What's next for N.L. actor Willow Kean
Smash hit Netflix series has kept Kean on the move this fall
It’s a high-energy season for Willow Kean, who plays Ruth Penney, the harbourmaster with the heart of gold in Below.
The Netflix series, which premiered in October to top-ranking viewership in 70 countries, has been keeping her on the move this fall.
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which → keep → move
In September, she walked the red carpet and appeared on a panel at the Toronto International Film Festival alongside her co-stars Josh Hartnett, McKenzie Davis and Charlie Heaton.
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she → walk → stars
Newfoundland thriller 'Below' reels in record audience for a Canadian Netflix title
This N.L. community transformed into the setting for Netflix’s Below
October sees her attending post-release receptions in Washington, D.C., and Ottawa.
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her → reel → Washington
From the hired car services and first-class air travel to the stylist budget, she feels this role has shown her a new echelon of the acting work she loves.
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she → hire → work
"I’m glad this is happening now that I’m in my 50s and not when I was 20," Kean said.
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Kean → ’m → 50s
Willow Kean, who plays harbourmaster Ruth Penney in Below, tries to manage her expectations after her big break on the Netflix series.
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who → play → series
"It’s kind of like, put your head down, get your work done, and hope for the best."
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work → ’ → best
Just before she was hired for the Netflix project, Kean had decided to make a serious push in her acting career.
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Kean → hire → career
"I was like, look, you’re almost 50, get it together.
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you → look → it
Spruce up your resume, get some new headshots, get your reel together," she recalled.
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she → spruce → reel
"I was ready when the work happened.
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work → happen → ?
They need your reel, here it is.
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it → need → reel
They need a nice headshot, here it is."
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it → need → headshot
Kean says she approaches the unpredictability of her career with tempered expectations.
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she → say → expectations
"Because I’ve worked in casting, I know how it works," she said.
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she → work → casting
"Just because you’ve had a hit TV show or movie, or you’ve done a scene with so-and-so, sometimes it means stuff, but other times it doesn’t."
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it → have → stuff
She says she wants to be open to opportunities when they come and to try not to be too disappointed when things don’t go her way.
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things → say → opportunities
"I guess my plan is to just be ready if the work happens," she said.
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she → guess → ?
What’s next?
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What → ’ → ?
A seasoned actor with decades of experience in local stage and screen, Kean says she has no high expectations that this role will propel her into a fully fledged Hollywood career.
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role → say → career
I’ve heard a lot of people say things like ‘this is your big break, you’re going to be working all the time,’ and I feel like that is not the right attitude to have in this business.
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that → hear → business
One small-but-significant shift Kean has made in her career since landing the role on Below is that she now has an agent.
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she → make → agent
A Newfoundlander got a random call from a bunch of Hollywood stars — and just went with it
- Commotion
How well does Netflix’s Below capture Newfoundland and Labrador?
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Below → get → Newfoundland
In the year since the series shoot wrapped, she has played a small role in Oddly Flowers, a forthcoming film directed by Jordan Canning and based on Jessica Grant’s novel, Come Thou Tortoise.
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she → wrap → Tortoise
Kean has also done some work on upcoming episodes of Canadian TV series.
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Kean → do → series
The Netflix machine is a great machine," she said, "But at the end of the day, I’d just like to do some cool indie stuff.
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I → say → stuff
I don’t want to move to Toronto, but I’d love to do some stuff off island."
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I → want → island
A family of creatives
She says her current pace suits her.
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pace → say → her
Her recent success has led to interesting work opportunities, and she has also been able to spend time at home.
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she → lead → home
Her husband, Justin Simms, also works in the film industry, so the process of co-ordinating their work schedules with their child’s school and extracurricular schedule can be its own creative production.
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process → work → school
"We’re lucky in that we do a lot of work from home," she said.
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she → ’re → home
"We lucked out last summer because I was on set a lot while he [Justin] was editing, so he was home and was able to do pick-ups and drop-offs.
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he → lucke → ups
And then when fall kicked in, he had just had a documentary come out, so he was shooting more and I was home.
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I → kick → more
Alongside the premiere of Below, the couple saw the release of Smash & Grab: The Rebel Lens of Mike Jones, a film Simms directed.
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Simms → see → Jones
Kean points out that their child is also getting a taste of show biz glamour.
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child → point → glamour
"Our kid got to go to two film premieres in one week," she says.
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she → get → week
"He went to the Below screening here [in St. John’s], and then he went to Justin’s screening in Halifax.
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he → go → Halifax
A shift in rhythm
Moving into the cooler season, Kean looks forward to a return to the quieter aspects of her creative life.
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Kean → move → life
She’ll shift into editing mode as she prepares the script of her play, Supper Club, for publication in 2027 by Breakwater Books.
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she → shift → Books
She also plans to get back to work on her second novel.
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She → plan → novel
…and 5 more, not listed.
The Aporia
