Of Minor Prophets – Behind the Scenes with Actor Kris Kling

Kris Kling brings an interesting perspective to his role of Doug in Of Minor Prophets. With a background that ranges from theatre to film (plus a stint in the Blue Man Group) and spans geographically from the Midwest to the UK to New York, Kris certainly has a unique story to share.

We had a chance to go behind the scenes with Kris and get a closer look at how he grew up, what drew him to Of Minor Prophets and his desire to get started on the next project with the Passenger crew.

Can you share some of your background and what got you into acting?
I grew up in a small town in Kansas called Sterling. It’s 2000 people. Really small. My parents were both theatre teachers at the local college, so I kind of grew up in and around theatre—going to rehearsals while they were working, running around the back of the auditorium, stuff like that. So they put me on stage and I played Tiny Tim in a community theatre production of A Christmas Carol and I loved it. And my siblings were all involved in theatre here and there.

I was really drawn to what my parents were doing, the magic of it. I got hooked on that pretty early on. Then in junior high or so, like lots of junior high kids, I didn’t want anything to do with my folks. But later on I got sucked back in. Just when I thought I was out, they pulled me back in. So by the time I went to college, I knew I wanted to be a theatre major. I went to Northwestern College [in Orange City, IA] and then I went to the University of Nebraska [in Lincoln, NE]. I played drums in a rock band for a couple years, and then I went to an acting conservatory in London called the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. And that was fantastic and that was kind of what I was really looking for. I’d gone through a master’s program at the University of Nebraska, but I was looking for a little more of a conservatory training, and that’s what I got in London.

So that was fantastic. But when that ended, I didn’t have dual citizenship or an EU passport or anything, so I needed to come back to the States and live somewhere. I opted for New York, and I actually got a job with Blue Man Group. That was my first performing job in New York, but it was fairly short-lived, as I wanted to pursue more theatre-focused stuff.

It might be because of how I look or people seeing Blue Man Group on my résumé or whatever, but I got into more experimental, downtown theatre. I had really thought leaving Guildhall that if I were going to have any career at all, it was going to be doing classical theatre—Shakespeare, Chekhov, Ibsen…that sort of stuff. And since moving to New York I’ve done kind of experimental versions of the work of those guys, but not a lot of the traditional approaches.

I remember one of my teachers telling me when I was at Guildhall that I should really make an effort to get stuck-in. So that’s what I tried to do in New York. I eventually found more of a community of writers, directors and other actors, some of whom I’ve been able to work with more than once, which is fantastic. And then a couple of years ago I did a play at the Actors Theatre of Louisville for the Humana Festival.  A real hero of mine, playwright Will Eno—an amazing guy who has the capacity to make you laugh and cry within the same line…I just think the guy’s brilliant—I was able to do his play, Gnit, a retelling of the Ibsen play Peer Gynt.

So from there, it was fantastic…one of those rare things where everything goes well in the theatre. People were super talented and great to work with across the board—director, writer, crew, other actors—and from that, I was able to get a better agent, and so over the last two years, I’ve been able to audition for a lot more film and TV.

So what drew you to Of Minor Prophets?
Maybe four or five years ago, I was at Northwestern doing a workshop. I came in to teach a couple acting classes and do a Q&A about the profession with some of Karen and [Of Minor Prophets screenwriter] Jeff Barker’s students. Joe had commissioned the script from Jeff and I was staying with Jeff and Karen while I was there. That night we had a reading of this script so Joe could hear it out loud with a couple actors from Northwestern. It was a different version of the story at that time. But I read the part of Doug in that and really liked the story, but also kind of thought, I’m never going to be cast as a farmer. So I told those guys that I thought it was a great project and that they’d do a great job with it and I went on my way.

But then two years later, Joe contacted me and kind of asked if I’d play that role of Doug. And I thought that was great. I was super excited about it. I wanted to do more stuff on film and I thought this would be a great way to collaborate with some people that I really like, and I thought the story resonates well, and I also like the idea of—you know, as Joe is really promoting and pushing forward—telling local stories. As a Midwestern kid in New York, I was happy to go back to the Midwest and make it happen.

We initially shot the first scene as kind of a trailer to show investors. We shot that in February a couple of years ago and it was absolutely freezing and we kind of were up all night trying to get these shots before this snowstorm came in…it was ridiculous but also exciting. So that happened, and then I know Joe did a lot to get things off the ground. He’s kind of an incredible director and producer.

So by the time we were ready to shoot the first time, everything was set and we were excited about it, and, unfortunately, Cora [who played the lead female role of Ami] had this medical issue that…we thought we could just shoot around it and she’d have surgery later, but that ended up not being the best plan. So with heavy hearts and knowing it was the right thing to do, we just halted production at that point.We didn’t know if it’d ever to be able to pick up the following year, but it did and it turned out to be a blessing in disguise because I know the team was able to raise more money, shoot on nicer equipment, and more people were able to be involved. And I think that extra time helped the story tighten up and the overall production value was raised as well.

What were some of the unique challenges you faced while making the film?
The rescheduling was a huge one actually. Because I had to have things squared away so I could leave New York for the 18 days we were going to shoot and then come back to the day job that I was working, which was a big challenge. I was really scared that I wouldn’t be able to come back to shoot the film the next summer after we delayed filming. I didn’t know what was happening, but I knew I wanted to be a part of it. And obviously it all worked out.

