Earlier this year, I had the honor of chatting with Dylan Kingwell shortly after his film Campfire Kiss premiered on the Hallmark Channel. Because of that interview, I have become a zealous champion of his acting career, and I was so excited when it was announced that he would be appearing in The Good Doctor, a show I planned on watching anyway. And of course, that show has not disappointed its viewers, and his roles have been spot on. Recently, I had the opportunity to catch up with Dylan, and we discussed all things The Good Doctor and A Series of Unfortunate Events. 

RH: Nice to chat with you again today, Dylan

DK: Same here, Ruth.

It was interesting. My family and I turned on the TV today, and we saw you. Because Hallmark is playing all their Christmas films, they happened to be playing The Christmas Note. And I looked at the TV and said, “That’s the guy I’m interviewing!”

It’s spooky. {laughs}

My dad is a huge fan of yours. Ever since he saw you in The Good Doctor, he gets so excited every time he sees you in something. 

Aw, that’s great.

So what have you been up to lately?

Well, I recently had a read-through and cast dinner for A Series of Unfortunate Events. I had loads of fun with the cast. And I started high school this year. Even though I’m thirteen, we start high school a year earlier up here. I’m in grade eight, but we have no middle school. We go from elementary straight to high school.

That’s great! My daughter just started high school this year too, but she’s in ninth grade. Do you happen to know when season two of A Series of Unfortunate Events starts?

I’m not certain. I know they’re finishing filming very soon. They may already be done. I assume it will be early 2018 because season one started early 2017.  Actually, the table read I did the other day was for season three. What they’re doing is shooting seasons two and three all together. We’re taking a break for November and December and then coming back to shoot season three in January.

I know I read season two was supposed to possibly come out in January of 2018, but I haven’t seen an actual date.

That would make sense. I think season one came out January 13, 2017.

You were in a tiny part of season one, right?

Yes, I was in episodes seven and eight. One scene was where we wake up and there’s a butler serving us breakfast. The other scene was where our parents come home and we think it’s the Baudelaire parents for a second, but then it’s not.

That’s what I thought. My daughter and I binged season one this summer and really enjoyed it. And I watched very carefully for you. So will we see you more in season two?

Yes, I’m in five of ten episodes of season two. So yes, substantially more.

That’s good.  I actually didn’t expect to like the series as much as I did. I thought it might appeal to younger people more than someone my age, but I really enjoyed it right along with my daughter. So we’re looking forward to seeing season two. And then we can look forward to seeing season three too. 

Yeah, that will still be a couple years away.

I was so excited to see you in The Good Doctor. I already had planned on watching, but now my whole family watches. 

It’s crazy! That show within five weeks has picked up such a strong fan base already. I know it’s not Supernatural, but I didn’t expect there to be so many people into the show.

How did you get this role in The Good Doctor?

It seems like forever ago. We filmed the pilot back in April right before I started filming A Series of Unfortunate Events season two. I believe it was a regular audition process, not like my The Returned audition that spanned over a month. I went in and auditioned for Steve. I was thinking I might have gone for Shawn as well, but I’m pretty sure I just went for Steve. One callback and then I got it, which was super exciting. Then me getting to play Evan Gallico in episode five…I did not know about that until about a month before shooting. I was filming an episode, and the director of the episode was like, “Are you excited you get to play two characters?” And I was like, “What?!” And he’s like, “Yeah, you’re playing the patient.” I was like, “Okay, great!” I had no idea! And two weeks later, I went to the read-through for that episode.

It was a surprise for me too. I thought when your character died in the flashbacks, we wouldn’t see you again. And then they brought you back for other flashbacks, and I thought we might see you pop up from time to time. And then when I saw the previews for episode five, I thought, “Did they really put Dylan in that role?” And then there you were. And that was a big role. 

I know! It was fantastic and so fun to shoot.

Did you get a lot of good feedback?

Yeah, I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of positive feedback I got. And what I noticed was it was not just the people who have been following me for a while. It was new people coming from all over the place. Everyone was so nice, excited and supportive. I don’t want to sound prideful or anything, but I think a lot of people really liked my role as Evan. And one of the big things I really saw is that me and Freddie {Highmore} had really good chemistry. I know I felt that when I was on set. I’m really happy that so many people are enjoying it.

That had to be something to work with Freddie. I’m assuming you hadn’t met him before you worked with him?

