Beginning her career in her youth performing dance, Kara Duncan has extended her talents to theater, film, and fashion. Her education and extensive experience in entertainment have given her a strong start in the industry, but her talent continues to push her to new heights. You can find her in the new FOX comedy series, Pivoting.
You’ve been in the entertainment industry since a child, do you remember what first sparked your interest in the arts?
So, I started actually dancing at four years old. My sister was doing it. I said to my mom and dad that I really wanted to do it because I was going to the studio all the time. I started training in styles like ballet and jazz, contemporary, hip hop, lyrical, modern, acrobatics, point, I mean the list went on. I was competitively dancing at that age, up until I finished high school, pretty much. Then around eight to ten years old, I started getting really into musical theater. In the dance studio that I went to, we actually had an arts theater program. I would do productions of Annie and the Wizard of Oz. I just remember being so into it, that I told my parents right away, this is what I want to do. I knew exactly this is what I wanted to do when I’m older, anything performing arts-related.
I have good parents. They pretty much got me an agent and I started working in middle school and in high school, doing commercials. I aired in some sitcoms on TV in Canada as well. I did that all throughout high school. Then of course after high school, I wanted to go to New York to start doing musical theater and productions. And coming from my parents, who are a Jamaican family, they were like, “Absolutely not. Like you’re going to go to school, and you’re going to have an education and get your post-secondary education.” So, I was like “ugh fine.” Then after I graduated from Ryerson University, I studied theater dance over there. I went right away to New York as fast as I could and then shortly after when I was there, booked West Side Story, the international tour.
Yes, so that was pretty much the first big, big job that I got right out of the university, and that tour was such an amazing experience. We traveled all over Europe. We started in Germany. We went all over Berlin and Hamburg, Essen, Cologne, and Leipzig. Then we also lived in Paris for like five months as well, which was amazing. After the tour, I was like “I’m going to go back. I’m going to move to LA.” I packed all my stuff, moved all my stuff from my New York apartment, and I moved to LA to continue to pursue tv film. And that’s what I have been doing!
With the arts being so prominent in your life, even through school, what was your support system like? It seems like your parents were pretty involved.
Yes, exactly like I owe pretty much everything to my family. I’m super close with my mom, my dad, my sister, and my brother. They were just the most supportive. They would take me if I needed to go anywhere when it came to dancing or acting classes. They would always take me. They would always give me whatever resources they had, just in order to let my dream come true. I was really, truly lucky and blessed to have such an amazing support system with my family, and that really also helps as well.
You are originally from Canada, but you lived in Europe before settling in the States. Can you tell us how those different environments affected your career?
Well, when I was living in Europe, we were on tour. We would do about eight shows a week. It was for about a year, so that was exhausting. I developed sciatica from that tour alone, but it was such an amazing experience. I just saw the Steven Spielberg movie, West Side Story in theaters. It just brought back so many memories of just being on stage performing that because it’s just such an amazing story and so prevalent today. It was great living in Europe and it’s really nice to be able to travel and to work. That’s one of my favorite things because I love to see new cultures and experience different environments. And what better way is it to also be able to work and do what you love, and to travel as well. It’s like a win, win.
Then I knew I wanted to get back out to LA after living in New York. So, then I just, you know, I knew this is where most of the tv film stuff happens out here, and I knew I wanted to do one production of musical theater. I said, “let me go out here and continue with TV and film,” but you know, every now and then when something musical theater-related comes up, like for example, I did Mama Mia at the Hollywood Bowl a couple of years ago. When something does come up, and if I’m like, “I love this musical or I love this production,” I will definitely always take it, but television and film are definitely my focus and what I’ve been doing right now.
Between acting, singing, and dancing, what would you say makes you feel the most free creatively?
I would say acting because I feel like I can embody and take on so many different characters. Whether it’s a holiday Christmas movie or a vampire role, or for example, the show that I’m just recently in, Pivoting, on FOX. My character Tansy is like the outgoing, carefree, confident girl, that’s really flirtatious and is used to getting whatever she wants. She is a cool kid with, millennial vibe, so she is so much fun to play. So, yes, I would definitely say acting because you just get to take on all these different roles and it’s really exciting to see what you bring to that as well, as a person and as an artist.
I saw that you were handpicked to sing for Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh. Can you tell us what that experience was like?
Yes, that was awesome. I mean I got to meet Queen Elizabeth II, that is really cool! Canada is still under British rule, so we still love our Queen. It was great we had to have this whole protocol in order to meet her. Like if she extends her hand, then we can touch it, but we have to curtsy. They handpicked a couple artists in Toronto to perform this Bollywood dance. We did that and it was super fun. It was on one of her tours so, that was a great experience just to meet her and the Duke of Edinburgh. Especially since I was watching The Crown, which is also an amazing show.
