Get to Know Actress KiKi Layne With These 10 Facts
Starlet KiKi Layne is on her way to becoming the next big thing in Hollywood. The last three years of Layne’s career have been nothing short of remarkable. In 2018, she landed a starring role in the Oscar-nominated film directed by Barry Jenkins If Beale Street Could Talk, which earned her three award nominations. Last year, the 29-year-old actress snagged another major role in the movie The Old Guard alongside Charlize Theron.
Next, Layne will be seen in Coming 2 America, the long awaited sequel to the 1988 rom-com movie with actor Eddie Murphy releasing on Amazon Prime on March 5. It’s only been a few years since the actress made her on-screen debut, but she has already proved that she's the next big thing. Ahead of Coming 2 America's release, L’OFFICIEL shares 11 interesting facts you should know about Layne.
She started acting at seven years old
Layne can't pinpoint a specific moment or a single show or movie that made her develop an interest in acting, but she admits to having fallen in love with the craft at a very young age. By the age of seven she was ready to give it a shot and asked her parents to enroll her in a local performing arts school to start learning the basics.
She's an Ohio native
Though Layne relocated to Los Angeles in 2018 after getting her role in If Beale Street Could Talk, the actress is a proud Cincinnati, Ohio native.
She has a degree in acting
Layne is a natural, but she also has a degree to prove her acting chops. Layne attended DePaul University in Chicago, where she was part of the theater program and earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in acting.
She's a model
Layne is relatively new to the film industry, but on top of her acting work, she has also gained some professional modeling experience. In 2019 she was one of the faces for a Kate Spade advertising campaign. She's definitely a natural when it comes to being in front of a camera.
She doesn't give into typecasting
Like many other actors, and specifically actors of color, Layne doesn't want to be typecasted, and she isn't afraid to speak out about it. As she said in an interview with MTV last year, “I love to play in all different types of worlds and roles, but the ultimate goal that I have for myself and my career is to be able to step into roles and worlds where, historically, Hollywood has left Black actresses out of the conversation.”
She loves being the superhero
After playing an immortal superhero in The Old Guard, Layne realized that she connected with another character with superpowers: Storm from the X-Men comics. In an interview with Rolling Stotne, she calls the Marvel hero a "goddess," sharing that she'd love to play her.
She is a big Brandy fan
Layne was a big fan of the late '90s to early 2000s show Moesha, one of the most popular black sitcoms starring singer Brandy Norwood as a teenage girl named Moesha who was trying to navigate the ups and downs of life in the age of adolescence. Seeing a young Black girl on TV was a big source of inspiration that made Layne feel like she could accomplish the same thing.
She always wanted to work with film director Gina Prince-Bythewood
Known for writing and directing movies like Love & Basketball and The Secret Life of Bees, film director Gina Prince-Bythewood is such a well respected figure in the movie industry for Black representation that when Layne found out that Prince-Bythewood would also be directing The Old Guard, she already knew she wanted to be a part of it.
She loves fashion
Besides killing it on-screen, starlet Layne has served a lot of stunning red carpet looks following her Oscar-nominated film If Beale Street Could Talk. The actress sees fashion as a powerful tool to show off her personality and one she has great appreciation for as you can tell from her outfits.
Her favorite movie as a child was The Liong King
In an interview with Vanity Fair in 2018, Layne admitted that she was constantly acting when growing up and that her favorite movie as a child was The Lion King. She said, "I used to watch it every day and create these extravagant stories with my Barbies and stuffed animals."
