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Walker: Kale Culley on Bringing Heart as the Texas Ranger's
Feb 1, 2021 6:50:28 GMT -5
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Post by Colton on Feb 1, 2021 6:50:28 GMT -5
www.cbr.com/walker-kale-culley-interview/amp/?__twitter_impression=true
Walker star Kale Culley talks about how the new CW series celebrates Texas, teases his character arc and having Jared Padalecki for an on-screen dad.
In an exclusive interview with CBR, Culley teased his character arc in the inaugural season, shared his experiences working with the rest of the cast and thanked the fans for their continued support of the show's successful premiere.
You get to be the son of Walker, Texas Ranger in this: August Walker. With the show having such a strong focus on family, how did you get this role?
Kale Culley: Just like any normal audition, my manager sent it and I was really interested in this character. They sent character breakdowns. I had never had a character like August, coming out of his shell and such an introverted character. I thought it was really fun to take and, for Walker, I remember going through every single audition process: audition, callbacks, producers, testing and network testing. I went through all five processes and that was pretty fun, and I really fell in love with this character from the start.
This show is a passion project for Jared Padalecki, who stars and executive produces this. How is working with him on set and behind-the-scenes?
Culley: He's such a fantastic dude; he's so fun to be around. Onset, he's such a nice and awesome dude; he's like a father figure to me and Violet [Brinson]. Violet is eighteen and I'm still fifteen, so I'm still a kid, but he's been a really great mentor; not only for acting but in general — in being the best person we can be. It's already so much fun going to set every day, but he makes it a thousand times better and with the whole cast, I'm so glad that we have the chemistry that we have. I think it's incredible working with him.
I was talking to Lindsey Morgan and she, you and Jared are all from Texas, went to L.A. and came back for this. How is it filming this on home turf and representing the Lone Star State?
Culley: It's awesome — these are my roots! For nine members of the cast, these are our roots. We get to show off the best state there is! We really get to dive deep into the roots and what it means to be a Texan. It's really great and the story really helps that out too.
You guys were one of the first productions to start filming during the pandemic and are still filming now. How has that been?
Culley: Honestly, it's not too big of a burden to handle. We're all being very safe — we're getting tested daily, we're all wearing our masks and face shields. We all stay six feet apart, unless we're filming, and take safety precautions. Everybody is handling it super well, especially as a teenager coming on to this environment. It's been really easy to handle and we're all just playing it safe, going day-by-day and making sure that everybody's in top shape.
Right at the start of the show, we catch your characters on the worst day of their lives. How is it finding that emotional depth and raw energy in your performance with your scene partners?
Culley: To just really dive deep into the mind of August, I just put my head down to think and imagine what it would be like to go through this traumatic experience. To get into that emotional state of mind, about five minutes on set before they say "action," I don't really talk to anybody, just to make sure I can get this raw emotion across and it's so great that all the actors on set are incredible, and we just feed off each others' performances. A good scene partner always helps with that kind of stuff, getting in that state of mind with the character.
Your character's approach to coping with grief is the exact opposite of his sister's. How is it playing off Violet and [on-screen grandfather] Mitch Pileggi for that?
Culley: It's really good fun to see all the different coping methods. People can relate to this stuff because we're not all on the same plane, we're all in our own lanes. August is trying to be the peacemaker for the family, doing as much as he can. Violet doesn't care about what anyone else thinks, like, "I hate you and I'm going to do what I want to do, and you can sit back and watch me," and Mitch is kind of both of them. He lashes out sometimes but he's also to himself. I really enjoy how we're all different but all dealing with the same thing.
Your character is the peacemaker but he also has a lot going on under the surface; he's burning the candle at both ends. What can you tease about your character arc?
Culley: Oh yeah! He's a ticking time bomb. Whatever moment it's going to take for him to explode, it's definitely going to show; he has all this stuff going on underneath him. He's just a ticking time bomb so we'll just have to wait.
The series premiere is one of the highest-rated for The CW in almost four years and it pushed The CW App up on the App Store. How has the response been from fans?
