Kelli Berglund stars as Bree on LAB RATS, which airs on Disney XD. With the show in its second season, we got to chat with Kelli about everything from how her career began to what super power she’d want to have. Keep reading to find out what she had to say!
How did you become interested in acting?
I got interested in acting when I was about nine years old. I was a dancer my whole life and acting was something that I really wanted to get into. I was participating in this little school production where there were a few dance routines I got to do. There was this talent agent there and she came up to my mom and asked if she would be fine with her recommending us to an agency. It just started off as a little hobby of mine at first; going to auditions here and there, particularly dance auditions. Then I worked my way into commercial auditions, television auditions and movie auditions. Year by year, it just got more serious for me. I grew to love it so much.
Is dancing something that you still get to do?
It is! I’ve been a dancer now for 13 years and I still enjoy doing that. I go to dance classes sometimes on the weekends or during the week after work, so I definitely still want to keep it in my life even though I have a really busy schedule with acting and everything that comes with it. Dance is still a really big part of my life and it’s definitely a passion of mine. I always think it’ll be really cool one day to incorporate my dance into a role or something, kind of like STEP UP. I think that would be a dream come true!
Do you think that dance has helped you with acting in any way?
Oh yeah, definitely! I think a big thing it’s helped me with is just memorization in general because I’ve been memorizing dances and different choreography for years and years and years. Being on the show, it’s really helped me memorize my lines because I’m so used to memorizing things all the time.
Do you share any similarities with your character?
I definitely do. I’m a very outgoing person, just like Bree is. She wants to make friends, she’s really nice to everybody, she just wants to fit in and she’s going to have her insecurities as well. Going into a new school sometimes or being the new kid going into a new grade, I have my insecurities as well. A lot of the time I was insecure because I was the shortest one in the class! So I have things like that to deal with so I can kind of relate to Bree in that way because I have been the new kid in school before so I know what that feels like.
Is there a particular episode of season two that was your favorite to film?
The hour-long special that we have coming up later this season was definitely my favourite one to film. There were a lot of really cool things that were involved in that. We got to use our new mission suits in that episode! I had a really cool fight scene in that episode that I got to film, so I’m really looking forward to everyone seeing that and kinda show how tough Bree really is and have her show off a little bit. That one’s going to be really fun and the storyline is so cool. There are some new characters involved and settings that we have to go to. It was so much fun to film and I’m so excited to see it!
Do you get to do your own stunts on LAB RATS?
I do most of them. There are a few where a stunt person has to be involved. There’s one episode where I have to fall down the school stairs and obviously they’re not going to let me hurt myself, so that’s when they have to bring in a stunt person. For major things like that they’ll bring in someone, but in all the fight scenes, it’s all me, which is really awesome!
How does it feel being the only girl on set?
They’re like my family and they’re like my brothers in real life and I felt that the moment we all met each other at the screen test for LAB RATS. We have great chemistry and we’re always hanging out and stuff. They make me feel really welcome as the only girl, which is nice.
Of all the Lab Rats, whose powers would you want to have?
That’s so hard! I think they’re all really cool, but if I had to pick one I would honestly pick the super speed. I think that could really benefit me. Especially getting ready in the morning, I need that because I take probably three hours to get ready…exaggerating a little bit, but I do take a while! So I think if I were able to do that in two seconds that would save me a lot of time!
Thanks, Kelli!
Be sure to check out LAB RATS on Disney XD!