Welcome And Guest Introduction

Greg Staffa 0:00

You're listening to the Staffa Corner Podcast, a Staffatarian look at entertainment and life with your host, Greg Staffa. My guest today is actress Kelsey Bunner. She is an actor, producer, whose credits include Chicago Fire, My Deadly Affair, Vanish, and the Comedy Bulls. She's produced everything from films to documentary to commercials and video games, earning two Emmy nominations along the way. Welcome to the Staff of Corner, Kelsey.

Kelsey Bunner 0:48

Thank you, Greg. I appreciate it. Thanks for a nice

Small Town Roots And First Roles

Kelsey Bunner 0:51

intro.

Greg Staffa 0:51

So tell us a little bit about your past. Where did you grow up and what got you interested in the entertainment industry?

Kelsey Bunner 0:58

Yeah, I uh grew up in Canton, Illinois, which is uh a smaller town in like central southern Illinois. Got bit very early by a high school production of the sound of music when I was eight. Shout out to my grade school music teacher for that. And then I did a bunch of community theater at the Full County Playhouse, which at the time was in a barn um off a very small two-lane highway that it was re-repurposed into a nice uh theater space that ran all summer. And then in high school, I was like, looking at going pre-med or going into the theater world. And I had a biology teacher, Professor Rakowskis. I've given him many shout-outs, but uh he essentially told me to give it a shot. And I auditioned for college. I went to Illinois State, I studied uh acting and dance, and then after that, I got a job. My first professional theater job was with the Illinois Shakespeare Festival one summer while in school. And then my uh first job after that was with Chicago Shakespeare Theater. So I moved to Chicago right after graduating Illinois State and spent a couple years there and moved to LA in March of 2020, which was excellent timing for the industry swap, but uh still

Moving To LA During COVID

Kelsey Bunner 2:09

here.

Greg Staffa 2:09

And I mean, there had to be some benefits of the COVID hitting then because theaters were shutting down where the film industry was able to survive, not as thoroughly, but they were able to survive. So it almost sounds like you kind of saved yourself by switching industries or focus to more camera work, it sounds like, than theater work.

Kelsey Bunner 2:31

Yeah, I feel really grateful. At some point in my uh Chicago time doing a lot of black box theater, uh, not showing all the time for theater. I I was very aware of working a full-time day job and spending my nights in the theater and my weekends in the theater, and I was just exhausted, still struggling to make rent, you know. So I was like, how do I do this? Everybody else is, you know, doing the commercial thing and they're they're doing the production thing. And and I started showing up on sets as a PA and then quickly became a production coordinator and then a production manager. And I got a lot of experience behind the camera, watching other actors do on camera work. Um, and I took some classes in Chicago and and started working on camera as well about the same time. And so I actually came to LA. I was uh UPM on a uh candid camera reality magic television show called the Carbonaro Effect, um, which was on True Tree and it shot in Chicago um seasons four and five. And the show grew me. So I started uh with season four as a production coordinator, and then as the show grew in season five, I got promoted basically to the um production manager, and then our EP was so lovely, he actually was like, Hey, if you come out to LA, we'll try to find a spot for you on the back half of season five. And so essentially he encouraged me to move, knowing I wanted to be an actor and was looking to grow as a producer. And I took the leap of faith. And unfortunately, because of COVID, um, that season never happened, but it did encourage me to come out here. Um and I got really, really lucky during the pandemic when um a lot of folks' contracts production side canceled or stalled for a long time. I was looking online for just like anything, looking for a producer with kind of a film background, and I found uh a company asking for an interactive Twitch show. And so they were looking for producers to basically pitch on a show concepts. And essentially, the EP at that company liked my pitches, brought me on, and then I spent most of the first year and two of the pandemic uh developing and selling shows to Twitch and Amazon and other YouTube and interactive platforms and show ran a few of them, um, got to do some really fun interactive content, which then actually led me into video games, um, which has been a fun uh kind of segue in my producing career as well. So I got very, very lucky during during the pandemic, and it actually broadened my uh producing scope quite a bit, which has been been very fruitful for me.

