This past March 16th was the series finale of the ABC Family show, Kyle XY. Just two days after the finale, I spoke with Kyle XY Actress, Magda Apanowicz.
I had a few questions of my own about Kyle XY, her new television show Caprica, and more. Although I wanted the Kyle XY fans to get a chance to ask their questions too so I opened up the floor. Luckily, Magda had just ended her day when we spoke and had enough time to get to both my questions and all of the fan questions. Enjoy!
How was your day?
It was good. The last couple of days have been pretty stressful. I had a callback today from an audition on Monday. That was good. I am really nervous in auditions. It was for a feature called Sorority War. It films in Vancouver so that would be cool to go from one thing to another with Caprica. We start shooting in July and end in February.
So you are a series regular on the show, Caprica but who do you play?
The girl who becomes the first cylon, I am her best friend. Everyone comes to me to figure out what is going on, I am like the middle man.
Are you a regular viewer of Battlestar Galactica?
I had never seen it before. Then I was cast in Caprica and made a conscious decision not to watch it. I did not want to be skewed by it, thinking “oh this is how it should be.” I have seen Season 1 and it was intense. I have seen a couple of episodes of Season 5 because they screen it every Friday at the Universal lot. We have so much to live up to. It is very intimidating.
I wouldn’t be surprised if this show was a panel at Comic Con.
Oh yea, they plan on bringing the cast there next year. I have always wanted to go to Comic Con. I am such a nerd when it comes to Sci Fi and I love Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel.
So moving onto what everyone knows you for…Kyle XY, when did you shoot the last episode of Kyle XY?
We shot it in August. I remember getting cast in Caprica and thinking, “I want to do Kyle XY too” so I did 2 episodes of Kyle XY and went to shoot a month and a half of Caprica and then the last few episodes of Kyle XY. It was a lot of work going back and forth but that is the way I love it.
How did you feel about the series finale, with so many unanswered questions?
I know, I am pretty bummed. I watched that show like a fan. Every time it came on, I was like, “Oh my God” because I always forgot. You go through the read through, shoot it, and you know what it is about. Then you totally forget what the episode is about so when you watch it on TV, you are like “Oh my God. That just happened!” I am pretty choked though because I thought that Season 4, they would have gotten really in depth into a really good story. I thought that Season 2 was really solid and I thought that Season 4 would have been really solid as well. It is such a shame that we really did not get the chance to do that. Also, I love that character. I feel so lucky that I got to play Andy, because she is so freakin’ cool.
You touched on my next question which is do you have a favorite episode, season, or storyline from Kyle XY?
Season 2 definitely by far is my favorite. The writing was so incredible. I think my favorite…there are a couple of favorites. I really liked the episode where Andy is trying prep Josh for his date and then he goes on a date with her. I also really liked the episode where they are at the Hands on a Hybrid Cancer Benefit and it comes out that she has Cancer. They have their first kiss. That was really cool. I really like shooting that one. There were so many really good moments in that season. I also really liked the prom episode where Andy got to wear a really pretty dress and come down in that “She’s All That” kind of thing. I got to practice for about a week or two on hip hop for our dance number. That was pretty crazy, trying to learn how to do hip hop in heels and a dress. If you ever want a challenge in life, do that.
Were there a lot of rewrites for the show?
Season 2, they would have changes a week ahead of time. Season 3 they were kind of confused as to where they wanted to go sometimes so there were more rewrites and less time to prepare. I like both ways. I like when you have the script for a week and when you get it the night before.
Do you find comedic timing to be challenging or do you consider yourself naturally funny?
I do think that it is challenging because I am not funny whatsoever. I remember thinking that it was such a comedic role and I was so not meant for it but it ended up making my comedic muscles practice more. You didn’t really have a choice not to be funny. But I don’t try to make other people laugh. I just keep in mind that Andy is offbeat and says things a bit differently than others. I definitely like the challenge with the comedy and drama. I got to do everything all of the time. It was nice to have the whole package of a character.
What film school did you attend and for how long did you attend?
I went to Vancouver Film School. It was a one year program and it was really intense. I don’t highly recommend it when you are young and don’t know yourself that well. You should know who you are before you go into it because it can be a very scary environment. I am glad that I went because years later, it clicked what they were trying to teach me.
Are you a college graduate?
I got into acting when I was in high school at about 15 years old. Then, when I graduated I took some time away from the industry and went to film school. After film school I went back into auditioning. It has kind of been a crazy ride.
Fan Questions (Mainly from Kylexy.net)
What is the one thing you wish your character Andy could have done on Kyle XY? No matter how wild and crazy. – Janey
It is kind of intense and a sad answer but I honestly wanted her to die from the cancer. I don’t know why. I don’t think that now but at the time I did when she was leaving the show. It is such a touchy subject and it would have been nice to show a way of dealing with death, grieving. There are not enough examples of that. I don’t want to give people false hope and I always hated the idea that Kyle saved me. I wanted to believe that Andy did it and her strength pulled her through into remission and just dealing with it.
