From Audition to Netflix: Kaileen Chang

What's it like to suddenly find yourself as the lead on a hit Netflix show at just 15 years old? Kaileen Chang, star of the Netflix show "I Woke Up a Vampire," joins us to share her extraordinary journey from childhood performer to streaming sensation.

Kaileen reveals how her love for performance began early through dance, ice skating, and theater before finding her way to professional training around age 7. We explore the traditional showcase route that landed her first representation and how the pandemic completely transformed her audition experience. The story of how she booked her Netflix role is particularly fascinating – after months of silence following her self-tape, she received a surprise Zoom call at school thinking it was for a different project entirely!

The behind-the-scenes reality of shooting in Toronto for six months offers listeners a genuine glimpse into the production world, from the overwhelming number of crew members to the complex choreography of stunts and scene blocking. Kaileen shares heartwarming stories about the immediate chemistry with her co-star Niko Ceci (whom she now calls her "twin flame") and the surreal experience of keeping her entire acting career secret from friends until suddenly appearing on Netflix's home screen. Her first encounters with young fans at Disneyland – pointing her out to disbelieving parents – perfectly captures the strange new reality of teen stardom.

For aspiring performers, Kaileen's parting advice resonates with wisdom beyond her years: "If it's really what you want, you have to give it your priority and your all. You'll have 60, 100 auditions before you get something, but every audition has to be your best." Follow Kaileen's continuing journey on Instagram at @Kaileenchang and discover why her authentic approach to both acting and life makes her someone to watch.

Chapters

• 0:00 Introducing Teen Netflix Star Kylene
• 1:42 Starting in Entertainment and Showcases
• 4:41 Booking Netflix's "I Woke Up a Vampire"
• 9:01 Life on Set in Canada
• 12:50 Netflix Fame and Secret Identity
• 15:56 Advice for Aspiring Actors

Transcript

Genevieve: 0:00

So did you have people like telling you like, oh my gosh, I saw you on Netflix, that like didn't know, oh yeah.

Kaileen: 0:06

So I had never told anybody that I was an actor, like none of my friends or anything like that. I was strictly like my family and so, yeah, it was very it was easy to keep a secret. Yeah, because, like when I went to Canada, just my friends like they didn't believe it.

Genevieve: 0:25

They're like you're on a show.

Kaileen: 0:26

Like I didn't know you were an actor and I'm like, well, I am, so we'll see you know. S-y-c Successful.

Genevieve: 0:31

Young S-Y-C Creative. Yes, I know I'm gonna be successful. Yes, I am here with the one and only Kaileen Chang Hi. How are you? I'm good, I'm good, Good, oh my gosh. Okay. So how do we even introduce you? She's an actress, she's a model, she does commercials, everything. She's also only 15. Yep, so cool. And she's somebody that I have the pleasure of working with often in my studio here, because we're working on your vocals and recording and just being creative. So it's very cool. So I'm super excited today because I get to ask you questions about your awesome show. I woke up a vampire on Netflix, which is just so cool. I feel like on this podcast, we talk a lot about how to audition. You know what auditions are like, but it's very cool to hear about when people actually book it and what it's like. So thank you for letting me interview you. Thank you. So can you tell me a little something, just kind of like how you got started? How long have you been in like the entertainment business?

Kaileen: 1:52

so ever since I was really young I've kind of liked things that were more performance-based dance, ice skating, all those kind of things, theater.

Genevieve: 2:00

Um then I started going to our good friend chanel's studio when I was around, I want to say um eight seven eight and uh, and when we say chanel, we're talking about the chanel gray, like the, the manager to the young stars, the manager and my manager too yeah, hello, I love her.

Kaileen: 2:22

So basically I started going to her studio and there I started a musical theater program and after that I just kind of did a little showcase and got my first agent manager, and it's been since then.

Genevieve: 2:34

That's so awesome. What happens in a showcase?

Kaileen: 2:38

So it's a long like before COVID. We used to audition in person, so I'm not sure they do them anymore. But it's basically where in your acting class that you I usually go like every week or whatever um a scene that you've been practicing with somebody else. You go on one day there's like a bunch of agents, managers, just talent, maybe casting directors even, and they're all in a room and then you just do that one scene that you've been practicing for a long time with the other person and you just see who's interested, they contact chanel, they have everybody's like headshot in a book and stuff like that. Um, I haven't done one since. I was probably like I want to say like 11, so I don't know how it is now with covid, but I, that's how I started so cool.

