One actress keeps popping up in local TV commercials.
Kera O’Bryon first caught BizSense’s eye when she appeared in an ad for the Greater Richmond Chamber of Commerce. Since then, she’s been spotted shilling for Union First Market Bank and PestMasters.
In a March story, we dubbed her the hardest-working woman in Richmond show biz. Then she appeared in an ad for Eagle Construction.
We had to meet her.
O’Bryon lives in Newport News but has lived and worked in different parts of Virginia, including Lynchburg, Roanoke, Virginia Beach and Richmond, since 1993.
Last week BizSense chatted with O’Bryon about how she got her big break, what she’s doing in so many local ads and whether she’s looking for more than just her 15 minutes of fame.
Richmond BizSense: You’ve appeared in a couple of ads for Richmond companies. What’s that like?
Kyra O’Bryon: I’ve been really lucky to work for production companies in Richmond. I’ve been working with the owner of Studio 108 as long as they’ve been in business, which has been since 2002.
The First Union commercial I did was with MKB Films, and I actually got it through a casting company in Baltimore. When the agency was looking for talent, they didn’t want someone local. I read the script and it seemed like a good fit. It was fun.
In mid-April I got a call from Studio 108 about a spot for PestMasters. It was a quick cameo. I did the Eagle Construction commercial in early May; my approach to that was comedic.
[youtube width=”300″ height=”250″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1slKnTzYmc[/youtube]RBS: What other work have you done in Richmond?
KO: I’ve worked on several spots in Richmond. I did a car commercial for Universal Ford through BES Television. I was in a Wal-Mart commercial that plays inside the stores through the Martin Agency.
RBS: How do you land jobs? Do you have to audition for each one, or now that you’ve been in the business for a while, can you just show up?
KO: You really have to work hard. I have to audition a great deal just like everyone else. It’s not a cakewalk. You really have to prove yourself.
RBS: What are some of the more interesting jobs you’ve worked on?
KO: One of most interesting projects I’ve ever done was “Minority Report” with Steven Spielberg. I was a stand-in for Tom Cruise’s wife. Tom Cruise had his own barista. He had this coffee cart and the guy was going around asking everyone what they wanted. In the movie, [Cruise] wore tinted contacts, and there was a guy whose whole purpose was to stand there with tissues and eye drops.
I also played the piano for Spielberg. When we weren’t shooting, I had a chance to talk to him, and we were just hanging out and had a nice little conversation for 45 minutes. He’s very personable.
RBS: I’m sure you’ve heard about Spielberg’s Abraham Lincoln film that’s going to be shot in Richmond. Any plans to audition for that?
KO: I hope so. They haven’t started casting for female roles to my knowledge, but I’m hoping to have the opportunity.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cky2wXaYCy8[/youtube]RBS: What other films have you worked on?
KO: My first movie was called “The Gathering” in 1997. I was originally supposed to have the lead female role, but I couldn’t afford the commute because it was being filmed in Lynchburg and I was in Roanoke at the time, so I just took a smaller part.
I’ve also done “Atlantis Down,” a sci-fi film that came out in February. In March I had the lead female role in “The Potential Inside,” a sports tragedy.
RBS: What’s the industry like? Is it competitive?
KO: It is very competitive. You might be the best person for the job, but if the person that’s making the decisions has a different look in mind, there’s nothing you can do. It can be stressful if you let it, but if you just have to be you.
RBS: Have you been able to make a decent living with acting?
KO: I’ve done pretty well. There’s definitely better money with acting and voiceovers than with singing. I think the toughest thing is you never know where your next job is coming from. I’ve been doing this for over a decade, so a lot of it has paid off.
RBS: Do you ever get recognized when you go out in public?
KO: I was on a cruise a couple of years ago. This man walked up to me and said, “Aren’t you that girl that’s on television?” At the time, I was working on a show called “The Haunting,” and he said he’d seen me in a couple of episodes.
That was my first celebrity experience.
RBS: How did you get your start?
KO: I didn’t want to be an actor. I wanted to be a singer. My family used to travel up and down the East Coast doing concerts. My dad sang and my brothers played instruments and I sang. I started singing on stage at 3 years old.
For the past year and a half, I’ve been singing with a band called Skylark that’s based in Virginia Beach. We play mainly jazz and Sinatra, Stevie Wonder, a lot of the standards.
RBS: What was your first television gig?
KO: When I was 19, a friend of mine was doing this commercial and asked if I wanted to be in it. The commercial was for an assisted living place, and I played the daughter putting my parent into a home. Looking back on it, I was too young, but I really liked it.
I started auditioning for anything that I could find and started building relationships with agencies and production companies.