Carbonaro Effect And Set Secrets

Greg Staffa 5:01

For some reason, I missed the carbon arrow effect in your resume. That's okay. Because had I known that it opened up a lot more questions, and I don't think I want to answer them. Well, I don't think I want to have it ruined, but that I I really enjoy this show. I think he had a great personality, and just the way that he approaches people, because what he does for those that haven't or aren't aware of the show, like you said, it's a hidden camera magic show. And what he does is he'll be like a um uh a clerk at a store, and the guests will come in to check out and he'll say, you know, oh, have you heard about these things? And they're like, What is it? And then he's like, It's paper fish. I was like, Well, what do you mean? And he goes, Oh, you just crumble up this piece of paper and get it wet and then drop it in a fish tank, and then all of a sudden there's a live fish in there, you know, he's and that I'm making that one up because I don't I can't remember stuff off the top of my head there, but that's the kind of stuff that he would do, or he would turn, you know, uh he had like a denutter where if you had candy that had nuts in it, you put it in a salad shaker type thing, and he would remove all the nuts. And it was just it was one of those things where people would be amazed, and yeah, it was so ridiculous if you step back and think about it, and uh it was called the Carbonaro Effect, you know. And so it was a fun show, but I'm glad I didn't know that you did that because I would have asked a bunch more questions and probably ruined some of the the illusions by finding out how much was real and and staged or not. So I'm just gonna move on. But I love that show, and it's a very fun family show because it's one of those shows that didn't pick on people, it made you laugh with them, even though you're kind of laughing at them. But uh it was a very kind of fun family show that everyone can enjoy.

Kelsey Bunner 6:55

Yeah, it was a really honestly a really, really fun show to work on. Like, I obviously can't there's a lot of trade secret secrets I'm on an NDA for, but Michael is lovely and the team was so fun. Uh, and we shot somewhere different every day. So when you think about shooting in a live environment, you know, 24 days of a season, 28 days of a season, depending with and where anything can happen. Like, there's just as a production manager, there were so many very lovely problems to have to solve. Our locations manager, Patrick, also had so many wonderful problems to solve. Um, it was really, really good uh training for me. Um, but also it was extremely exciting, and yeah, it was just really fun. I mean, it's magic, it's just always it's always gonna be a fun day.

Greg Staffa 7:38

We have to I'll ask one question. You came in towards the later seasons. Was it was there a concern that over time he was getting too recognized? Because in the beginning, no one had heard of him for the most part. I would assume I never heard of him, but you I would have to imagine by you know the fourth, fifth season, the name or his face got a little bit more recognizable. Did that ever become a problem or no?

Kelsey Bunner 8:04

Um, it happens occasionally, you know, and obviously uh we didn't use those in the in the show, but less than you would think. I don't think people, especially at that time in Chicago, nobody would have expected, I think, just randomly on a random day end up on a television show. So you always kind of have that like uh not ex yes. Whereas I feel like in LA we are more accustomed to running into faces you recognize. It happens a lot less there, or it did, especially at that time. I think it's becoming more common now. But um, so yeah, it actually happened less than you would think.

Greg Staffa 8:38

I think he just came through Minnesota not too long ago to do a live.

Kelsey Bunner 8:42

Oh, his live shows are great. You have to, if you haven't seen him live, please go see him live. I still think about stuff I have seen and his live show, and I'm like, how the heck did they do that?

Greg Staffa 8:52

Even though you were a part of it, you still oh yeah.

Kelsey Bunner 8:56

I I tell everyone, like I used to watch a lot of what was going on in the truck, so I would see it in seven camera angles, and I have no idea how some of the stuff is done. So interesting, it's so fun. Yeah.

Training Versus Influencer Shortcuts

Greg Staffa 9:08

Let's focus more on you. So I I sometimes wonder that we're in a day and age where so many people, you know, TikTok stars are becoming actors and actresses, or YouTube sensations are becoming actors and actresses. Do you think I mean that it could should be like an unwritten rule that you go through some of the experiences that you did? Did that help you become a better actor or actress to go and and do some of the kind of the hands-on jobs that you did leading up to some of the roles that you took?