No, I hadn’t met him, but I had heard of him. While I hadn’t seen him on Bates Motel, my mom loves that show. And so I had definitely heard of him. It’s funny because Bates Motel had the same producers as The Returned. So it was like we were already connected and then we ended up on the same show together. That was pretty cool.

So you also got to work with Graham {Verchere}, and it’s been amazing to see you two work together. 

Yeah, he’s great!

Had you met Graham before you started working on the show?

It was funny. We sort of saw each other around. I mean, Vancouver is a big city, but even though the acting community is big, it’s a really close-knit community. All the auditions take place at the same few studios, so you see each other. And we both had small roles, not leads, in a film called Escape From Mr. Lemoncello’s Library which is on Nickelodeon. So I met him there. Then I saw him at the fitting for The Good Doctor, and I was like, “Hey, I know you.” And then we became set brothers.

Are you able to tell us if we’ll see you in any more episodes this season?

I’m not sure whether I’m allowed to say.

Well, I hope we will see you. I hope we haven’t seen the last of you and Graham. Hopefully, there will be other flashback scenes. 

You’ll have to keep watching to find out.

{Update: Dylan’s character Steve appeared briefly on episode seven which aired on November 13th}

I love the way this show is demonstrating how people with disabilities are often underestimated, and for that reason, the show just resonates with me so much. The show deals with some real issues, and it handles them very well. 

While I haven’t heard this exactly, I am assuming that one of the reasons the show exists is to hopefully raise awareness. When people are singled out because they’re different or not normal compared to other people, it’s hard to see that happen and even harder to go through. Watching a show that deals with these issues can be hard to watch, but I think this message is very important, especially now with the internet and how people can talk to anyone whenever they want or don’t want. It’s important that people are talking about that because this form of bullying happens more and more every day and so if people are talking about it, hopefully, it can be prevented.

You mentioned Escape From Mr. Lemoncello’s Library. Since that has already premiered on Nickelodeon, people will have to look it up and see if they can watch it when it’s replayed. I know there were a lot of kids involved in that film. 

I think most of the characters in that film are kids. It was fun making that film and making some friends. I had a good time.

So is there anything else upcoming that you can mention?

Because of my busy schedule, I haven’t auditioned for anything big since April. I started The Good Doctor. Then I filmed A Series of Unfortunate Events from May until like July on and off. And then The Good Doctor started up again after it got picked up. So I worked for like five months pretty steadily. So the next thing that you can see me in, aside from The Good Doctor, is A Series of Unfortunate Events season two.

I think you were also in a Lifetime film called Manny Dearest. I had a chance to watch that one, and occasionally Lifetime will replay those films. I thought it was good and you were fantastic in it. And occasionally, Campfire Kiss still pops up. 

And the Joey Awards are actually this coming weekend. And Ali Skovbye and I have been nominated, but not in the same category thankfully. I didn’t want to go up against her because we’re such good friends.

Well, good luck to both of you then. 

Thank you, Ruth. And thanks to all the fans for their support.

I cannot tell you just how impressed I am with young Dylan. He is incredibly gifted and quite well-versed in the industry, but he is also an intelligent, accomplished teenager. It’s rare to see young men like Dylan in any corner of society, but even rarer to find them in the entertainment industry. So many young people are focused on being famous or being millionaires when they consider pursuing a career as an actor, but Dylan has his priorities in the right place. And there is no doubt that is due to his supportive parents as well as his humble nature. Dylan thoroughly enjoys and treasures every opportunity he has, and he has worked to create lasting relationships within this business. Not only is he a dynamic actor, but he understands the importance of fostering relationships and promoting his works in the correct fashion. I have no doubt this young man’s star will continue its steady ascent in the days, weeks, months, and years to come.

So if you are not watching The Good Doctor on Monday nights, I invite you to do so. Dylan and the entire cast and crew continue to provide inspirational stories that confront real issues in an appropriate way that truly appeal to all ages and walks of life…at least, in my opinion. Be sure to check out all Dylan’s links below. And if you haven’t watched A Series of Unfortunate Events on Netflix, you still have time to binge season one before season two is rolled out. And if you are watching Hallmark Christmas movies, there is an excellent chance you may catch a glimpse of Dylan from time to time! So many places to see Dylan! I declare, that young man is everywhere, and I wish him and Ali all the best at the Joey Awards this weekend!

FOLLOW DYLAN

Twitter

Facebook

Instagram

YouTube

IMDB

Spread the love

Tweet