Culley: Man, it's so incredible! We've been working on this project for a long time, and it's really scary during pilot season because we don't know what people are going to think. I think we all knew that people were going to really enjoy this because it's family-catered, there's incredible action and the upcoming events are just going to blow people's socks off. The family is the square root of the show, so people can really connect to it and it's just so exciting. I was watching the premiere with a smile on my face the whole, entire time, and I think 80% [of the premiere audience] are going to come back for more episodes. Just really incredible numbers coming in for the show and it's cool to see this all come together and work out.
What are you most proud of with your performance and being able to share this show with the world?
Culley: I'm really proud of the progress we've all made and the progress I've made working up to this. When I was little, I started out doing commercials, guest star and co-star stuff, and now I'm a series regular. I'm proud to see all this build-up and I'm putting my heart and soul into this character, [and] with people relating to it, [it's] just the best thing. August is a part of me and I'm super grateful that people are able to connect to this character and I'm happy to see the feedback that he's getting. I'm excited I can push the boundaries with this character and see where the limits are.
Are we going to see some of August's past or is it just moving forward for him this season?
Culley: We're going to see a little bit more of August's past. We're going to see why exactly he is the way that he is because, in the pilot, he's having so much fun with his family. But as soon as that one thing happened, we all just kind of split apart and are trying to get back together. We're going to see how he copes with his internal struggles and the main reason behind it.
With that in mind, what was something you were really excited to show to the world about Texas?
Culley: Just showing how cool this state is, to be honest. [Laughs] There's a lot of western stuff out there but this is different from your typical spaghetti western type thing; it's a modern type western. They deal with western elements in the show, with the Texas Ranger aspect, but it's a great, modern version of what Walker would be like if he was set in this time.
This is one of your first gigs as part of the main cast. How is it to really stretch out and develop your character and suggest directions for August?
Culley: We have great directors and our cast is super open to new ideas. And Jared, every time he's on [set], he's like "Let's try this! Let's go with this and throw a little bit of that in there!" We all have a little bit of a say in this, which is fantastic. We get to really see the true character come out and what the character would do besides just seeing it on paper. We have the [script] view of the character but also the actor's point-of-view on the character. We really have a lot of freedom and I think it's fantastic that the directors let us come up with our own decisions and have fun with it.
In an exclusive interview with CBR, Culley teased his character arc in the inaugural season, shared his experiences working with the rest of the cast and thanked the fans for their continued support of the show's successful premiere.
You get to be the son of Walker, Texas Ranger in this: August Walker. With the show having such a strong focus on family, how did you get this role?
Kale Culley: Just like any normal audition, my manager sent it and I was really interested in this character. They sent character breakdowns. I had never had a character like August, coming out of his shell and such an introverted character. I thought it was really fun to take and, for Walker, I remember going through every single audition process: audition, callbacks, producers, testing and network testing. I went through all five processes and that was pretty fun, and I really fell in love with this character from the start.
This show is a passion project for Jared Padalecki, who stars and executive produces this. How is working with him on set and behind-the-scenes?
Culley: He's such a fantastic dude; he's so fun to be around. Onset, he's such a nice and awesome dude; he's like a father figure to me and Violet [Brinson]. Violet is eighteen and I'm still fifteen, so I'm still a kid, but he's been a really great mentor; not only for acting but in general — in being the best person we can be. It's already so much fun going to set every day, but he makes it a thousand times better and with the whole cast, I'm so glad that we have the chemistry that we have. I think it's incredible working with him.
I was talking to Lindsey Morgan and she, you and Jared are all from Texas, went to L.A. and came back for this. How is it filming this on home turf and representing the Lone Star State?
Culley: It's awesome — these are my roots! For nine members of the cast, these are our roots. We get to show off the best state there is! We really get to dive deep into the roots and what it means to be a Texan. It's really great and the story really helps that out too.
You guys were one of the first productions to start filming during the pandemic and are still filming now. How has that been?
