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Getting to know Kelly Lynn Reiter a Shining Star!

Nuala Quinn-Barton talks to Kelly Lynn Reiter about her Industry success, her varied Film roles and her aspirations for the future.

KELLY LYNN REITER
Kelly, I’m so excited to talk to you, you’ve achieved so much at such a young age! Congratulations on your upcoming release of your new action film, ‘Deadlock’, alongside Bruce Willis and Patrick Muldoon — in theaters and streaming, December 3rd!

Thank you, I am super excited about ‘Deadlock’! I play the role of Amy Rakestraw, directly opposite Bruce Willis! Bruce plays the character of Ron Whitlock, whose son is wrongly killed in an accidental drug raid. Ron goes on a warpath fueled by vengeance, and enlists a gang of mercenaries to hold the town’s water dam hostage, threatening to flood the entire town unless his demands are met. I play a small town, down to earth, genuine girl who works as a welder in the dam. When Ron takes over the dam Amy is, unfortunately, trapped inside with the gang.

I love my role of Amy! ‘Deadlock’ is a heavily male cast and I really enjoyed being a strong female character who could hold her own. She isn’t intimidated by male energy; she embraces it. She is no nonsense, no bs, no fluff. I loved going through hair and makeup every morning and coming out powerful and dirt-covered. My hair went back in a braid, grease was rubbed in, dirt smeared on my face, and a blue welding jumpsuit loosely thrown over my body. It was GREAT. This role demanded intense acting ability with no eyelash batting or seductive or humorous notes to distract from the delivery. This is exactly the type of role I want!                     

                                                                                                                    DEADLOCK

                                                 KELLY LYNN REITER ‘DEADLOCK’

So you it sounds like you really enjoyed the shoot?

Yes, it’s my best memory ever playing opposite such an iconic, legendary actor as Bruce Willis!

Saban Films is distributing ‘Deadlock’ which was shot in a small town of Southern Georgia, Cordele. The cast and crew were beyond wonderful — friendly, welcoming, and treated me like family. The town and locals were just as warm. Cordele and the people there have made a lasting impact on me, along with Striplings general store — that place was great! Bruce was incredible to work with. He greeted me with a hug at the top of the morning, all smiles, and we chatted away between takes. He is one of the nicest people I have ever met. The director, Jared Cohn, is a wonderful human and a very close friend of mine. He really knocked it out of the park. I’m really proud of this one and I can’t wait for everyone to see it.

It reminded me of another role I played as a very prominent female character in a traditional man’s world. The movie is called ‘Amityville Uprising,’ which will be released by Lionsgate in the next 6 months or so. It is based on the original Amityville franchise. I play Officer Nina Rossi who is a New York cop in a predominantly male precinct. In both ‘Deadlock’ and ‘Amityville Uprising’, there were very few female characters and I loved holding my own in powerful positions and being very much “one of the guys.” That is my natural personality and I felt right at home.

As well as ‘Deadlock’ and ‘Amityville Uprising’, you have been very busy shooting lately! Tell me a little about your upcoming releases ‘Maneater’, and ‘Apartment 213’ as well…

Recently, I have been shooting basically nonstop. For the past year or so I have been living on different sets, going from one to another. I did a super fun action shark movie in Maui called ‘Maneater’. I was a lead across from the iconic Trace Adkins (country singer & actor), Shane West , and Nicky Whelan. It was about a group of friends who go on a tropical vacation to get their minds away from the stresses in life — but the trip goes incredibly wrong! Between the cast and the scenery of our shooting locations, it really was paradise. I mean MAUI! Come on! We would get cast dinners at local Hawaiian restaurants and we sailed the Hawaiian sea on a catamaran for the Fourth of July. I really felt like this cast became a family. I still keep in touch with everyone — we have all become good friends.

‘Apartment 213’ was a wonderful experience as well. That one was my most recent film of this lot. It was shot in New Mexico, which was my first time being there. I was the female lead across from well known UFC Fighter Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone. I play the role of Karen, who is Greg Rourke’s (played by Cowboy Cerrone) nextdoor neighbor in their apartment complex.