Can you give us some little behind the scenes or bloopers of some Andy and Josh scenes? – Rhys
Jean-Luc (Bilodeau) is very funny. We stumbled over our lines so that always ended up being funny. One time we shot a scene where he gave me a Popsicle and for some reason, we could not get it right. They ended up using a scene where it broke and fell out of his mouth. That wasn’t on purpose.
Would we have ever gotten to see your moms and the Tragers interact? – Rhys
I don’t think so. I wanted to. It seems like they would be crazy, cool moms. They might have brought them in at least one scene if there were a season 4 but I don’t know.
Do you stay up to date with WWE Wrestling? – Jay
No, but I do like to wrestle. Growing up, my brother and I would fight all the time and his friends would come over and I would fight them. That was fun but for some reason I don’t like the show.
How did you feel about the writers rushing Josh and Andy’s relationship along so quickly in the prom episode? It seemed so out of character for Andy to do that. – Karen
I don’t know. I didn’t think they rushed it too much. Josh and Andy really loved each other so for them, it didn’t seem like rushing, and it seemed like the right moment. When the right moment happens, the right moment really does happen. I think she was scared because she was young to lose her virginity but she still really cared about him. I don’t think that she regret it later on in life. I think that she still would have been happy that she waited for someone that she loved very much.
How much of a challenge was it to play the character of Andy? – Patty
It was really challenging. Especially when you are dealing with something like cancer and there were jokes made about it, there is a fine line. It is not a funny subject but it is the way Andy deals with the situation, she covers it up with humor. I really had to dwell into some of the jokes that I was pissed off when I read them. I had to see why a girl like this would say something like that. That was difficult.
Is your character Andy very different from you? – Patty
I would say that there are bits of Andy in me and at times I can act like her. I can be really silly but honestly I think that she is stronger than me.
Josh looks like a good kisser, so what was it like kissing him? – Kellie
Jean-Luc is adorable and he is a talented actor and yes, he is a great kisser. We are friends and we have never dated. I get that question too so, we are just friends.
What’s your favorite hobby? – Europa
Scrap booking. I love scrap booking. I spend so much money on materials and albums. I have been scrap booking since my mom took me to a workshop. I was the only kid there but I loved it. They have it every month and we talk about what is going on in everyone’s lives and stuff. It is amazing. I see how creative I can get with each page. It is fun. Your personality comes out in the pages. With mine, it looks like a bunch of colors vomited on a page. The more you do it, the more you step out of the box.
Do you enjoy playing video games like your character in Kyle XY? – Fan
Yes, I do. I love old school Nintendo and Super Nintendo. I love Wii. I played Rock Band a couple of days ago and I was awful because I cannot sing. It was fun though. I played the drums and I am not coordinated so that did not work out well. I am only really good at the bass and drums. The bass is easy.
What was it like working on a show with such a huge fan base worldwide? – Ahmad, Saudi Arabia
It is pretty amazing getting letters from America to Turkey, France, Germany, Poland, Canada, Guatemala, etc… It is insane and I think, “Wow, all of these people watch it and really enjoy it.”
When was the first time you realized that the show was big internationally? Michael, England
After filming the first season, I started getting fan mail from my agent’s office and then I opened a Myspace account for fans to ask me questions. So many questions came in on there and I realized, “Whoa, a lot of people watch this show.” Then I started hearing from family in Poland saying that I was great on Kyle XY. That was great.
How often have you visited Poland? – HTWW
I have visited quite a few times. Growing up I went a lot. I actually dropped out of high school in Grade 9 and moved to Poland for almost a year. I lived with family over there. I got picked on a lot in high school and I was done with being ostracized. I found more about who I was and what I wanted in life when I was in Poland. I wanted to graduate and I wanted to graduate with my class so I came back to Canada, finished all of my classes and graduated on time. I haven’t been back since then unfortunately because then I got into acting and life got crazy. I have been wanting to go back so bad.
What is your favorite genre when it comes to acting? – Alexandra
I would have to say drama and sci fi. I love the sci fi genre. I love that you can tell amazing stories through fantastical ideas. You can watch something and everyone gets something different out of it.
For more Magda, visit her MySpace, here.
You can also send fan mail to:
Magda Apanowicz
Lucas Talent Inc.
#6 – 1238 Homer Street
Vancouver, BC V6B 2Y5
Hi Melody!
Thanks so much for a great interview with Magda! We appreciate your asking our questions for one of our favorite actresses. We wish her great success and want to continue to keep up with her career. You’re the best!
Thanks so much Janey, I am glad you enjoyed the interview!
Thank you Melody for this very interesting and enjoyable interview. I’m so happy Magda replied to the fan’s questions too !
Your welcome. Yeah, she was a pleasure to talk to.
Thanks for the interview. On one hand, I am kind of sad (selfishly, i know!) to hear of cast members taking on other shows, because it makes me think that there’s 0% chance of this ever continuing as a show…but maybe we can get closure some other way?
Come on networks, can’t you see that even a mini-series or a made-for-tv movie to tie up loose ends would be a ratings boom? I’m still holding out hope, no matter what I hear in the news. Like the song (Earlimart – “Before It Gets Better”) featured in the finale episode says, “It’s gonna get worse, before it gets better”