Kelsey Bunner 9:43

Um, I don't know if it should be a requirement. Um, I do think I only speak from my experience, it was very helpful. Like every, I think every experience you have as a human at some point comes in and affects the acting work. And so the more odd jobs I had to work, the more plays I've done, the more live performances I've done. Like all of that is kind of in inherently shaped how I approach the work and how the work cabins for me now. And I'm I'm, you know, I'm Instagram and TikTok and all those social media platforms are kind of a challenge for me. They're not my natural, they're not the thing that excites me, uh, that kind of content necessarily, though I understand it's, you know, something I should be doing more of. Um, but I have uh known actors who started, you know, more on the social platforms, more of the influencer world. I am in class with a lot of models who, you know, get bit by the buck too and and show up and they become wonderful actors. So I don't necessarily think you need the background I had with the theatrical training or any, especially in the onset um production side of things, but I can say it has positively impacted my journey and was very helpful for anyone out there doing theater right now. It is helpful and fruitful training grounds for anything on camera. Please, please do it.

Greg Staffa 10:56

Now you got your start for most part in acting doing several shorts. And one of the things that has amazed me, and this might be above your pay grade. I know you've

Women Directors And Indie Film Money

Greg Staffa 11:07

had both male and female directors, but I've done several South by Southwest film festivals throughout the years, and I'm always amazed that there are so many female short directors that are award-winning and they win at these film festivals, but there seems to be like a disconnect in getting them to do feature roles despite winning countless awards for their their short films. Is that something that you see as well? And how do we overcome that?

Kelsey Bunner 11:37

I definitely see it. I do think there's a disparity in terms of what's getting financed on a feature level. I the in terms of fixing it, it's a bit of a tricky time. Like financing in general right now, I feel like is really challenging. Dreaming has has changed a lot of the distribution model, which has changed to some degree the profitability model that is going into indie film. I think we're kind of at the precipice of hopefully what's about to be a huge renaissance. I I'm not super well educated. I feel a little unqualified to speak to the projection of where we're headed, but I am optimistic that distribution models will uh be established that allow for indie films to continue to turn profit. I know the theaters are coming back, but also in other avenues to keep sort of the distribution model in indie filmmakers' hands, which will then help turn profit, which then helps new uh financiers come into the space. Um, in terms of the gender uh equality balance, I mean, I actually think I was just reading an article. Mike Gillenhall was just talking about this, that for some reason we're still not quite trusting that as a whole, I say the we is like a collective Hollywood uh engine, not me or you or anyone listening, but that there is still like a lack of faith that female-driven stories have an audience and and that they can be profitable. And I do think, you know, you you you tell stories that are relatable to you that you feel you're cap like have a an a drive to tell, right? They're often things that you've had experience with or touch something that you feel inclined to tell. So I do feel like the majority of female filmmaker stories are inherently in some way commenting on a less masculine experience. And so I do think there's doubt that sometimes that is gonna find an audience and will turn a profit, but I don't think that's true. And I think as we're pushing forward in the space, you're gonna see more and more of those, for lack of a better word, female-centric or less male-centric stories, still turning a profit and still proving that good storytelling is good storytelling. Um, and that will hopefully increase the amount of funding people are seeing come into some of those markets that right now are a little harder to get eyeballs on.

Greg Staffa 14:00

It is an interesting time in Hollywood, I think, just looking at it from an outsider. I mean, we're looking at, you know, stores like Best Buy is barely selling DVDs these days. And it used to be that you could have an independent film that very few people heard of, but it was at Best Buy, and over time more and more people would get it, and those DVD sales are what funded a lot of smaller projects. Or someone like Matt Damon would do a born movie, but then he would follow it up with some small film like We Bought a Zoo, and that would do okay in the theater, but then DVD sales and VHS sales would make that up, and with that revenue being gone and things going to streaming, it it's interesting to see how how everything will kind of adjust and where those new markets of of income will will come from and if it that will have any impact on you know these smaller little films that used to survive on just word of mouth and longevity that become you know cult classics, you know, who knows if we're gonna still have those in a few years from now.

