San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Kiersey Clemons co-stars with Nick Offerman in “Hearts Beat Louder.”
Add Kiersey Clemons to the ranks of actresses — like Gal Gadot, Emma Stone and Julie Newmar — who have played comic book characters, invading a traditionally male bastion. Clemons, who made Variety’s list of “10 Actors to Watch for 2017,” has been cast as Iris West in the Warner Bros. action film “The Flash,” due out in two years.
A quick tutorial for those not up on the canon: Iris appears in DC Comics as the girlfriend and later wife of Barry Allen, the alter ego of the superhero the Flash. But Iris is not one to just stand by her man. She’s frequently portrayed as a kick-ass journalist, a fellow spirit of comic book heroine Brenda Starr’s, continually getting herself in and out of danger.
“I didn’t grow up reading comic books,” Clemons said by phone the other day. “I am aware of all the superheroes, but I wasn’t a super fan of any one of them. I didn’t know much of Iris’ story until I read for the part and had to understand what was going on.”
She has yet to learn what part of Iris’ long life — she first appeared in the strip in October 1956 — the writers will focus
Hearts Beat Loud
(PG-13) opens Friday, June 15, in Bay Area theaters.
on. “But I am really excited to find out and am ready for it no matter what part it is. I love Ezra Miller (who appears as the Flash) and am excited to work with him and to hang out with him.”
The 24-year-old actress is benefiting from the abundance of TV shows and the ebbing of an earlier stigma attached to a movie actor appearing in them. Clemons had recurring roles in TBS’ “Angie Tribeca” and the comedy series “Transparent,” in between making 10 movies, including the Sundance hit “Dope” and her latest one, “Hearts Beat Loud.”
This indie film from director Brett Hailey (“The Hero,” “I’ll See You in My Dreams”) is about a single dad, an owner of a vintage record shop, and his self-assured daughter, whose shared love of music help them through a difficult transition as she prepares to leave for college. Hailey wrote the father role for Nick Offerman of “Parks and Recreation.”
The script appealed to Clemons partly because of its heavy use of music as father and daughter bond anew while recording their own songs. “I was able to sing them live and also record them, which is fun,” said Clemons, whose own musical talent is on display in music videos by Lady Gaga, DJ Snake and Trey Songz.
She also appreciated that the film is about a relationship between a dad and his daughter instead of the more typical mother-daughter alliance seen in films. “That’s not a story that often comes my way.”
Offerman explained, in a follow-up phone call, that his character is trying to get his daughter to “have more fun and shirk her responsibilities and feed my dreams and desires rather than pay attention to her needs.”
Meeting Clemons at the first band rehearsal, he found her to be “such a dynamic and exceptional personality, I immediately began to be the dorky dad and try to get her to think I am cool. I started to text her and tried to impress her by using the slang that kids are using. I haven’t succeeded yet.
“What I really love about this film,” Offerman continued, “is that there is no triumphant story points based on the fact that her mom was black and she is biracial (as Clemons is) or that she is in a gay relationship. They are just facts of life, as they are for normal people.” Clemons drew on her “really close relationship” to her own father. The two of them like to banter
of them like to banter much the way she and Offerman do in the movie. Her father was in the military, necessitating relocating several times until the family finally settled in Redondo Beach when Kiersey was 12.
Being in Southern California reinforced Clemons’ ambition to act. Her mother sent her for vocal and modeling lessons and encouraged her to perform in local theater.
“I think she figured I would get it out of my system and get me going in a better direction, but that didn’t work. It was an itch I needed to scratch,” she said.
At 17 she already had an agent and landed her first television role on the Disney Channel’s “Shake it Up!”
“I was auditioning for the Disney Channel all the time,” she recalled. “It was kind of the thing you did to try to get on one of their shows. I remember the casting director for ‘Shake it Up’ was really helpful and wanted me to get the part. Someone believing in me gave me confidence.”
Confidence in herself continues to be a winning trait that has landed her other roles and even helped her enjoy walking the red carpet, which can be agony for actors.
“For me the creative part is hanging out with my hair stylist and picking out an outfit and getting ready. I try to put myself in the state of mind that I am going to a school dance. I make it fun,” she said.