Genevieve: 3:23

Do you remember at 11, like were you nervous to do those?

Kaileen: 3:27

um, I really I've done a few and it at first I was nervous because it's just a room with a bunch of, like, older people it's just you and one one other person, or sometimes it's like a monologue and you're by yourself. But um, in this case I always had somebody with me and it was it was mostly just for fun. After I did a couple of them, I was like, okay, well, just show them what my personality is about, and stuff like that.

Genevieve: 3:51

That's so good. I just watched something where somebody was just saying try not to think of it so much like an audition, but just an opportunity to just do a show.

Kaileen: 3:59

Yeah, it's just to show them hey, this is what I love to do. It's just to show them like, hey, this is what I love to do. And if you're interested.

Genevieve: 4:07

You know, here I am Good for you, which is you could only be so smart and cool in our lives as a teenager. Like, hey, this is me, like me, or not? Easier said than done, right, but so OK. So I want to fast forward to this show on Netflix so you guys can watch two seasons of the show on Netflix now called I Woke Up a Vampire, and Kylene is the star of the show and it's so cool, like your face was up there, like it on the home screen for like ever. I mean just huge and so fun. So what was that audition like?

Kaileen: 4:41

Because you auditioned during COVID, or ish right audition, like because you auditioned during covid or ish right. So this was kind of a little bit after covid 2022 where they're trying to get back into auditioning, because I do remember during covid, auditioning was just kind of like they didn't really know what they're gonna go, where they were gonna go with it. So, uh, this is when they started introducing self tapes and I was very new to it. So I went to chanel's house and she coached me and we filmed it. Atapes and I was very new to it. So I went to Chanel's house and she coached me and we filmed it at her house and it was just kind of like a thing where you just record the video, send it in and there's just a lot of waiting yeah, oh my gosh, so much waiting, so that's so cool.

Genevieve: 5:16

And Chanel's an amazing coach too. Oh yeah, she's the best. Yeah, she's awesome. So, um, that's so great, okay, so a lot of times for a show like that big, you're gonna star in it. They'll do callbacks where you'll do, like a chemistry read yeah, but you didn't have that.

Kaileen: 5:32

Yeah, I know it was a super strange experience for me because prior to COVID I hadn't really booked anything too big and nothing you know really, yeah, big production wise, so I wasn't really familiar with the audition process further than like callbacks and stuff and like chemistry reads. I was just like I had no idea. So now that everything was also transitioning to zoom and online and all those things, I was even more confused, right. So, getting this call of like possibly being on hold for something, I was like okay, well, there'll be a callback, I I guess Right. And then there never was. And then I guess there was supposed to be a chemistry read and there never was. And then one day I just you know my flight information.

Kaileen: 6:19

I just I was. I got on a Zoom, and then there was the producer who was like you're the star of the show.

Genevieve: 6:25

And I was like oh my gosh, that's amazing.

Kaileen: 6:33

I was literally in tears. I was like so like what is going on here? Because you know the audition process, especially for like casting a show. It just takes so long because you have to find every character, and so I had auditioned like a month or like a month and a half before I even knew I got the job oh, so wait a long time before you even heard they were interested.

Kaileen: 6:49

I remember, I remember I did the audition and I completely forgot, honestly, because you just do so many, right. And then I got a call from chanel to my me, my mom, like hey, we're just, no, don't get too crazy, but we're waiting, um, to see if they're like gonna be a callback or something, but they're interested. And then after that I was just I didn't hear anything after that. So I was like, oh okay, you know, not everything's for everybody, yeah, but then she not actually tricked me. So, as you like, as I said, there's a lot of auditions in between this audition process. So I was just doing so many at the time and there was one audition I had done the week before she don't coach me and she called me. She's like, oh, we need, like you got a call back for like a different character, so like let's hop on the zoom, whatever.

Kaileen: 7:36

And I was at school. So I was like, okay, and I was genuinely so confused why I was going on a zoom at school. So I go into this little room like nobody's there and I get on the zoo and it's the producer, tommy lynch, for the other for the show. I woke up a vampire and I thought I'd been um going on a callback for a different show. So I was like completely like caught off guard. And then it was him and I was like, oh my gosh, it's this and it was just.