Kelsey Bunner 15:12

Boy, I hope so. You know? I do, I really do. I think I am optimistic. Um, I think you kind of have to be honestly, otherwise the whole thing is just too horribly, horribly sad and tragic to think about. But I am optimistic. I think we have technology at our fingertips, and right now we're all being funneled, right, through very distinct algorithmic channels to the streamers and to um platforms that you know don't have a very good ads revenue split, to be to be frank with you, for the indie filmmaker. But I am curious and optimistic on how we can kind of reclaim that and how we can put films out outside of those streaming platforms and still can maintain ownership and a little bit of leverage over them. And now that we have technology, I actually think there's a lot of there's a lot of avenues for us to do that. It's just a matter of marketing them to the right folks. So yeah, I'm I'm optimistic. I'm still optimistic that you'll be able to find your your indie cult darlings that are being made this year, lot next year, last year on a platform that you can hopefully still buy them for a reasonable rate and give the filmmaker that you're supporting a larger cut of it.

Greg Staffa 16:27

The lesson is that they've discovered cave paintings in hundreds of years old caves that uh were telling stories. And so the human nature to tell stories has always found a way to survive and be told. And so hopefully there's a lesson from that in there.

Kelsey Bunner 16:46

Oh, and we're so hungry for them, right? Like stories remind us of the beautiful experience we have as a human being on the planet, right? They they give us hope, they remind us of the power we have, they remind us of community, they tell us stories that we have never had any sort of access to to like broaden our scope of what the human experience includes. Like we're so hungry for it. I I do think the audience is there. I think it's just figuring out how to reach them in the ways uh this younger generation will be more apt to engage with. And I do still hope that's a movie theater because there's nothing quite like sitting in a movie theater and and having a shared experience. But yeah, like sitting in front of the TV may not may not be the way we reach those younger folks that are are ex growing up with just technology that we didn't um well not now it's not even sitting in front of the TV, it's sitting in front of the Do you find that streaming has become both a blessing and a curse?

Greg Staffa 17:46

Is it because it it almost seems like it's opened the possibility for even smaller productions to to be seen, but yet is there so much out there that it almost drowns them out at the same time? As a producer, do you do you worry about stuff like that or no?

Kelsey Bunner 18:02

As a producer with projects on certain platforms, I will offer gratitude for those platforms putting said projects on them. I uh when streaming first started, I had this feeling as a guy, it's gonna turn into cable, and then it it has, and it's now become extremely expensive to have all the streamers. You still have ads, it's basically turned into cable. There's too much to watch, people are overwhelmed. I have stopped watching, to be honest. Like the streamers are just there's too much on there. It takes me too long to find anything. I think both are true. Like you can get one, there's now a place you can go watch that those movies that maybe wouldn't have been as accessible globally before. So audiences are becoming less regionally based, which is very cool uh for filmmakers to have that kind of exposure. I do think it's very easy to get drowned out. I think the days of just like putting your film on a streamer and letting it it be found is like not gonna happen. I think there's still gonna have to be strategic marketing in place for all of those any projects for people to go seek out that film, even if the hosting platform is a Netflix or an Amazon or an Apple situation. Like you, as the filmmakers, are still going to be your marketing team and still going to have to be pushing people to go find it, even if it's hosted somewhere, because of the this loss of content that's just available now. So, yes to both, I guess is the answer.

Greg Staffa 19:25

That's a safe politically correct answer.

Chicago Versus LA Set Culture

Kelsey Bunner 19:27

Yes.

Greg Staffa 19:27

Now you have done work in both Chicago and Los Angeles, and both of those are two very different cities and very different vibes to them. If you were blindfolded and then brought on to a set in Chicago or Los Angeles, could after watching for like a half an hour of the interaction, not the the language or their dialogue necessarily, because that might give us a little bit away, but could you recognize like where you're at, or are the productions at both locations so different?