Can you tell us a little bit more about your role in the new series pivoting?
Yes, so pivoting is pretty much circled around three best friends, which is Eliza Coupe, Ginnifer Goodwin, and Maggie Q. Their fourth friend actually dies at the beginning of the pilot and so they all say, “we need to pivot our lives around and try to live like life is about to end at any minute now.” One of them gets back into shape. She’s like I need to start working out, and she gets back into shape. The other one quits medicine and wants to work in a grocery store because she’s just so unhappy and at this grocery store, Fields, everyone seems so happy and just full of life and zest. That’s when my character will be introduced, in episode five. I also work in the Fields grocery, supermarket, and that’s when you’ll meet me. The other one, Eliza Coupe, wants to be a great mom to her kids. So, it’s pretty much just a comedy centered around three women, best friends, just saying “you know what, I need a change, pivot my life around and try to take hold of life” and just live like we’re never promised the next day. It’s really great writing. Liz Astrof is the writer of this, and she is amazing. It was such a fun experience!
The cast, the crew, everyone was just super great! And you’ll see me, episode five, that’s when I’ll be introduced, Tansy. And I don’t want to give everything away because I want everyone to watch it, but you’ll see what happens between her and Maggie Q!
It sounds like a lot of people can relate. Especially now I think a lot of people have been pivoting themselves with this pandemic.
Yes, and that’s what drew me into this show when I first read it. I was like “wow this is so relatable today.” As soon as we have a global pandemic, everyone has to be like, “okay let me pivot and shift my life.” Figure out something else that I can do or another avenue, maybe I’m not happy about this, let me just find something else that makes me, maybe a little more excited or happy. Because if anything, COVID taught all of us that life truly isn’t promised. You know, we’ve lost a lot of people to covid. I lost some family members as well.
It is definitely relatable to today. With being so well-rounded in the arts, is there anything that you haven’t done that you’d like to learn to do?
Oh, I feel like there are still so many things I would love to do. Even though I always sang in shows, I love singing, so I would also like to continue to see if I could sing as well. I’m a very creative person, so I like to write. I’ve also started to write new pilots recently, so anything around the industry. I feel like I just haven’t hit everything yet. I feel like there’s so much to do, so much to learn, so many things to check off. Writing is definitely one of them and producing a show. I just love anything creatively driven in this field.
With your career keeping you so busy, how do you balance that with self-care?
Well, one of my favorite things to do actually, believe it or not, is go to the golf driving range and hit balls. I grew up playing golf randomly and I just love it. I bought some clubs when I first moved out to LA and there’s a driving range right by me. Anytime I feel a little overwhelmed or I just need to have a self-care moment, I go to the driving range. There’s just something about it. It’s really liberating, really free. I’m also really athletic where I love to do yoga and play tennis. I have some friends that get together for tennis once a month and that’s really fun. So, anything that’s staying active. I love being active and also just going to the beach to just lay out and meditate. That’s one of my favorite things to do as well.
I see you’re also creating your own clothing line, can you tell us about that?
Athletic wear is always something that I’ve always been interested in, always grew up doing. Because of being a dancer, I was pretty much always living in activewear. So just last year, it’s funny because I kind of pivoted when it came to the pandemic. When COVID happened, I was like, “I need to do this. I’ve really always said I wanted to start my own clothing line,” so I’m still in the beginning process of it. It’s Kiki Wear.
Right now, I’m meeting with the designer to go over materials and everything, so it’s very very early on in the beginning stages, but it’s something I’m just so excited to do and to start. It’s such another creative endeavor that I’m just going to be really excited to do and be passionate about. The type of clothing that it’s going to cater to, it’s almost like freeing your inner bird.
That’s kind of the guideline and the catchphrase with the clothes, as well as “Let your inner bird fly.” Every woman and every girl, mystically soaring through the world having this undefinable mystical presence. So that’s kind of how the clothes should make you feel, comfortable, powerful, confident, and letting yourself shine, your little inner bird fly. So that’s where I came up with Kiki Wear. Actually, growing up, my family used to call me Kiki as a nickname, so it kind of stuck. They still call me Kiki to this day, so I was like, ”Let’s call it Kiki Wear.”
That’s really exciting, and that gives us a lot to look forward to in the future.
Yes, a lot to look forward to, a lot to check off, and still grow as a human and as an artist as well!
Lis
