Exclusive Interview with Continuum’s Sean Michael Kyer

Recent LEO Award winner Sean Kyer may be only 15, but he’s certainly made his way already. You may recognize the young actor as Kiera Cameron’s son in “Continuum”, as well as in his role as Pockets in “When Calls The Heart” and the son of a spooky mom in “Supernatural.” The Vancouver-based actor has been showcasing his talents since he was two-years-old, and has since tallied up over 22 credits, three of which are recurring lead roles in popular TV shows.

I saw that, especially for your age, you’ve really racked up a pretty good number of roles already, including some recurring ones, ones on Continuum, When Calls The Heart and Supernatural–so do you have any favorite roles, or memories that you want to tell us about?

Let’s see here…When I first started Continuum, I guess I looked a lot younger–I would’ve been about 10 years old, maybe 9–and when we first started I was young. And then after I missed Season 3 and came back for Season 4, the writer Simon Barry, he looked at me and he asked for my name, and I was, “Oh, hi, I’m Sean.” And he was like, “What?! You’re Sean?!” (laughs) I looked so different, he was like, “No way.” So that was kind of funny.

Is there any particular genre that you prefer as an actor or, what would your dream role be, if you could pick one?

Well, I definitely like doing comedic roles. I like comedy, and they’re really fun to do. But something I’ve just kind of always wanted to do, which I think would just be sort of fun, would be an action/adventure, Mission Impossible type of movie. I think that would be quite fun.

Definitely. Five or ten years down the road, where do you hope to see yourself and your career?

I’m not sure what the future holds for me. I’m just sort of going down the path, seeing what comes along.

If there was a particular career path besides acting that you could take, just hypothetically, what do you think you would pursue besides it?

A surgeon. That could be kind of fun, I guess.

That’s one way to describe it.

(laughs) Yeah. I also really like directing movies. We have a film class at our school and I like directing and filming my own little shorts.

That actually leads right into my next question, I was going to ask if you have any hobbies or passions aside from acting, and it sounds like directing is one of them. Do you have any others?

Yeah, making short videos and stuff with my friends on the computer. I also really like photography, that’s a passion of mine. I like taking photos of scenery and things in nature.

Oh wow. Do you ever put any of your stuff online, like on Instagram or anything?

Definitely! My Instagram has lots of my photography photos, and then I’ve been submitting some of my photos to competitions.

Awesome. So, when you’re preparing for roles, especially heavier ones like– “Everything and Everyone”— do you have any tricks or methods that you go by when you’re getting ready?

A lot of the times you’ll be cast in something that really suits your personality. So a lot of the time I’ll do roles where it’s like a person who’s a happy person, in dramatic roles, it’s usually–what I’ve been cast in the most is where something unfortunate has happened to me, but I’m still sort of a happy person. And that sort of relates a lot to me, so when I’m getting into those heavier roles, it’s just a lot of tapping into my inner sadness I guess.

Are there any particular movies, or shows, or even actors that really inspired you most to become an actor yourself, or that have really just stuck with you over time?

I always liked the Indiana Jones series, and I really like Harrison Ford, I also like the Mission Impossible stuff, and Tom Cruise as well. Indiana Jones is probably one of the first movies I ever watched, so that movie’s always stuck with me. With Mission Impossible, I just like the special effects and that’s sort of why I want to do the action genre in the future, maybe it’s just cause I watched that movie. (laughs).

Those are good answers! And so, I’ve heard that you’ve racked up a number of awards and nominations over time, including a Leo award most recently, right?

Yeah!!!

Congratulations.

Thank you very much!

What does it feel like when you get that kind of news?

I think it’s great, I just love how actors are being recognized for their work. I think it’s awesome that I get to win something for something that I like doing. It’s really fun going to all these different events, even if they’re just small acting events, it’s just fun to dress up, go with your friends  and hang out, and if you win, that’s just the icing on the top.

Definitely. And I guess my last question would be, since the name of our website is Talk Nerdy With Us, we like to ask everybody: what is something that you are nerdy about or that you nerd-out over?

Video games, I guess. I built my own computer, so I guess I’m nerdy about computers. (laughs).

What?! That’s so cool!

(laughs) Yeah.

What kind of video games do you like?

I like a large genre of video games. Like action, mysteries, sometimes I find myself playing like–not really old games, but older games, just cause a lot of my friends they–I actually met a person in Toronto, he always suggests video games to me but they’re really old, I guess vintage video games, if that’s even a thing.

*Note: to see Sean’s photography and more, check out his Instagram (seankyer) or follow him on Twitter @SeanKyer.