Kelsey Bunner 20:00

Hmm. For the most part, it's the same. And I've actually shot in several countries now, and um, there's little differences in in each set, obviously, but the feeling is always the same. You can every even we joked I was in in Spain very recently, just on a like a personal vacation trip, and I was sitting at a coffee shop talking to a breezer who happened to be a local actor. We were just shooting the shit about the industry, and literally around the corner comes a film crew, and we could point out we're like, I bet that's I bet that's the gaffer, and I bet that's wardrobe, and I bet that's HMU, you know, just even in this, like how they're dressed and carrying themselves. So I do think it's a lot more the same than than you think. I feel like uh Chicago has uh really hardworking commercial crews. Um they move fast, they are used to having to shoot, you know, a 12-hour day and a 10-hour day because a lot of commercials are shot there. That's what I I do a lot in Chicago. But outside of that, I'm not so sure. And I've seen uh I've seen higher end gear more often in Los Angeles than in Chicago, but that's just the nature of what's available for rental here and what people are shooting on. So yeah, I guess I would probably be able to tell, but it would be very subtle, more subtle than I think people would

Second City Improv Meets Shakespeare

Kelsey Bunner 21:14

think.

Greg Staffa 21:14

Interesting. Now you've also trained at Second City, is that correct?

Kelsey Bunner 21:18

I did, I did improv there. Super fun. Super nothing will make you live more presently in the moment than good improv.

Greg Staffa 21:26

What was that like? Because you started off with a Shakespearean background where that is gonna be structured, you can't just kind of improv and riff off a Shakespeare. So that's very structured and and you know, the tone is set, and then going to Second City where it's improv, did one help you with the other? Did how does that kind of balance with your approach to acting, or were you able to find ways that they kind of blended together?

Kelsey Bunner 21:54

Yeah, I got really lucky that my training at Illinois State was uh fairly well rounded. So it Was it had a classical MFA program and it was attached to the Illinois Shakespeare Festival. So I did a lot of, a lot, a lot, a lot of Shakespeare while I was there. But I also got you know a more traditional um background as well. And we did a lot of the greats, the great playwrights. We did Ibsen, we did Chekhov, we did Schinberg, we did um modern day playwrights, did a lot of Tracy Letz, we did pretty much a wide swath of things. And then we also, because we had a graduate directing program, we also got to do uh things that were specific to what that grad student was studying. So I got exposed to a lot of experimental abstract work. Um I did a Brecht show at one point, a Becca play. Um, one of our grad students, um, Vanessa Stallings, who's now in San Diego, doing incredible work, was a very immersive theater-based, so very direct, interactive um audience base. And that was quite based in improv, actually, and being able to respond in in the moment to something that could happen when you introduce an audience into the playing space. Um, so by the time I got to Second City, I was, oh, and our school actually had an improv troupe. So I had been watching a lot of improv. They're actually nationally ranked. Shout out uh to improv mafia if anyone's listening. So yeah, by the time I got to Second City, I feel like I had a really good understanding of like anything can happen in a live performance, and you say yes, and you have to accept it and invite it in, or the show just stops. So that's like the principle of all improv is say yes and, right? So just saying yes to what's ex the experience that's happening right now and building on it. But I also feel like the more you know about a scene structure, about making like fun, clear, concise, instant character choices helps just the comedy that comes from improv because you can really build something, you know, when to put the joke, for example, or or when to like make a character choice that's gonna pay off five, six times down the road because it's so rooted in whatever is honest. So yeah, it was really fun. I feel like improv really pushed me to take bigger risks because you just swing at stuff sometimes, you're like, this is never gonna work. And it sometimes doesn't, and you have to recover from that, which is honestly quite healthy of a mindset to just like add into your work. It's like, I'm gonna swing. It's probably not gonna go well, but we're gonna swing big anyway and see what we can build out of it. It and it it's quite a yeah, it does require a very large level of being present, uh, which has helped my other acting work. That's a long about way of saying I kind of sort of believe it's the same, the same thing. Just one has lines that you memorize, and one has lines you make up as you go.

