lot of hard work, a lot of sacrifice, if you really want to do this. One of my number one things, that I tell people who want to venture into this business is to make sure you love it. Having that passion for it sidetracks everything else because this business is very difficult to enter and navigate through. So if you don’t have that passion, you could easily give up on it. That passion is what drives you through all the unnecessary obstacles. Be ready for sacrifice because there’s going to be a lot of sacrifice. Especially starting young like middle school or high school, there are some instances where you’re going to have to give up those normal teenage days. Like where you could go play basketball with a friend or go to a skating party of a sleepover or Six Flags. You just have to be ready for sacrifices as well.
I can definitely tell that you’re passionate about what you do which I respect.
Make sure to watch Kamil in season 2 of KC Undercover when it returns March 3rd on the Disney Channel!