One actress keeps popping up in local TV commercials.
Kera O’Bryon first caught BizSense’s eye when she appeared in an ad for the Greater Richmond Chamber of Commerce. Since then, she’s been spotted shilling for Union First Market Bank and PestMasters.
In a March story, we dubbed her the hardest-working woman in Richmond show biz. Then she appeared in an ad for Eagle Construction.
We had to meet her.
O’Bryon lives in Newport News but has lived and worked in different parts of Virginia, including Lynchburg, Roanoke, Virginia Beach and Richmond, since 1993.
Last week BizSense chatted with O’Bryon about how she got her big break, what she’s doing in so many local ads and whether she’s looking for more than just her 15 minutes of fame.
Richmond BizSense: You’ve appeared in a couple of ads for Richmond companies. What’s that like?
Kyra O’Bryon: I’ve been really lucky to work for production companies in Richmond. I’ve been working with the owner of Studio 108 as long as they’ve been in business, which has been since 2002.
The First Union commercial I did was with MKB Films, and I actually got it through a casting company in Baltimore. When the agency was looking for talent, they didn’t want someone local. I read the script and it seemed like a good fit. It was fun.
In mid-April I got a call from Studio 108 about a spot for PestMasters. It was a quick cameo. I did the Eagle Construction commercial in early May; my approach to that was comedic.
[youtube width=”300″ height=”250″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1slKnTzYmc[/youtube]RBS: What other work have you done in Richmond?
KO: I’ve worked on several spots in Richmond. I did a car commercial for Universal Ford through BES Television. I was in a Wal-Mart commercial that plays inside the stores through the Martin Agency.
RBS: How do you land jobs? Do you have to audition for each one, or now that you’ve been in the business for a while, can you just show up?
KO: You really have to work hard. I have to audition a great deal just like everyone else. It’s not a cakewalk. You really have to prove yourself.
RBS: What are some of the more interesting jobs you’ve worked on?
KO: One of most interesting projects I’ve ever done was “Minority Report” with Steven Spielberg. I was a stand-in for Tom Cruise’s wife. Tom Cruise had his own barista. He had this coffee cart and the guy was going around asking everyone what they wanted. In the movie, [Cruise] wore tinted contacts, and there was a guy whose whole purpose was to stand there with tissues and eye drops.
I also played the piano for Spielberg. When we weren’t shooting, I had a chance to talk to him, and we were just hanging out and had a nice little conversation for 45 minutes. He’s very personable.
RBS: I’m sure you’ve heard about Spielberg’s Abraham Lincoln film that’s going to be shot in Richmond. Any plans to audition for that?
KO: I hope so. They haven’t started casting for female roles to my knowledge, but I’m hoping to have the opportunity.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cky2wXaYCy8[/youtube]RBS: What other films have you worked on?
KO: My first movie was called “The Gathering” in 1997. I was originally supposed to have the lead female role, but I couldn’t afford the commute because it was being filmed in Lynchburg and I was in Roanoke at the time, so I just took a smaller part.
I’ve also done “Atlantis Down,” a sci-fi film that came out in February. In March I had the lead female role in “The Potential Inside,” a sports tragedy.
RBS: What’s the industry like? Is it competitive?
KO: It is very competitive. You might be the best person for the job, but if the person that’s making the decisions has a different look in mind, there’s nothing you can do. It can be stressful if you let it, but if you just have to be you.
RBS: Have you been able to make a decent living with acting?
KO: I’ve done pretty well. There’s definitely better money with acting and voiceovers than with singing. I think the toughest thing is you never know where your next job is coming from. I’ve been doing this for over a decade, so a lot of it has paid off.
RBS: Do you ever get recognized when you go out in public?
KO: I was on a cruise a couple of years ago. This man walked up to me and said, “Aren’t you that girl that’s on television?” At the time, I was working on a show called “The Haunting,” and he said he’d seen me in a couple of episodes.
That was my first celebrity experience.
RBS: How did you get your start?
KO: I didn’t want to be an actor. I wanted to be a singer. My family used to travel up and down the East Coast doing concerts. My dad sang and my brothers played instruments and I sang. I started singing on stage at 3 years old.
For the past year and a half, I’ve been singing with a band called Skylark that’s based in Virginia Beach. We play mainly jazz and Sinatra, Stevie Wonder, a lot of the standards.
RBS: What was your first television gig?
KO: When I was 19, a friend of mine was doing this commercial and asked if I wanted to be in it. The commercial was for an assisted living place, and I played the daughter putting my parent into a home. Looking back on it, I was too young, but I really liked it.
I started auditioning for anything that I could find and started building relationships with agencies and production companies.