Greg Staffa 24:33

And what is it about? I mean, when you think of improv, there's the high school teams, there's the college teams, and there's major leagues. And with improv, there's everyone else, and then there's second city that just stands above, and it's the I mean, there's not many people haven't heard of Second City, or at least some of the names that have come out of that program. What is it about Second City that just has elevated it to hust such a high platform?

Kelsey Bunner 25:02

Gosh, that is a great question. You know, it's interesting because when I was in Chicago, you studied everywhere. So you would take class at Second City, you uh I.O. theater, the Annoyance was there to doing classes at the time, and you everybody sort of floated around. Like if you went through Second City track, you would then go to do I. Or then you would go to Annoyance, or whatever teacher was hot at the moment, everyone was kind of migrating around. So I think there was less of a pedigree per each program because most of the actors in the space and most of the students were sharing all of it, at least when I was there. I think it's probably fairly similar, wasn't that that long ago? But I do think a lot of people who are very serious about improv and comedy end up in Chicago because of the legacy that Chicago improv and comedy has. And so you're playing with people already that, you know, were the best in their college troop and have now come to Chicago to study that specifically. So the focus level is super, super high. And so when you're in a place that's known for the thing, you kind of imagine everyone going there is is really chasing that at the highest pursuit. And I think that that breeds a lot of um taking the work seriously. And that sounds ironic because it's it's like a playful uh art form, but playing seriously and like taking the work of play seriously is real. And yeah, when I was there and is still very much they are there, TJ and Dave as well, Dave Pasquazy and TJ Dogadowski teach and do shows there. And if you can ever see TJ and Dave, please go see them. They're the best improv I've ever seen. TJ was actually in Bulls, so check him out there. He's also wonderful. But they were sort of the first improv I had seen where I was like, wow, these are incredible actors, not just comedians, but incredible actors really building a whole world and like very concrete characters and really specific character choices that then paid off throughout the entire show. And they were all based and rooted in truth and not trying to be funny. And I was like, man, this is where the two worlds meet. Um, and that was a huge light bulb moment for me. And I think if you're if you're really studying in Chicago at some point, like the honesty of the choice shows up and how much you can commit to whatever that choice is is how you build you build really, really interesting stories. I think. I don't know if that answered your question at all.

Greg Staffa 27:27

It does.

Small TV Roles And Professionalism

Greg Staffa 27:28

No, you appeared on shows like Chicago Fire, and your role was called New Mom.

Kelsey Bunner 27:34

Yes, I die in an elevator season six, I think.

Greg Staffa 27:38

What is it like as an actress? I mean, there has to be an element that's frustrated, like I wish I got you know more to it, but I'm happy that I have a role. How does your how is your approach to when you get a role that that you know, yeah, you're getting paid, and yeah, it's an on-screen role, but is there frustration? How do you approach it? Because we just had Brett Huff, who is on the rookie, and he's been on for several seasons, and he was talking about how he was cast in that in the rookie to be just in one scene and it was a one and done, and that's all it was, but then it grew into something else. How much does you know having a good attitude or being positive and saying, you know, yeah, I might be new mom in this is one scene, but who knows what might come out of it. How does that get is that something they have to be conscious, like in the back of your mind of?

Kelsey Bunner 28:30

Yeah, I think it does differ on how how large, right? So I had a I think I had three, I was under five for Chicago Fire. It was actually my first TV set, um, which is the first one is always very nervous, nerve-wracking. But you know, you're you're hired to move the plot along, right? Like that's why usually that character is written. In my case, it was a huge plot point for one of the main characters, Otis, and it actually was part of the season uh theme for him and his arc. So, you know, I I you get those lines and you come in, you have to give a lot of information. I think mine was actually like the first week of shooting of the whole season. So the production was even like still sorting stuff out. Series regulars are, you know, finding their groove, and and everybody is sort of like a high stress state, I would say. Like everyone isn't quite settled. Whereas when you're coming in and toward the back half of the season, things tend to have maybe a more settled feel just as the team's been working together longer. And I really did feel like my job when I showed up was like, how do I just do the best I can do, get out of the way, not be a problem, and be part of the solution, you know, which isn't necessarily like the most fun as an actor, right? You're not like going in there to try to like build a whole, a whole moment, right? You're going in to serve serve this, serve the text, serve the show, serve the story, short, serve the team. Whereas I think when you get larger opportunities where there's, you know, maybe multiple scenes or a guest, like a guest star, um, you can kind of bring a little more of yourself to the experience. And there's a little more grace for you to kind of play more uh than necessarily when you have a five and under. But I do think, you know, you show up, you come in prepared, you come in with whatever is gonna, hopefully with like a vessel that's um full, like you've done enough work before you get to set to have a full vessel that can respond and can receive and can listen and and can generate truth. And and then you just