Genevieve: 8:04

It was so crazy oh, wow, oh my gosh, okay, so you get there. I love this. You find out that you booked the job and then did you do it? Was it in LA or where did you shoot?

Kaileen: 8:14

So I found out, I booked the job and then a little bit after that, I realized, oh, it's going to be in Canada, oh, wow, so I never I traveled out of the country like one time prior, and so I was really excited somewhere I never even thought I would even visit Right. And really excited somewhere I never even thought I would even visit right. And now it's like one of my favorite places, oh wow, yeah. So, uh, we were shooting in toronto, but it was a little bit further from the city, so it was really pretty like it was just like a little like an abandoned school and they made like they built the set off of it. Oh, wow, and. And we filmed a lot on location too. So I was just exploring every day. It was so much fun. Oh my God. So did your mom go with you the whole?

Genevieve: 8:55

time.

Kaileen: 8:55

Yeah. So my siblings and my mom went with me. Oh, wow, yeah. And then towards the end, because it was a long period of time how long it was like six months, wow. So I was there for a while. Yeah while, yeah, were you already homeschooling at the time? So at that time I was not homeschooled, okay, and luckily my, my middle school was, um, pretty lenient about it because there had been other actor kids and stuff like that.

Genevieve: 9:20

So, uh, with my set teacher, we just figured it out right, yeah, so when you, when you book a job and you're a minor, you have a set teacher. It's a requirement, and so how many, how often were you with the set teacher?

Kaileen: 9:34

I don't remember the exact requirement, like for how many hours a day? Um, I most of it. We shot in the summer, so, oh good, only we only like I think it was three months we're at to do school, and it was like after we would do like a block of like scenes and then I would just go straight to like doing my work for as long as I could, and then I would go back on set and then I would go back off and as soon as I would go to school.

Genevieve: 9:59

Wow.

Kaileen: 9:59

Yeah, so there was like filming school, you lazy bums.

Genevieve: 10:03

What did you do today? No, I'm just kidding. That is so cool. Oh my gosh, OK, so shooting Cool. Oh my gosh, Okay, so shooting. So you had never been on a show and here you are doing the lead.

Kaileen: 10:13

Yeah.

Genevieve: 10:14

What quickly, like what are some things that you learned about, like that you hadn't even thought about?

Kaileen: 10:20

So I'd seen like behind-the-scenes things before so I wasn't completely oblivious to like the whole set life. Yeah, but we did not. As I said, we shot on location a lot and our set was kind of different because they built it out of an abandoned school rather than a sound stage.

Kaileen: 10:37

So, um, a couple things that kind of caught me was how many people work on a set is it's incredible, right? There's so many people, especially with minors on set, looking after you, asking you for all these things, and you're just like, oh my goodness, there's so many people, right. Um, it's a little overwhelming at first when I was there, but after I kind of got the hang of it and thankfully everybody was just so kind and like they were just like helping me out the entire time. Yeah, did you have?

Genevieve: 11:06

to do like blocking. You know like you have to hit a certain yeah, so a couple things.

Kaileen: 11:11

I mean, there was a lot of stunts on the show, so there was even more people than a lot of people, because you have the stunt coordinators, like all these people for safety and yeah. So we would like go, we would practice the scene like just, you know, with us like on the like some chairs, we'd read out the lines, maybe whatever, and then they call us to set and we had blocking. So basically we run the whole scene and we just like the cameras, you know, choose their position, and then we tape it where we're supposed to stand, what we're supposed to grab, who we're supposed to look at, and then they fix the cameras for a little bit, and then we go and we wait, and then they maybe like touch up hair makeup, and then we go back and we'll film it.

Genevieve: 11:51

Wow, that is so cool. Oh my gosh. So you obviously made a lot of friends on set, I would think. Are you still in touch with anybody from that show?

Kaileen: 11:59

The friends I made on set were honestly incredible. Everybody was just so welcoming, like it was. It's a different community for the actors in Canada, it's very small, so thankfully they were so welcoming. And this is something that, like is going to go down in my history, in my brain, because I remember at the first we only had one table read. It was for the first episode and this is when I first met the other cast members.

