Hollywood North: Genevieve Kang loves playing the moral compass of Netflix's Locke and Key
Credit to Author: Stuart Derdeyn| Date: Thu, 27 Feb 2020 19:10:29 +0000
Locke & Key is the latest graphic novel to get a live action makeover. The Netflix series developed from the IDW Publishing comic book series by writer Joe Hill and illustrator Gabriel Rodriguez debuted on Feb. 7, 2020.
The show garnered solid to excellent reviews, with critics noting how it managed to work in elements of previous Netflix hits into its mix.
Like the Haunting of Hill House, there is a haunted house. Like Stranger Things, all manner of supernatural shenanigans occur. Like seemingly every story involving a cast of young people in a challenging setting — Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events; The Day Will Come, Orphan, etc. — there is a trauma of parental death to deal with.
But Locke & Key tosses in demonic tech in the shape of some very powerful keys to the standard spooky home trope, which delivers a cool new spin on a familiar storyline.
The series charts the three Locke kids, Tyler (Connor Jessup), Kinsey (Emilia Jones) and Bode (Jackson Robert Scott) and their mother Nina Locke (Darby Stanchfield) rebuilding their lives after the shocking murder of their father Rendell Locke (Bill Heck), a teacher who died at the hands of a disturbed student. Relocating from Seattle to the tiny town of Matheson, Massachusetts, the family moves into the creepy Locke family home. It’s long been rumoured to be evil.
The comic series, which started in 2008, had a number of false starts trying to come to the screen. Three different pilots were filmed at three different studios between 2010 and 2018, as well as an ambitious film trilogy officially announced at the 2014 Comic Con that went nowhere. After Hulu passed on the series, Netflix picked it up. Developed by Carlton Cuse (Lost, Bates Motel), Meredith Averill (The Haunting of Hill House) and Aron Eli Coleite, season one had 10 episodes. It is generally assumed that there will be a second season.
Fans of the comic and many viewers have expressed that more horror and less Buffy/Sabrina-like teen drama would make for a better show. But one thing everyone is agreed upon is that the casting for the show is spot on.
Vancouver-based actor Genevieve Kang (The Strain, Run This Town) plays Jackie Veda in Locke & Key. The love interest of Tyler Locke (Connor Jessup), the oldest son of the Locke family, Jackie is one of the most resolute and consistent characters.
“When I got the role, the showrunner (Meredith Averill) took me aside and said Jackie is the moral compass of the whole show, and I feel that way,” said Kang. “It’s interesting, because a lot of the roles I had prior to this were more often the mean girl. But this role is strong-willed, empathetic and confident and willing to call people out on their BS, which I can relate to.”
There is plenty of work for Jackie to do in that department too. Locke & Key has no shortage of bad choices amplified by teen angst and emotional hyperbole. Jackie is the brunt of some really cruel turns, but manages to see the bigger picture better than most. Of course, that’s all relative when there are bloodthirsty otherworldly forces at play.
Kang says the cast jokes that they need a second season just to deal with all the keys.
“There are definitely more keys and the writers have added others that weren’t in the graphic novels, so fans have been calling for a second season just to deal with that aspect of things,” she said. “Honestly, I think it could go on for quite a long time to open and close all of those doors and stories. I hope so.”
Since relocating to Toronto after high school in Kamloops, Kang has worked steadily, but only really focused full time on acting in the past three years. That has often meant being cast in roles in the monster-horror-thriller genre that once filled broadcast waves and now loads up streaming services. She said it’s something that she sort of fell into.
“Honestly, I would like to shift things in my career into more realistic storytelling, as I kind of fell into things such as the Strain and Shadow Hunters,” she said. “But Locke & Key is kind of a really nice balance between the two, because it has this supernatural, horror, fantasy elements but it ties-in with some very realistic stuff about the family and friend dynamics.”
Like any working actor, she has kept options open. Besides going to theatre school, she has an MA in communications from a joint program through York and Ryerson universities and also achieved a diploma in holistic nutrition. This last item was a passion project.
“I went to nutrition school because I didn’t want to work in retail or restaurants to support my acting career anymore,” she said. “So I went to nutrition school and started my own health and wellness business that I could run whilst still going out for auditions or during shoots. It’s kind of retired for the moment, but I still feel very passionate about health and wellness and may one day return to it.”
Catch Kang preparing a Paleo chicken and roasted veggie collard wrap preparation video up on YouTube and expect to see her in appearing in projects coming out of bustling Hollywood North. Netflix is likely to announce more Locke & Key news shortly.