For Cloverdale teen Dylan Kingwell, there are benefits of acting in a TV series filmed so close to home.
“It’s pretty cool,” the 16-year-old said with a laugh. “I got to wake up at 6:30 for a 7 o’clock call time, so that’s nice.”
With Dylan playing Teenage Clark, some scenes for The CW’s “Superman & Lois” drama are filmed on the “Smallville” town backlot built on Cloverdale Fairgrounds, on 64th Avenue near 177B Street.
Over the past decade-plus, Dylan has played hockey in the arena located not far from there, with the Cloverdale Minor association.
He’s filmed a couple of episodes of “Superman & Lois,” including the pilot that debuted in February.
“My first day on set was early December 2020,” Dylan explained. “It’s a recurring role, so how often I’m on set just depends on the episode. That’s how it is with recurring roles; you never really know if you’re going to be in a lot or a little, it’s just how it goes with this type of role.”
(Story continues below videos of Dylan Kingwell in “Superman & Lois” scenes)
WATCH: On ‘Superman & Lois,’ Cloverdale-based actor Dylan Kingwell plays close to home as Teenage Clark (in "harvest festival" scene below).
— Tom Zillich (@TomZillich) March 31, 2021
He's also captain of his @CloverdaleMHA team. @cwsupermanlois @CloverdaleRodeo #SurreyBC @WhatsFilming
STORY: https://t.co/2UAe6eoKN1 pic.twitter.com/8fMHlB9159
His work on the show’s Episode 5 aired on March 23, and the pilot featured a harvest festival scene filmed on the Cloverdale backlot.
“A scene in the pilot was also done at the graveyard, the church and cemetery that’s right by there as well,” Dylan said.
He’s had an “incredible” experience working with cast and crew on “Superman & Lois,” the latest TV series on Dylan’s growing acting resume.
“With a show like this there are lots of people on set who grew up with superhero-type shows,” he noted. “I sense a lot of passion from the writers and directors and everyone, in grips and lighting, everything. It’s a great atmosphere and everyone is so kind. For me, as someone who was a comic book fan once upon a time, it’s definitely cool to feel part of that in a way.”
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Among other TV shows, Dylan has also acted on The CW’s “The 100” (as Luca) and Netflix’s “A Series of Unfortunate Events” (as Quigley and Duncan Quagmire, brothers of triplets).
“So far those are the two shows where I’ve attracted the most attention online, the ones most people are fans of on Instagram,” said Dylan, who has 433,000 followers on that social media platform.
“‘The 100’ wrapped March 14 last year, just right before everything went down (due to the pandemic), so we were pretty lucky because we could have faced major closures when we only had a few days of filming left,” he recalled. “That would have been a pretty big pain, to say the least.”
Captain of his U18 hockey team last season, Dylan would have embraced a role on the “Mighty Ducks” reboot filmed locally, but it wasn’t meant to be.
“I never got to audition for that because I was a little out of their age group, a little too old,” Dylan explained. “It would definitely be cool to play hockey for a role one day. The closest I’ve been is I did an almond commercial where we skated on the ice, but that was awhile ago, for Blue Diamond almonds. The container was shaped like a puck so that’s why we were on the ice.”
Looking ahead, Dylan has signed on for another acting role, but it’s a secret for now.
“I’d love to tell you but I’m not really able to mention it,” he said, adding: “It is a show being shot locally.”
Dylan’s bio on imdb.com says he’s been acting since the age of four. Other roles have included playing Sam Thomas in Netflix’s “The Baby-sitters Club,” as Victor in the A&E series “The Returned,” and Steve Murphy/Evan Gallico on ABC’s “The Good Doctor.”
“I really only do TV shows now, and I’d like to do movies,” Dylan noted. “I’m auditioning for only TV shows and movies right now, and I sort of stopped doing commercials, once I started booking TV, really.”
tom.zillich@surreynowleader.com
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