It is a very layered script that definitely keeps you on the edge of your seat and messes with your mind. I think of it as a psychological thriller, making you question and rethink everything you are seeing and hearing. Cowboy and I got a lot of bonding on this, as there were many times during this shoot I was in full body prosthetics, wearing contacts that offered zero visibility. The cast and crew had to wheel me to set in a wheelchair since I couldn’t actually see anything. They would have to position me exactly where I needed to be for blocking, and then escort me off set after we wrapped a scene. This was definitely a new experience for me since I hadn’t filmed before in zero visibility contacts or full body prosthetics before. I had done colored contacts, but that is SO different. It was so weird doing scenes and acting not being able to see anything or know where to reference objects.

That must have been an incredible experience, and now I hear you’ve just returned from more adventures in Serbia?

Yes, two days ago I returned from Serbia where I was filming for 5 weeks. Funny enough, I went to shoot one film, and while being there I filmed another one as well, ‘My Son Hunter’ a highly anticipated biopic portraying the life of Hunter Biden.

The second one, ‘Slotherhouse’ I shot simultaneously! I told my family, “It was a two for one special.” I do love that this industry takes me places I have never been and might not otherwise think to go. It expands my horizons and educates me on the world… I have learned so many things that they just don’t teach you in school. I’m really curious where the sails will take me next and I know I’m up for the adventure.                                                               MY SON HUNTER

There is nothing that compares to acting for me. There is no feeling like being on set.

Wow, that is just amazing Kelly you are full of surprises! Tell me about films you already have released also so people can check out your work!

Yes absolutely! I have a long history of fun, independent movie experience! Two films of mine that would be fun to check out are ‘Nation’s Fire’ and ‘Holy Terror

In ‘Holy Terror’ I played the lead role of Molly. She was extremely pivotal to the plotline and story. Molly is a young mother who believes her deceased son isn’t at peace. She asks a medium to make contact and accidentally invites a vengeful demon into her home. Molly was a very layered, multi-dimensional role. I portrayed a young woman in traumatic pain and emotional turmoil. I enjoyed the depth I got to bring to her.                                       NATION’S FIRE

‘Nation’s Fire’ was on the opposite end of the storyline spectrum. It is an action-packed, high intensity biker film filled with fast paced fight scenes and motorcycles. I played the role of J-Girl, the vice president of a female biker family, Heaven’s Fire. Between hearing southern accents, shooting pool during our downtime, and hearing the roars of motorcycle engines, I walked on set and felt like I was right back home where I grew up in rural North Carolina. ‘Nation’s Fire’ was shot in both California and Florida. At the end of the movie there is a scene of hundreds of bikers on a unity ride, riding together on an open highway — and they were all real bikers who came out to ride together.                                                                   HOLY TERROR

The entire FL biker community wanted to be part of this project and they wholeheartedly believed it in and jumped behind it. It is so heartwarming to see the progression from pieces of paper to an entire community riding together, making a script come alive.

I was also the writer and performer of the theme song of this film. I specifically wrote ‘Open Road’ for ‘Nation’s Fire’, and it rolls over the end credits of the film as well as is spliced throughout the movie. I also performed it live in a bar scene of the film. Acting is definitely my first love, but I have always loved music as well.

                                                                OPEN ROAD

I also showcase my fighting in this film. My father was part owner of a kwoon (like a DOJO) growing up and I trained under him. I am trained in Kajukenbo (karate-judo-kenpo-boxing) with a special focus on weapons and loved the different attributes of my talents J-Girl was able to bring to life. I got to act, sing, play guitar, compose a song, and fight all in one movie!

                                                          KELLY LYNN REITER

Tell me what you’re looking forward to working on in the future?

I am looking forward to seeing what happens next! Dragonman: The Adventures of Luke Starr, is a fantasy I am extremely excited about. I have never done the fantasy genre before and have always wanted to. I am a huge fantasy fan — Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Star Trek. I don’t think there is anything quite like fantasy. The originality it takes to create new worlds, new realms, and new species is incredible. Then going from reading it on a sheet of paper to seeing how it comes to life would be MAGICAL. There is no escape as deep as fantasy where you can make a whole new world from the ground up and invite the audience to see something they never have before.                                      DRAGONMAN

Kelly, I think you are MAGICAL and you have a stellar career ahead of you, I can’t wait to catch up with you again soon!

Nuala Quinn-Barton

November 14th 2021

Nuala Quinn-Barton

Nuala Barton is an accomplished Executive, Producer, Financier and Consultant with more than 30 years of success across the visual, and entertainment arts.

 

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