Culley: Honestly, it's not too big of a burden to handle. We're all being very safe — we're getting tested daily, we're all wearing our masks and face shields. We all stay six feet apart, unless we're filming, and take safety precautions. Everybody is handling it super well, especially as a teenager coming on to this environment. It's been really easy to handle and we're all just playing it safe, going day-by-day and making sure that everybody's in top shape.
Right at the start of the show, we catch your characters on the worst day of their lives. How is it finding that emotional depth and raw energy in your performance with your scene partners?
Culley: To just really dive deep into the mind of August, I just put my head down to think and imagine what it would be like to go through this traumatic experience. To get into that emotional state of mind, about five minutes on set before they say "action," I don't really talk to anybody, just to make sure I can get this raw emotion across and it's so great that all the actors on set are incredible, and we just feed off each others' performances. A good scene partner always helps with that kind of stuff, getting in that state of mind with the character.
Your character's approach to coping with grief is the exact opposite of his sister's. How is it playing off Violet and [on-screen grandfather] Mitch Pileggi for that?
Culley: It's really good fun to see all the different coping methods. People can relate to this stuff because we're not all on the same plane, we're all in our own lanes. August is trying to be the peacemaker for the family, doing as much as he can. Violet doesn't care about what anyone else thinks, like, "I hate you and I'm going to do what I want to do, and you can sit back and watch me," and Mitch is kind of both of them. He lashes out sometimes but he's also to himself. I really enjoy how we're all different but all dealing with the same thing.
Your character is the peacemaker but he also has a lot going on under the surface; he's burning the candle at both ends. What can you tease about your character arc?
Culley: Oh yeah! He's a ticking time bomb. Whatever moment it's going to take for him to explode, it's definitely going to show; he has all this stuff going on underneath him. He's just a ticking time bomb so we'll just have to wait.
The series premiere is one of the highest-rated for The CW in almost four years and it pushed The CW App up on the App Store. How has the response been from fans?
Culley: Man, it's so incredible! We've been working on this project for a long time, and it's really scary during pilot season because we don't know what people are going to think. I think we all knew that people were going to really enjoy this because it's family-catered, there's incredible action and the upcoming events are just going to blow people's socks off. The family is the square root of the show, so people can really connect to it and it's just so exciting. I was watching the premiere with a smile on my face the whole, entire time, and I think 80% [of the premiere audience] are going to come back for more episodes. Just really incredible numbers coming in for the show and it's cool to see this all come together and work out.
What are you most proud of with your performance and being able to share this show with the world?
Culley: I'm really proud of the progress we've all made and the progress I've made working up to this. When I was little, I started out doing commercials, guest star and co-star stuff, and now I'm a series regular. I'm proud to see all this build-up and I'm putting my heart and soul into this character, [and] with people relating to it, [it's] just the best thing. August is a part of me and I'm super grateful that people are able to connect to this character and I'm happy to see the feedback that he's getting. I'm excited I can push the boundaries with this character and see where the limits are.
Are we going to see some of August's past or is it just moving forward for him this season?
Culley: We're going to see a little bit more of August's past. We're going to see why exactly he is the way that he is because, in the pilot, he's having so much fun with his family. But as soon as that one thing happened, we all just kind of split apart and are trying to get back together. We're going to see how he copes with his internal struggles and the main reason behind it.
With that in mind, what was something you were really excited to show to the world about Texas?
Culley: Just showing how cool this state is, to be honest. [Laughs] There's a lot of western stuff out there but this is different from your typical spaghetti western type thing; it's a modern type western. They deal with western elements in the show, with the Texas Ranger aspect, but it's a great, modern version of what Walker would be like if he was set in this time.
This is one of your first gigs as part of the main cast. How is it to really stretch out and develop your character and suggest directions for August?
Culley: We have great directors and our cast is super open to new ideas. And Jared, every time he's on [set], he's like "Let's try this! Let's go with this and throw a little bit of that in there!" We all have a little bit of a say in this, which is fantastic. We get to really see the true character come out and what the character would do besides just seeing it on paper. We have the [script] view of the character but also the actor's point-of-view on the character. We really have a lot of freedom and I think it's fantastic that the directors let us come up with our own decisions and have fun with it.