Kaileen: 12:24

I never met them prior and me, my co-star, nico Chechi, we sat next to each other and we just started talking about the script. You know're a little shy at first. You know it's just meeting somebody new, right, but after that I was like, okay, this is gonna be good. You know, I have to warm up to them. I'm very like. I would say I'm a little bit introverted, a little shy, definitely. I would say so like, um, meeting new people to me is just a little much.

Kaileen: 12:50

But on the it was, it was this day and everybody talks about it on set to the, especially the producers and directors, on the first scene me and nico ever filmed together, it was like they had thought that me and him knew each other for years, like the way it just clicked so instantly, like so we just realized so many things about us. We're so, we had so many things in common and like our personalities literally matched, so it was so insane. So we call each other like our twin flame, like we're best friends, and I, yeah, and I go back to canada and I visit him and oh yeah, I love that oh my gosh, shout out to nico we love you too.

Genevieve: 13:28

That is so cool. Oh my gosh, so okay. So just fast forwarding to now it's out. Um, now it's on netflix. It's available. How long did you have to wait after you finish shooting to like? It's available now and I can tell my friends well, after we finished shooting, like 2022.

Kaileen: 13:49

I think it was October. Wait, yeah, maybe like late October. So, um, it actually came out surprisingly faster than I thought, um, considering all the special effects, but it was a couple months, I will say. And then, yeah, the first season was 2023, the end of 2023 so like during, like halloween season.

Genevieve: 14:12

Oh yeah, perfect, I know, did you? Oh my gosh. So did you have people like telling you like, oh my gosh, did?

Kaileen: 14:18

I saw you on netflix that like didn't know, um yeah so I had never told anybody that I was an actor, like none of my friends or anything like that. Uh, it was strictly like my family and so, um, yeah, it was very it was easy to keep a secret. Yeah, um, because, like when I went to, can I just my friends, like they didn't believe it, they're like you're on a show, like I didn't know you were an actor and I'm like well, I am.

Kaileen: 14:41

So we'll see, you know. But um, yes, I hadn't told anybody and it was like my freshman year of high school and I remember the show came out and like, people in my class are asking me, like, oh like, are you from the show? And I made this joke with my friend that like I have a doppelganger and it's not me and people just believe me.

Kaileen: 15:02

I just thought it was the funniest thing, oh my gosh. And the first. I think it was the first week it came out. I like went to Disneyland or something, and people were just like bombarding me. It was so. It was so cute, though, because there's like these little kids and they're like mom, mom, it's the girl from I will go vampire. And their mom's like no, it's not whatever. Like keep walking, and I was like I waved to them and I was like, yes, it is, it was so cute, oh my gosh.

Genevieve: 15:27

Well, I absolutely love that. It's so good to hear this and it's like inspiring, because people listening to this are want that, you know, and so, um, just I don't know if there's, is there anything that you could say to somebody who's maybe thinking like I want to try, like I think I have that thing, or like I think my kid has that thing. You know, it's almost like they just think it's not possible, you know well, anything's possible you have to try literally just try.

Kaileen: 15:57

But um a piece of advice I would give to anybody like inspired to go into acting or entertainment in general.

Kaileen: 16:05

Um, I mean, eight-year-old me would have never thought I'd be here now, genuinely right, um, but I would say you have to just be consistent and you have to know that, like if it's really what you want, and to give it your priority, and you have to give it your all. Like it will take, like you'll have like 60, 100 auditions before you get something right, and even when it's something small, like you just have to give it like all of your effort and every audition has to be your best audition right, that's.

Genevieve: 16:37

That is excellent advice. You've heard it here first. Oh my gosh, you're amazing. Thank you so much. I'm so excited too. We're like I'm making her film today. We're recording this cover song and the harmony sounds so good that I'm making her film today. We're recording this cover song and the harmony sounds so good that I'm making her film it. So she hates me, but she loves me. It's okay. You're great. Thank you so much for this. And you guys can keep up with Kylie. What's your Instagram and everything? It's just Kylie Chang all across, yes, everywhere. So keep up with her at Kyleen Chang. And, yes, that is our episode. You guys, I'm so happy. Thank you so much. Thank you, yes. Yes, I know I'm gonna be successful.