Kyle Catlett

by Joanna Orland

Young actor Kyle Catlett is potentially best known for his role as Joey Matthews in television series The Following alongside Kevin Bacon.  Kyle has made his feature film debut in the title role of Jean-Pierre Jeunet film The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet.  He makes quite an impression as the lead in this film against such heavyweight talent including Helena Bonham Carter.  Up next for the young star is a role in the new adaptation of Poltergeist.  Even with such big projects lined up, Kyle Catlett still managed to find the time to answer a few of our questions:

How did you get involved with the film The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet?

I just had a Skype session with Jean-Pierre. And he liked me.

Did you read the book The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet, which the film is based on?

Yes. Rief Larson traveled all over the US to do research for the book and it took him 4 years to write it.

What was it like working with such a great cast and director?

It was a lot of fun and Jean-Pierre is nice as a person and as a Director and he has been working constantly.

When we filmed in Calgary I had a pet cricket that I liked a lot and someone accidentally threw it out. So, Helena got me as a present a big dried out cricket from South Africa and I still have it. That tells me what a nice and caring person she is.

Callum really likes fishing and he’s been talking about it a lot and teaching me how to fly fish.

Niamh was like a big sister to me.

Do you have anything in common with your character T.S. Spivet whether it be personality traits or interests?

Yes, we both like science. And I know a lot about perpetual motion.

Have you yourself ever been on an adventure like T.S. Spivet?

No.

You’ve now acted in both film and television – how do they differ from each other?

In a film you have something interesting within an hour or two. Whereas in television it is a long series, but at the end of every episode they keep it going so you can’t wait to see what happens next.

Also in a series they do not know the script for the next episode until the last second, but in a movie you know what happens from the beginning to the end.

In a film you can start filming from the last scene, but in television you can’t.

I just go with the flow of my character’s personality.

How did you first decide you wanted to be an actor?

I liked movies and I wanted to be a part of it. And it also is fun to pretend to be someone who you aren’t.

Is acting something you want to continue pursuing a career in?

Yes. And I also want to be a scientist, and a president.

You are also a very skilled martial artist – do you still practice this skill?

Yes i still practice this skill. And I do lots of different martial art weapons like nunchucks, broadsword, bullwhip, rope dart, 3 section staff, butterfly knives, whip chain, spear, staff, and straight sword. In YouTube you can see me performing 9 weapons when I was 6 or 7 years old.

It’s called: “Kyle Catlett Martial Arts Weapons Performance”

Would you want to make an action or martial arts movie?

Yes I would love to.

You fluently speak Russian and Chinese as well as your native language of English. How did you learn to speak these languages and would you consider making a film in a foreign language?

Mom taught me Russian. I started to learn Chinese when I heard a boy talking to his mom in Chinese. I asked mom if I could learn Chinese. Back then I maybe was 4 or 5 years old, so mom thought that I was just talking and would soon forget, but I kept asking and asking.

After that, my mom found a Chinese school that was 2 hours per week.

I would love to do a film in a foreign language. I have already done a film in Russian called The Pail of Settlement. I am looking forward to doing a film in Chinese

What’s up next for your career?

Poltergeist comes out in 2015.

If there were only one word to summarize Kyle Catlett, what would that one word be?

Adventurous.

The Young and Prodigious T.S Spivet arrives on DVD and download on October 6th, 2014 from eOne.