Meet the Cast of Walk Two Moons - Kyle Johnson

Another awesome Walk Two Moons cast member? How can that be? Well, it just IS! I am not done introducing you to our hard working actors so you have three more to meet before opening on November 5^th. We thank them all for their dedication, and hope you enjoy getting to know a little more about them. Up now – a fairly new face to ASC and the city of Chicago, Kyle Johnson, who plays The Lunatic, River Bank Boy and Brother!

ASC: Are there any proverbs or sayings that hold special meaning for you?

Kyle: This isn’t from my childhood, but it’s definitely something that has stuck with me from the time I first read it.  Stephen King once said:

“Fault always lies in the same place.  With him weak enough to lay the blame.”  This stuck with me because growing up my father always preached the same thing about being honest and taking responsibility, and it really resonated and I like to think that I am the kind of person who accepts the responsibility for my own actions every day.

ASC: Which character in the story do you most associate with?

Kyle: I think I associate most with Sal.  I hadn’t read the book before the first time I read the script, and when Sal started walking down the hill to the bus, realization smacked me in the face like a ton of bricks.  Though I was much older, my mother died unexpectedly while I was in high school, and I realized that many of the things that Sal had been feeling and experiencing, I had gone through as well.

ASC: Did you have a wild imagination as a child like Phoebe?

Kyle: I have always been a very practical person.  As a child, my father always introduced me to his co-workers as 10 going on 50, and I think that speaks volumes about my personality.  I remember being upset as a child when my brother/friends would play with toys in a way that was contrary to how they were intended.  I still am baffled by how I became an actor with the piddling imagination that I have, haha.

ASC: What moment in the show has had the deepest impact on you?

Spoiler Alert, this response might reveal details about the end of the show!!!!

Kyle: I would say the moment when Sal tells the police officer about her mother.  It is still difficult for me to speak about my own experience today, and Sal shows this immense stoic strength in the middle of all the craziness around her to go from denial, to grief, to acceptance in a single scene that I find incredibly beautiful.

ASC: Have you ever been on a road trip? If so, tell us about it. If not, what is a road trip you’d like to take?

Kyle: I have never been on a true road trip, but while living in Asia, some friends and I took a vacation to Malaysia.  We flew into Kuala Lumpur, and had to bus across Malaysia to get to a ferry to take us to the island we were staying on.  In total, were traveled more than 24 hours non-stop, and by the time we went to bed we were no longer the best of friends, haha.  But when we woke up to the gorgeous view of the South Pacific, we were perfectly fine with each other for the rest of the week.

ASC: Did you read the novel? If so, how did the novel help you develop your character?

Kyle: At this time I have not yet read the novel, but I did just finish downloading it to my Kindle!  I’m excited for my bus rides to work for the next couple of days!

ASC: What connection do you have to your character?

Kyle: I think of the characters I play, I connect with Ben the most.  I say this because as a fully-grown adult, I still often have the sense of humor of a 13 year old boy, and find the dumbest jokes to be the funniest.  Just the other day at work, one of my co-workers and I got into a highlighter war, and spent the bulk of the day trying to mark each other when we weren’t paying attention.

ASC: What do you think the message of this story is?

Kyle: I hope that after seeing this show, and Sal’s growth throughout her journey, our younger audience realizes that it is ok to talk about things that they might not feel emotionally capable of discussing.  Everyone has had some kind of tragedy/struggle in life, and it doesn’t make you weak to show emotion because of it.  I hope that Sal’s acceptance and newfound ability to tell her story provides a mirror for at least one of our audience members to feel a little bit better about sharing what they might be hiding inside.  As far as Phoebe goes, I believe we’ve all learned by now not to jump to conclusions about things, and she has kindly provided yet another example of why not, haha.

ASC: What are you hoping someone will ask you after the show?

Kyle: I hope someone asks me what Ben wrote in his journal.  I’ve already been contemplating this, and I plan on sitting down and writing a journal for him.  It’s kind of silly, but I think it will help me with figuring Ben out.  I also hope they ask me anything about The Lunatic/Mike.  Mike is still a bit of a mystery to me, and I think he’s a mysterious character in the show.  I look forward to discovering more and more about him.

Thank you Kyle! We can’t wait to see you get all Lunatic-ish. As always, special thanks to Merissa STEWART for doing the interviewing. We’ll post another actor’s interview on Monday, so be sure to check back for more!