Here’s something people in a movie theater don’t think of. That camera lens? The actors can glimpse their reflection in it while they’re acting, something that took Kimie Muroya by surprise.
Concentrating on her lines and her character’s interaction with other characters, she happened to catch her reflection and struggled against the distraction.
“Oh, I’m moving my eyebrows a lot,” she recalled thinking. “That’s … interesting.”
The 2012 Lewisburg Area High School graduate recently co-starred in her first feature film, “Antarctica.” The reflection in the camera wasn’t the only surprising difference she experienced between stage and screen acting.
“Film acting is so, so different from theater acting,” Muroya said.
Aside from the more nuanced actions film requires over theater, the chronology of the story is all over the place, where one half of a scene might be filmed one day and the second half three weeks later. Beyond that, in the theater, an actor can relive her character’s journey night after night. In film, it’s one-and-done.
With the crazy lack of chronology, Muroya was scheduled to act in a love scene on the first day of filming. Fortunately, it was rescheduled for the second or third day — still not a lot of time to get to know Bubba Weiler, who played her character’s love interest. Fortunately, Bubba’s kindness and Muroya’s own attitude eased her nervousness.
“The scene is just this tender moment between these two young people, a moment of exploration for my character, of exploring being thought of romantically and thought of as beautiful,” Muroya said. “It’s a scene where we start to take clothes off. Bubba was extremely kind and patient. He was really sweet about it.”
Confronting body image
Along with Bubba’s calming influence, Muroya reminded herself of the benefit of seeing a person like her — someone who is not “skinny and white” — in a love scene.
“Janet, my character, is like me in that we struggle a lot with body image,” Muroya said. “Another way I got through it was thinking how (when I was growing up) I didn’t have anybody who looks like me onscreen seen in this context. I was thinking, OK, this is something I needed when I was growing up, so I can be there for someone else.
“You need to see people who are realistic on camera. No body is wrong. Each body is unique in its own way. You can’t judge yourself based on how someone else is looking. You have to be the better version of yourself.”
Another pleasant surprise when filming “Antarctica” was the support and camaraderie of her fellow actors, particularly co-star Chloë Levine.
“I was really nervous because she’s done a lot of film and television work,” Muroya said. “She was just super sweet and supportive. Everybody involved with it was so nice and so patient with me. It was really the perfect first film experience for me to have.”
Running the gamut
“Antarctica” tells the story of two best friends helping each other through serious pressures and challenges of senior year in high school.
Written and directed by Keith Bearden and produced by Breaker, it premiered at UK’s biggest indie film festival, Raindance Film Festival, in November, then first aired Dec. 1 on most streaming platforms (Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, Youtube, etc).
Muroya said she “ran the gamut of fun film scenes,” with running, crying, punching, pill-taking and physical and verbal comedy. She was a nervous wreck the day the movie first aired, in October.
“The reviews have been mixed to good, and they’ve been very nice to me so far, so I’m feeling all right,” she said. “I’ve had a couple people who I don’t know approach me on social media, but they have been very complimentary, which has been absolutely lovely.”
Kimie Muroya
Learning in Lewisburg
Muroya became interested in acting as a child and has been fortunate in having a loving and supportive family. Her mother, Karen Herschell, is from Buffalo, New York, and her father, Shunko Muroya, is from Japan. Her brother, Mikito, is two years older than Kimie.
“My mom took me to a community theater audition when I was nine, and I kind of got the bug,” she said.
Both language teachers, her parents traveled the world in their careers — Kimie was born in Australia and lived in Hungary, Italy, Canada and several states in the United States. Throughout their travels, the family frequently returned to Lewisburg, where Kimie acted in several school plays. She credits her English teacher and director, Roberta Pickering, and assistant director, Sarah Friedberg, with encouraging her acting.
“While as a student actress, she was always very professional in that she knew her lines and blocking flawlessly,” Pickering said of Muroya.
Lewisburg High School produced the Royal Shakespeare Company’s version of “Beauty and the Beast” in Muroya’s sophomore year. She was chosen to play Belle.
“Kimie has always loved theatre,” Pickering said. “When I directed the show, my vision was to include as many students from all backgrounds as possible. I believe acting and theatre is for everyone, and I wanted to break the stereotype that Beauty had to be white. I also chose her because she is a talented actress, and I saw that the minute she stepped on the stage. Over the years I have had the pleasure of getting to know her family, and I am so proud of her. It touches my heart that as a former professional actress, teacher and director I played a role in helping her attain her current success.”
Brotherly boost
Pickering also recalled a telling anecdote on the staunch support Muroya received from her family.
“Kimie and her brother both auditioned for the show, ‘Beauty and the Beast,’” Pickering said. “At the time Kimie was only a sophomore and her brother was older. After the auditions, he came to me and said, ‘Don’t cast me if my sister doesn’t get a role. She would be so hurt.’
“I thought, what a sweet older brother to protect his sister. It meant a lot to me. After my assistant director and I cast the show, I felt compelled to call Kimie’s family. Her brother answered, and I told him he got a supporting role, and would he do the show? His reply was, ‘Did my sister get a part?’ I took a deep breath and smiled and said, ‘Yeah she got a part. The lead!’ From that moment on, all I could hear was screaming and laughing!”
