Meet Alex Kyle Young

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Alex Kyle Young. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alex Kyle, thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?

Honestly, I have been chasing my career in the entertainment industry since I was doubt 16. I will not lie, there have been moments in the past that I have questioned my resilience, but quickly determined that I would be incomplete if I was not doing something film and television related. There have been so many times that I have been knocked down or pushed back, but I just have to remind myself to get back up and push forward. I love leading a team to create, and finding spots that everyone can shine both for themselves and the project as a whole. Making someone feel something when they watch a project I help create, that is what keeps me going.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

Being raised in a small town in Texas, I definitely had never heard of a “multi-hyphanite” or even understood what it was. I stared behind the camera at Texas High School at our film and television program called TigerVision. I would travel around with the football team and film the games every Friday night for my last three years of high school. Then I would wake up the next morning and work our two back to back live local high school sports show that we produced.

Being from Texarkana, TX, a film degree wasn’t considered “traditional or recommended.” I actually graduated from the University of North Texas with a BS in Criminal Justice and a certification in Criminalistics. But before my last year of college, I realized my heart was fully in the entertainment industry, for better or for worse. I decided to transition to “in front” of the camera around this time by diving into stand up comedy and scene study classes. In the end, I decided I really do love both “sides” of the camera. There is something about producing and directing that gets me excited, taking the words on the page and turning into something visual and tangible. Something that moves someone to feel something emotionally, whatever that emotion should be. Or to give someone an escape from reality, even for just a moment. That’s what I love!

I moved to Los Angeles 12 years ago now, and have definitely skinned my knees many a time. Plenty of “no’s” and “not now’s” as an actor as we all get. I studied for years and knocked on many, many doors. Then I decided I would make it for myself, and started to produce my own projects and materials. I produced a short film in 2017 called “Glass” that won over 20 awards at 14 different international film festivals. After that, I directed and produced a short called “Hyde & Seek” that was also lucky enough to win several awards. That one had some interesting complications of its own due to the fact that we went into post when the pandemic happened, and could not do any reshoots.

Now, I am working with a team of incredibly creative individuals to produce a feature film. I am costarring in and directing the film as well. It has been an incredible journey and we have had great feedback thus far following our first table read of the full script last month. I continue to audition in the mean time, but greatly look forward to bringing this feature film to life in the next year.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

I am not sure if I heard this from someone or combined a bunch of training and studies over the years myself, but I personally follow something I call the “Three P’s.”

Practice, Patience & Persistence.

Practice your craft, be patient with the process, and do not give up!

Other great advice I have been told over the years is to not compare yourself to others doing what you want to do. It is about doing as much preparation as possible, so that when your time to shine does come, you are ready to go. And take everything with a grain of salt. Yes, take classes, work on your craft and listen to feedback. But just know that the people giving you those notes are giving you their perspective based on their experience, they are not necessarily the “end all be all” knowledge that you might be seeking.

What’s been one of your main areas of growth this year?

I would definitely say that I have been battling Imposter Syndrome for many years. Lately, I have been pushing back harder than ever. I am learning to be more kind and supportive to myself. I am also learning that the small wins are just as important as the big wins. Be it with acting or directing, I am learning to trust my gut based on my many years of practice and study. I am also learning that not everything has to be perfect, and that a lot of beauty is found in imperfections.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @alexkyleyoung

Image Credits

Cameron Radice, Rachel Breitag, Caitlyn Elizabeth