Kaylee Defer – Battle Star

Q.  What are some of the current projects that you’ve been working on?

A.  Well, I’m still doing the show “The War At Home” right now, we’re filming two more episodes and then we’re done for the season.  We find out in May or so if we get picked back up or not.  So, just kind of taking it easy and I think July the movie Flicka comes out, it is my first major motion picture.  It’s really exciting and terrifying at the same time. 

Q.  What can you tell us about the premise for the movie Flicka and about your character?

A.  You know it’s a remake of the classic film My Friend Flicka and it’s a story about this girl who is on a ranch and she finds this wild mustang.  Her family is trying to sell the ranch and her family sells this mustang because they don’t want to sell the ranch.  I play Miranda who goes to school with the girl Katie who has the wild mustang and I really like her brother.  We start dating and together, me and her and her brother help her get her horse back.  It’s a really beautiful, beautiful story.

Q.  What made you want to be a part of this film?

A.  I was just in the middle of auditioning last year and I came across Flicka.  My grandparents and my mom and my dad were raised watching the TV show show and reading the books.  My grandparents were like, “Oh, that would be so wonderful!  That was my favorite show and movie.”  It’s just a classic and I think it was just something I really wanted to do, I really wanted to do it for my grandparents.  To be in something that they were familiar with and that they grew up with and that they loved is just something that’s really cool.  There was a special connection with that and being able to share that with them.  On top of it while I was auditioning I found out that Alison Lohman was a part of the film.  She has been my role model in this industry, she’s just an unbelievably talented girl.  I have been such a fan of hers for so long and being able to work with her was such an incredible experience.  Then I found out that Maria Bello was playing her mother and I am a huge fan of hers as well and all of the things that she’s done including A History of Violence and The Cooler and I mean there is just an endless list.  Tim McGraw was the dad and he’s just the nicest guy in the world and so it was just a perfect thing, it was wonderful. 

Q.  How does the remake compare and contrast with the original?

A.  I am going to have to wait and see, I haven’t seen the film yet.  I hope that it is going to turn out wonderful and beautiful and that people will watch it and not necessarily compare it to the original.  You can never really compare a classic film to the new film and hopefully it will go down in time as another classic hopefully for our generation.  I am really proud of it and I just can’t wait to see it. 

Q.  How was getting to work with director Michael Mayer on the movie?

A.  Oh, it was unbelievable.  He is so great, he did “Thoroughly Modern Millie” on Broadway and I am such a theater geek.  Before I moved out to LA three years ago the only form of acting I ever did was musical theater, I had never done anything else.  It’s always been a dream of mine to be on Broadway and working with him was such an awesome opportunity.  It kind of took me back to my roots of theater acting, he’s a great director, it was really cool. 

Q.  Do you have a most memorable moment from filming Flicka?

A.  There are a lot of really rough things that went down, a lot of people when they hear that I was a part of Flicka they are like, “Man, isn’t that the film that PETA was protesting because of some horses died?”  I’m like, “Yes, but what happened was totally a freak accident and it was a really bad thing for everyone.”  It was really great because we had some natives on the location where we were at who blessed the ground where the horses died and it was a really beautiful ceremony.  I think that was very memorable seeing them, it was just beautiful.  They had such an unbelievable ceremony and they were singing and dancing and playing the drums and it was  beautiful.

Q.  As you mentioned, the cast includes such wonderful actors like Alison Lohman, Maria Bello and Tim McGraw.  Was there a lot of chemistry working with these talented people?

A.  Yeah, it was so great.  When I was auditioning I had the opportunity to read with Alison and Ryan Kwanten.  Instantly there was this crazy connection, this awesome chemistry between all of us.  It’s that magical feeling when you meet someone for the first time and you feel like you’ve known them or there is some sort of between you two.  It was such a cool feeling to be reading with them and acting with them and having that kind of chemistry with these people that I really look up to.  Yeah, there was crazy chemistry going on with everyone on set and we all got along really well.  It was just a really good time.

Q.  You’ve also been working on the show “The War At Home,” what sets this show apart from other family programs?

A.  Obviously our show is getting a lot of beef, I guess you could say for being “controversial” or edgy.  It’s a sitcom about a family in this generation where we deal with issues that would not necessarily be in real life.  It’s a sitcom and that’s what you do and you take these hard times and these difficult situations and you turn it around so that you can laugh at them and make light of it.  It’s a sitcom and it’s supposed to be funny and a lot of people definitely have their issues with it.  I would advise them to just relax and laugh! 

Q.  What are some of your other passions besides acting?

A.  Any artistic outlet I can get, I play the piano and just anything I can do to create something is such a fulfilling feeling.  Being able to have that outlet in my life and it’s just something I gravitate towards.

Q.  Do you have a latest obsession?  Are you into any particular book, music group, activity or sport?

A.  I have been reading a lot of David Sedaris’ books, right now I am really into the way he writes.  He’s so talented and so funny, he’s amazing, he’s so terrific.  I am reading Me Talk Pretty One Day, a really great book and I have just been working so much that I’ve kind of been focusing on, the show is done in a few weeks, so I’ve been focusing on spending as much time as I can with the people I’ve been so close to on set.  When I have some free time I come home and hang out with my big brother and my girlfriend Kirsten who I have known since high school.  We kind of hang out at my house and kick back and watch some TV or goof off.  Sometimes we’ll sit down and paint or draw, it’s just a good time.  I’m at a really peaceful place in my life. 

Q.  Now that it is 2006, what are you most looking forward to this year?

A.  I have a few trips that I’ve planned out and I’m really excited about my dad and I going to Thailand.  There is this gospel church and they take these kids off of the streets that have been prostituting themselves because they are left with nothing else.  We’re going to go out there and try to help these kids out and try to get more kids off the street in Thailand.  I’m really excited about that and I’m going to be out there for about a month. 

Q.  What would you like to say to all of your fans and supporters?

A.  Thank you, it means everything to me because I’m so new in this industry and it’s really overwhelming and breathtaking to see how so many kids have been open to the show.  It has just been such a wonderful, wonderful experience and I owe it all to them and it’s been nothing but supportive and wonderful to me.  Thank you so much for keeping up with my career.

“The War At Home” airs Sunday at 8:30 p.m. ET/PT on FOX