I feel like by the time we got to shooting, I had been with the story a long time and the aspects of the character had become more second nature. And I think there was a challenge in that too. Because it’s not exactly a super flashy role. Doug is really a salt of the earth, solitary figure who isn’t driving a lot of the story, so the challenge was to be confident in a sense of stillness and just trust that that was enough and that was appropriate. Whereas with Cora, her scenes are shot a lot more frenetically and her life is more in turmoil and there are immediate things that she needs to go after—whether it’s “I need to feed my son,” or “I need to get out of this situation” or even just “I need to leave this room…”—there’s a more immediate drive. Whereas for me, it was kind of more of an ache or yearning that was sustained. So that was a challenge because it’s not the type of role I play very often. But I still liked it.

And another challenge is that I haven’t done a lot of work on film, so to go from not doing a whole lot to doing a majority of the scenes in the movie, it was a challenge to wrap my head around. And figuring out how to approach that, shooting out of sequence, and that kind of thing. I’d like that to become more of a regular thing…something that becomes as second nature as being on stage is for me—which is something I’ve done more of and know how to approach.

Then there were things that maybe I shouldn’t say, like the fact that I didn’t know how to drive a tractor. I think it was Joe’s father-in-law who was teaching me how to do it. I was in the cab and he was showing me what to do with the open door and he was kind of standing on the steps and telling me what to do. And we weren’t going super fast, but I was still really nervous that I’d screw something up with his father-in-law hanging off the side. And nothing came close to hurting anyone with me driving the tractor, but there were some scenes that might not even be in the final cut, where just Cora and I are driving along the road in the cab…as in really out on the county road. And it was like Austin Powers, where we’re driving along and then I have to turn around and I’m doing, like, a 17-point turn to get turned all the way around. But I think I was starting to get the hang out of it by the end of the day.

For a Midwesterner, I don’t know a whole lot about farming. Also, it might’ve helped if I’d gotten out in the sun a little bit beforehand. I’m like the world’s most pale farmer. With completely clean fingernails.

What were some of your favorite parts of filming Of Minor Prophets?
Well, we had a blast. There were definitely times where we were kind of more frantic because we were maybe having sound problems or only had a limited time at a certain location or we were losing sunlight or weather was prohibitive…there are a number of those types of things that happen on any set. But then there were some things that might not have even been a funny scene, but there were a lot of times that we were able to enjoy ourselves and laugh through different takes.

And the schedule was pretty intense, so it was nice to have moments of levity. We weren’t sleeping a ton, we were working as much as we possibly could every day. I know Joe and Dalton were getting fairly delirious from a lack of sleep. At one point, I don’t remember when, but toward the end… Dalton came up with this song based on my scenes with Maryanne, and he just came up with it on the spot and we were just cracking up.

And there was also a reunion aspect to it. I’d gone to college with Cora. I didn’t know Matthew [Brumlow] very well, but it was fun to get to work with him and get to know him more. Kimberlee Soo and David [White] I went to college with so it was fun to work with them. Rebecca Hanson was hilarious in her role and she was another classmate, so it was really fun.

What was it like working with a crew that was largely working on its first full-length film?
Well it was a pretty small crew and lots of people had to wear multiple hats. There weren’t a lot of extra hands on deck for stuff like script supervision and kind of additional audio mixers and also, like, a bigger production team that’s going to be able to handle things if there are different shifts in timing and that affects the next day... stuff like that. And I know that was something that was kind of a challenge for Joe and Andrew and Dalton…particularly the Passenger crew.

But it was my first feature in a lead role, and a lot of us were learning together. And while there were difficulties here and there, it was very exciting. And it was a huge learning process.

What are your thoughts on the finished product?
I’m really proud of it. I think it’s great. But that’s a fairly dull thing to say. For me, it has been a pretty fascinating process, especially to watch. Being involved all the way back from seeing early versions of scenes and seeing the first cut and how the story can change, how the economy of storytelling and how edits are made.

And then also seeing the changes that happen when a composer is involved. How, for example, in the film I can look at this letter and let the music really tell the story. I don’t have to do anything extra to help that along.

And then the color correction. The versions that I saw just kept getting tighter and tighter. And I think the final version tells the story very well.

What did you learn throughout the filming of OMP?
On the acting side of things, I kind of touched on this earlier, but I feel like there’s this idea of trusting that you are enough. That might sound a little new age-y or something, but the medium is such that you think the thought and, more often than not, that’s enough. And there are a lot of other storytelling aspects that are there to support a performance as well. Like, when you’re on stage, you’re really trying to grab the audience or take them along for the ride with you or point things out in a bigger, more physical way most of the time, where, if you did that on screen, it would get in the way. So you have to work in a different, more focused way.

I’m super proud of it as far as an accomplishment in my own career. Playing a lead role in a movie was a goal and it actually happened and I’m thrilled about that. And I’m just really proud of the work of everybody involved. It’s not necessarily something I learned, but, you know, similar to theatre when you do a play, you sort of become a family for that amount of time you’re working together and that very much happened with this movie. So it was a time that I’ll definitely cherish.

And unlike the theatre, it’s something you can go back and watch.

Is there anything else you’d like to mention?
I’m just excited to work on the next project and Joe and these guys. Whatever that might be. I know some things are being kicked around and I want to keep going on those.

Passenger will host the Sioux Falls premiere of Of Minor Prophets at 7:00 PM on Saturday, June 13th at the Orpheum Theatre. For more information on the event, visit ofminorprophets.com or join the event on Facebook.