Rejection And Staying Sane

Kelsey Bunner 30:25

show up and you put it on the partner, just like anything else.

Greg Staffa 30:29

As an actress, rejection is almost second nature.

Kelsey Bunner 30:33

It's part of the masochistic need, I think we all have.

Greg Staffa 30:38

How do you how does one deal with? I mean, I I can't imagine it'd be like me asking a bunch of women out on a date, or how do you uh how do you handle that? Is it just part of the realization that you this is what I got into, or do you you know say to yourself, I was perfect, my audition was perfect, but I wasn't what the director was looking for? How does how does one handle it? Because that's it's a lot of rejection. I don't think we we think about that. We think, oh, she's a Hollywood actress, she must be doing great, she's in shows like Chicago Fire and and stuff like that. So everything must be fine, but the opposite end of the spectrum is that rejection. How do you handle it and what kind of outlets do you rely on to kind of get you through it?

Kelsey Bunner 31:23

Oh man, that is such a good question. I think it gets easier with time. I think I was less uh had less resiliency maybe when I was younger. I would get really attached. You build these, you know, when you get a good audition, you like fall in love with the character, right? You fall in love with whatever you're building. You're like, oh, I really like her. I hope I get to do her, you know. And you really are sort of like waiting, waiting, like, will I get to, will I get to? And I think at some point I just sort of accepted that I get to fall in love with them, I get to do the audition, and then they're done, you know? And every once in a while you book a role and they go, Hey, you can bring her back. And you're like, oh yes, heck yeah, I get to build her. So yeah, I think with time you get kind of used to cutting the cord after you send your tape out or you walk out of the door of the audition room. There are large moments, right? Like you get called in for a role that feels like a great fit. It's a larger, maybe a larger opportunity than you've had before. You feel like you did a great job and you still don't get booked. And those sometimes are harder. My current solve for those moments is to like have something set up I'll do instead that I would like or get excited about. Sometimes they take a trip, sometimes they go camping, sometimes it's just like, oh, I'll go to this dance event tonight, uh, something totally different that I also look forward to. So there's like a carrot at the end of the rejection stick. But yeah, I think it's it for everyone. You have to be, you have to be really understanding that your job is just to do the work at the best of your ability on the day. So some days that's gonna be bookable. Some days that is bookable, but you're just not the right fit. And some days you're you miss, you just miss the mark, and that's just part of the journey. And you just kind of have to accept like I'm on a road, I'm just doing the work. Keep in class, keep getting better, keep doing the work. But yeah, easier said than done. I mean, some some days are you're like, I'm never gonna work again. What am I doing with my life? But those are the days I I try to go fill it with some some nice little carrot at the end of the rejection stick.

Dream Projects And What Comes Next

Greg Staffa 33:16

Nice. Yeah. Now, one of the things that is becoming a lot more common these days is we're seeing the return of characters. You know, Scrubs comes back after so many years. Malcolm in the middle came back for a brief season. Is there a character? It could have been in a short, it could have been a single episode appearance, but is there someone that you would love to see return that you could uh God? I wish I could flush out that character a little bit more, or she was just so fascinating to play. There's someone that if you could, you could bring back for a longer period of time.

