Fil-Am actor Kieran Tamondong made the most of opportunity on ‘Dahmer’

This story is published in partnership with SoJannelleTV, a magazine show about Filipinos in North America

For Kieran Tamondong, everything began with taking a wild swing at an acting career. He and his father had a free day so they decided to spend it at an open call audition for a Skechers commercial. There were over a dozen other aspiring actors there, which dwindled his odds of being picked even more. When it came time to perform some acrobatic gymnastic flips for the production team, the Filipino-American pulled from his deep martial arts background as a multiple-time karate champion and landed the moves. 

And the role.

For two days he was on set, learning the arduous process that goes into producing a 30-second commercial clip. From that moment, he was hooked on acting.

“Those two days were just so mesmerizing for me like it was just a complete shock and different from what I was so used to. I just knew from those two days like this is a job that I could completely enjoy doing for the rest of my life and I could never get tired of,” said Tamondong in an interview with Filipino-American media pioneer So Jannelle Perkins for So Jannelle TV, which airs US-wide on cable channels The Filipino Channel (TFC) and ANC; as well as on local Southern CA digital channel KNET 25.1.

He landed a few other roles as a child actor, including a guest spot on an NBC talent show called Little Big Shots where he impressed Steve Harvey with his martial arts moves, but it wasn’t until he got out of his comfort zone that he landed his breakout role.

The role called for partial nudity, which Tamondong’s mother Michelle saw as a challenge for him to push his barriers as a performer. Tamondong, who was not yet 21, had to seek advice from his father Patrick about how to pretend to be inebriated as he had never drank before. 

The role turned out to be for the hit Netflix mini-series Dahmer, where Tamondong would portray Konerak Sinthasomphone, the Laotian-American tragic figure who gets dragged into the web of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer and was murdered at age 14. Tamondong landed the role, and even earned praise from the show’s creator Ryan Murphy for his performance.

Instead of directing him away from such a mature role, Kieran’s parents supported him in his big break.

“I was excited, but I think I was excited more to see how he acted versus the story because we read so much about it so I knew what was going to happen. It was just about how he would portray it,” recalled Michelle.

“At the end of that episode we shut it down, we just wanted to think about it. We looked at each other and said, ‘He did good.’”

Kieran had the same reaction.

“The first time we watched it on the big screen, I was so nervous because every time I act I’m a little hesitant on the way that I provided my lines. But when it came up I thought, this is probably the best thing I’ve ever done so far,” he said.

Preparing to act on such a big project meant getting serious about his craft. Kieran began by researching Laotian culture, and looking at the history of the notorious serial killer. He was provided a culture coordinator to teach him about Laotian linguistics and culture, which taught him that the Southeast Asian country’s culture was similar to Filipino culture because of how family- and respect-oriented they are.

He also made lasting connections on the set, including with Brayden Maniago, a fellow Filipino-American actor who played his brother on the show. 

“I found out that he’s Filipino and he has so many similarities to me. It was just a complete brotherhood between two actors. And I think it really strengthened both of us, we’re both really good friends now because of that show,” said Tamondong.

Now age 20, Tamondong is keeping a full schedule in life, staying kinesiology at California State University Northridge with the goal of becoming a physical therapist one day. He’s now become a sensei at his local dojo, imparting the wisdom he has accrued since he first picked up martial arts at age five. He’s also building up his physique more with bodybuilding, while staying active with volleyball, and snowboarding. And he’s still pursuing his acting dream, with the hope of melding his passions for the martial arts and acting into a major role one day.

“I want to either work in some sort of superhero film or some action film. I want to go back into my martial arts with acting and use that and propel my acting with martial arts in synchrony. A blockbuster movie would be awesome,” said Tamondong.  – Jannelle So Productions | Rappler.com

Rappler is partnering with Jannelle So Productions Inc (JSP), founded by Filipino-American pioneer and Los Angeles-based journalist Jannelle So, to publish video and written stories from SoJannelleTV about the journeys, successes, and challenges of Filipinos living in America.

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