Pursuing acting dream, Kilcrease finds success in ‘Nashville’

Published 2:04 am Saturday, July 28, 2018

Four months ago, LBW Community College alumna Bronwyn Kilcrease started her professional acting career by booking a background extra role in the T.V. series “Love Is” on Oprah.com. Fast-forward four months, and now she was a featured extra in the finale of the TV series “Nashville.”

Kilcrease was picture picked by a director from the American drama series after sending an email to a casting call submission.

“This is the first featured extra role I have gotten,” Kilcrease said. “I had been a background extra for “Nashville” in two other episodes, but this is a much bigger role with more screen time.”

Kilcrease started acting when she was in fifth grade with the Missoula Children’s Theatre.

“I started with Missoula and it always seemed like as I got older I would keep on getting bigger parts,” Kilcrease said. “So then I started acting in high school, then in college and then in the community.”

Kilcrease said that once she graduated from LBW, she started thinking about what the next step should be.

“One day it hit me that I wanted to do this for the rest of my life,” Kilcrease said. “So I decided to take a leap of faith and move to Nashville. I kept on thinking that I would rather do this now and take a chance than always wonder what if.”

Kilcrease said that her parents, family and the community have supported her dream non-stop.

“I prepared myself for all the hate that was going to come my way,” Kilcrease said. “But to my surprise they have all been so supportive and I was honestly not expecting that.”

While in Nashville, Kilcrease was able to experience being on a television set, working, for the first time.

“It was so overwhelming, because everything is so fast-paced,” Kilcrease said. “But everybody on the set was absolutely amazing. The personal assistants handled everything and I just love the entire crew to death.”

Even with the overwhelming sensation of being on the screen next to the big stars, Kilcrease said that celebrities are normal people.

“I got to stand next to Kaitlin Doubleday, who was one of the bigger actresses on ‘Nashville’ and she was one of the nicest people I’ve met,” Kilcrease said. “They were all really sweet.”

Kilcrease said that if she had to choose someone that inspired her to act, it would be either Johnny Depp or Angelina Jolie.

“They were really big influences in the actress that I wanted to become,” Kilcrease said. “They are just amazing actors.”

While she is not trying to book a gig on a television show, Kilcrease can be found playing video games, or going on adventures with her husband, Dylan Kilcrease, who she married almost a year ago.

Despite all of the recent screen time, Kilcrease still has a backup in case something doesn’t work out.

“Right now I am pursuing acting full-time, but if anything ever happens, I want to go back to school,” Kilcrease said. “I would probably go back and get my bachelors so I could teach acting at a school.”

Kilcrease’s overall goal is to do what she loves for the rest of her life.

“It isn’t all about getting famous and having money,” Kilcrease said. “I want to be able to do what I love for the rest of my life, and I mean, if I end up getting paid for it, whether on the screen or teaching acting, then that makes it even better.”