Kelsey Bunner 33:50

Yes. I think about her all the time. Um, it's in an unreleased film, actually. Um, I was part of a film that's actually about to um premiere in Spain in October called The Writer Brain Chrome. And I got to play the villain, which is always so fun. Um, and her name is Stax. And I just love her. I think she's this anarchistic uh chaos agent, confident in a way that I I don't walk through life with all the time, and just really just loves to incite and enjoy uh playing with things. And man, would I love to bring her back. She was a hoot. She was a hoot to spend a couple weeks with. Um and I'm excited for the world to get to to meet her and the rest of the film, actually. Here very soon. Yeah.

Greg Staffa 34:39

Now, if Steven Spielberg came up to you and said, I am out of ideas, and I know that Kelsey, you are a producer and an actress. I am looking to dump Steven Spielberg money into uh production. You can produce it, you can act in it. What is the story that you want me to tell with my backing?

Kelsey Bunner 35:02

Oh my goodness. Um, I have this script I've been working on with a screenwriter in Chicago, Bradley Powell, since the pandemic. It was a pandemic project called Need. And it's a psychological coming of age uh thriller involving doffelgangers. And let me tell you, I that's a character that I'm in love with that I just hope gets to live in the world someday, whether I get get to play her or someone does. But yeah, that would be the that would be the one for sure. It's it's uh got so many really well, really three-dimensional characters in the same place, uh navigating this sort of conversation around art, identity, and yeah, what it means like when your USL fractures, which I I think when we were writing, especially at the time, is very pressing with uh COVID and the pandemic. But yeah, I would I would pick that one. If anybody wants to option it, give give them my give them my contact.

Greg Staffa 35:57

All right. Well, Steven, if you're listening, you heard it first.

Kelsey Bunner 36:01

Come right here. Come right here.

Greg Staffa 36:03

Tell us a little bit about what the future holds for you. You mentioned that you wrapped the film in Spain, coming out later, hopefully this year. Uh what else is anything are you working on?

Kelsey Bunner 36:14

Um, Bowl is actually just released on DVD, so I have to give that a shout out. It's um now watchable on Amazon Prime and on DVD. So that's exciting. That released last week, actually, two week and a half ago on DVD. And then yeah, Burning Chrome is coming out. Uh, we're on the festival circuit starting in October and release still TVD, but I do hope and think it will find a home. So keep your eyes out for that. And then I'm slated to be in an upcoming feature uh from Dan Meyer, same director of Bulls, same writer director, called The Up and Comers, which is slated to go into production in Chicago in November. Uh so that's my next project. And actually, in a week and a half, I fly to shoot a short film in Italy, which I'm very excited about. I've never been to Sicily, and in a week and a half I will I will go there and get to to play a whole week, which is very exciting.

Greg Staffa 37:01

Not a bad day's work.

Kelsey Bunner 37:03

Not a bad day's

Identity Beyond The Credits

Kelsey Bunner 37:04

work.

Greg Staffa 37:04

Wrapping things up, and I appreciate you coming on. When we think of Kelsey Bunner, we often associate it with Chicago Fire, or we we say, you know, her the movies that you've been in or the productions that you've done. But when you get up in the morning and you go into the bathroom and splash a little water on your face and look in the mirror for the first time that day, who is it that you see?

Kelsey Bunner 37:27

Wow, what a question. I think I think my first question is usually like, who are you? Because I do feel like we're always trying to it's a good question on who we are, what we are. Do we ever know? Are we always in the process? Are we always growing? Who are who am I today? Yeah, you have the answer of like what I hope people other people think. Um, and it's not necessarily anything about my acting career at all. But yeah, but I think I'm just always in question. I think I'm often surprising myself still. So I'm always a little bit like, who are you today when I wake up in the morning?

Greg Staffa 38:05

Interesting. Well,

Final Thanks And Sign Off

Greg Staffa 38:06

Kelsey Bunner, thank you so much for coming on. It's been a pure pleasure talking to you, and I look forward to seeing your upcoming work and seeing what the future has in store for you.

Kelsey Bunner 38:15

Well, thanks so much for having me, Greg. This is a treat. I appreciate it.