“He knew I loved it so much, he didn’t want to be involved if I couldn’t also do it,” Muroya said. “It was really sweet.”
Pickering was also Muroya’s faculty advisor for her senior project. “She gave up her time to just be in the room for all the rehearsals. She was just really awesome,” Muroya said. Of Friedberg, she added, “She was always really kind and caring, always there, ready to help out.”
Another early influence was acting in Gaspipe Theatre Company productions in Lewisburg’s Hufnagle Park, where she developed a love for Shakespearean plays.
“I’m really thankful for that opportunity to explore that,” she said.
BTE influence
After graduating from Temple University in 2016 she earned an internship with the Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble (BTE), where she had once participated in high school workshops and dreamed of being a professional actor.
“I directed Kimie in our school touring show ‘All Aboard! The Story of the First Trans-Continental Railroad,’” said James Goode, a founding member of BTE. “She played a variety of characters; the central one being a Chinese laborer blasting the road bed through the Sierra Mountains. She portrayed the worker with a dignity and respect which was compelling to the student audience. In fact, all her characters connected strongly with the students due to her dynamic personality. Kimie had grown up in this area, and saw our school touring shows when she herself was a student. This gave her a unique insight into the program and the importance of artists as role models.”
Like every beginning artist, Muroya took what she learned at BTE to move on to more and more roles, eventually landing in “Antarctica.” She appreciated the opportunity BTE gave her to learn from local stars.
“It was a lot of fun,” she said, “and I got to get really close with these people I had grown up admiring.”
Persevering during a pandemic
Apart from spending some time during the pandemic with her parents, who now live in South Carolina, Muroya chose to make her home in Philadelphia, which she said has an excellent theater scene.
“It’s a lot about networking and getting to know people in the community,” she said, “and it’s very easy to get to know people in the community because everyone’s really awesome and friendly.”
She works in the front of the house — box office, concessions, etc. — at the Arden Theatre Company, in Philadelphia, and appreciates being able to keep in touch with the acting world while auditioning for new roles. She also helps at Philadelphia’s Eastern State Penitentiary, a former prison turned historic museum that advocates for justice in the judicial system.
Muroya’s acting roles have gradually improved in terms of personal and financial compensation.
Lessons learned
She puts her heart into each audition and has developed the ability to take rejections in stride.
“I used to take rejection very hard. That’s something I had to learn to let go of because there’s just so much of it,” she said. “Most of the time, it’s not personal. I always feel like, if I don’t get a part I wanted, that just means there’s something else coming up that I’ll need that free time for.”
To some degree she resists being “put in a box,” typecast for certain roles. But she has also learned it can work both ways when, for example, she takes on a role she hadn’t considered.
“I was cast in roles I didn’t see myself in,” she said, “but somebody did, and I was able to stretch and do those challenging parts.”
The COVID-19 pandemic has forced auditions and plays to be performed virtually, which Muroya finds both helpful and challenging. Virtual auditions open doors to endless numbers of plays, and she recently performed in a virtual play festival for Hollins University, in Virginia. At the same time, she misses the immediate reaction of live theater.
“You can’t put on a play by yourself,” she said, noting the need for directors, cast and crew members. “The last part of that collaboration is the audience. It’s been a weird, crazy situation, and everybody’s doing the best they can.” While acknowledging that “safety and human lives are more important,” she can’t help longing for traditional entertainment again, and said, “I miss the theater. I miss it so much.”
As a young actress, Muroya advises other aspiring actors to take classes, read a lot of plays and watch movies, TV and the interesting gestures of other people. Also important: It’s OK to fail.
“I guarantee you, every actor you’ve ever seen onscreen has failed at some point,” she said.
SIDEBAR
Aspiring actress is relishing her roots
The Belle from Lewisburg’s “Beauty and the Beast” is moving on, but Union County will always hold a special place in Kimie Muroya’s heart.
“Lewisburg is just a lovely little gem of a town,” she said. “There’s a reason we kept coming back.”
Among her favorite memories are the Campus Theatre, Bucknell University, pretzels at the Farmers’ Market, ice cream at the Lewisburg Freeze or the Purple Cow, and unexpectedly encountering horses and buggies when traveling through the rural area. She also likes The Fence Drive-In.
“I love it. I used to go there with my best friend from high school,” she said, adding that anytime she gets back to Lewisburg she makes time to visit that friend, Meghan Smith.
From school plays to a leading role in her first feature film, Muroya is moving bravely forward even while mindful of the gifts of her roots.
“I think I would be remiss if I didn’t talk about how awesome and supportive my parents have been,” she said, expressing gratitude for emotional and financial support — after graduation from Temple they loaned her money for living expenses that she has since been able to pay back. Still, she recognizes the impact of such a network of support.
Her English teacher and musical director at Lewisburg, Roberta Pickering, admits she’ll always remember Muroya’s portrayal of Belle in “Beauty and the Beast.”
“Looking back, maybe I helped get her career started that night, too! Who knows?” Pickering mused. “But it was great fun to work with her, and I wish her all the best for more successes in theatre. Once a Beauty, always a Beauty!”
“I can’t claim full autonomy on my career,” Muroya said. “I have to acknowledge I’ve had a lot of help from my friends and family. I’m not a one-person show.”
