Kara Royster is most recognisable now as Yvonne from Pretty Little Liars but that’s not all she’s been working on recently. With a role in Disney’s KC Undercover and a film called Mono coming up, Kara will be a face we come to see more and more. The exciting actress has so much drive and talks to us about her most challenging roles so far, her time on Pretty Little Liars and who she’d LOVE to work with next.
“In five years time I hope to just be doing what I love. I’d hope to have a lot of different platforms doing makeup and doing a lot of different projects.”
Taylor Magazine: How did you get into acting?
Kara Royster: I grew up in West Palm Beach, Florida and when I was little my sister was in acting. She would prop me up like I was a teddy bear and she really was always talking about it and was writing plays. I never wanted to do anything else.
Taylor Magazine: Which one of the characters have you found the most challenging to play?
Kara Royster: I’d say Pretty Little Liars was actually super fun to do and a little bit of a challenge only because of how much story has come before me. Coming in as a new love interest in season 7 is difficult with the fans and things like that but they’ve been so welcoming and the cast have been welcoming too. To come in as a new love interest and still be likeable and still be friends with the ex is different. Usually when you come in as a new love interest it becomes a battle, so I’m glad Pretty Little Liars took the approach to be a little more ‘girl power’ about the whole thing and a little bit more mature. I thought that was an interesting take on it.
Taylor Magazine: What’s it been like working on the show? How does it feel to be part of it?
Kara Royster: It’s absolutely incredible, I’m a huge fan of the show. I haven’t missed an episode and I watched it live. To be a massive fan of the show and then to come on in the final season as we know it is incredible and it’s been so much fun. I was doing the live tweets the other day and was thinking I used to do this from my couch so it’s like a dream come true.
Taylor Magazine: What will be next for you after you finish?
Kara Royster: I do a lot of theatre because that’s where I got my start. When you’re in theatre you do your own makeup so I like this too. I just like being in the acting business. I’m very much into make-up that’s one of my other big passions and I did it professionally for a little while. I’d love to get back into it. I’ll be doing a movie called ‘Before You Say I Do’ so there’s still some stuff in the pipes.
Taylor Magazine: When you go for a role, what is it that you look for?
Kara: When I go in, I just look for a person. I’m trying to find someone who’s relatable. I like that in Mono I play Christina Madison who is just the typical mean girl queen bee but I wanted it to be tangible… I wanted someone to be like, “Oh my god that reminds me of my bully in my school,” and I wanted the audience to pick up on that.
Taylor Magazine: What about roles that you’d like to go for in the future?
Kara Royster: I would love to do action movies. In KC Undercover I got a bit of a taste of doing stunt work. I’d love to play a bad ass character like Tomb Raider and maybe take the Angelina Jolie route, and just be tough. I’ve been mean and I’ve been nice but I haven’t been tough.
Taylor Magazine: What do you do in your spare time?
Kara Royster: I love to do absolutely nothing with people that I love. I love to just sit on the couch and do nothing with cats and my family. You’ll find me, my mum, my sisters and our cats just watching something, probably Pretty Little Liars. That is just a perfect night to me.
Taylor Magazine: What is the best part of your career?
Kara Royster: I just enjoy creating something and getting excited about it. Going through such an amazing process, creating the characters and just being on set doing the work, then getting to show the product off. I love the little projects… working on them and showcasing it, I think it’s so much fun.
Taylor Magazine: Do you have an ideal person you’d like to collaborate with?
Kara Royster: I wanna work with Nick Jonas. I’ve worked with him once before briefly on Scream Queens but I’d love to work with him a bunch. Also Elizabeth Banks, she’s my favourite actress. I think that she can do everything. She’s hilarious, she can do drama.
Taylor Magazine: When you think about when you first started getting into acting, was there anyone you were a massive fan of who inspired you?
Kara Royster: When I was younger, I looked up to Will Smith.
Taylor Magazine: What is your favourite thing about social media?
Kara Royster: My favourite thing about social media is just doing something cool and letting everyone in it.
Taylor Magazine: What’s your favourite platform?
Kara Royster: Definitely Instagram, I’m a big picture taker. I grew up with my mum and everything we did we had to take a million pictures. She’d always make a stop every time we went to SeaWorld.
Taylor Magazine:What TV shows are you watching at the moment?
Kara Royster: What TV shows have I been watching? Game Of Thrones! Religiously. Yeah, it’s gotta be my favourite. I watch a lot of reality TV, lots of Housewives and then Game of Thrones.
Taylor Magazine: Favourite movie of all time?
Kara Royster: Would have to be Labyrinth.
Taylor Magazine:Where do you hope to be in the next 5 years?
Kara Royster: In five years time I hope to just be doing what I love. I’d hope to have a lot of different platforms doing makeup and doing a lot of different projects. Acting always comes number one so I’d hope to be working on lots of fun projects.
Taylor Magazine: What could you tell us that’s completely random about you?
Kara Royster: A random fact about me is… I can solve a rubik’s cube.
