Non-binary, multitalented performer Kat Cunning is on a mission to take over the world of entertainment with several new projects.
Born in Gresham, Oregon, Cunning began dancing at three years old and eventually received a BFA in dance at SUNY Purchase in New York. They made their Broadway debut in the Cirque du Soleil show Paramour in 2016.
Television appearances include HBO’s Rap Sh!t and Netflix’s Trinkets.
In the new film Star People, Kat portrays a photographer named Claire, who is obsessed with UFOs after a traumatic sighting in the past. Set in Arizona, the story was inspired by the Phoenix Lights, one of the largest unidentified flying object sightings in history. The project was written and directed by Adam Finberg; Star People is his first feature-length narrative film.
Cunning sings on the soundtrack for Star People and their debut EP Glass Jaw is just on the horizon.
Windy City Times: The last time we spoke was in 2018.
Kat Cunning: A lot has happened since then.
WCT: It was when you played at Metro in Chicago.
KC: That was such an incredible tour. I want to go back there. Take me back!
WCT: Well, you will have to come back to the Windy City with your new music. You have a few tour dates already.
KC: It’s not that far away, so let’s manifest it.
WCT: In our previous interview, you opened up about your mother being part of the LGBTQ+ community.
KC: I am so lucky I got to see her be herself and the people she loved while I was growing up. It was amazing.
WCT: You identify as queer?
KC: Yes. My pronouns are they/them and you can call me Kat.
WCT: Where are you located now, Kat?
KC: I live in LA, but I am never here. I travel to New York often.
WCT: Your new movie, Star People, had some unexpected moments and I teared up at one part.
KC: I love that.
WCT: What led you to the role of Claire in Star People?
KC: I have never played a lead in a feature, so when it came across, I read it and was impressed. This is so touching and this person was written in an interesting way. As far as roles written for female-bodied people, you don’t usually see someone like this. She’s not romantically driven in her life.
When I saw that she drinks Fanta and this is mentioned throughout the script, it was an unusual detail about her, so that stood out. The fact that she is so driven by what she saw as a child with the Phoenix Lights was interesting. It was a real-life incident that was the largest alien sighting in US history.
This happens at the same time she has her first seizure while an argument is occurring at the same time between her parents behind her. This core dramatic event leads her to be a landscape photographer as a guise while searching for aliens and validation of the fact that they are real.
I related to the idea of having a singular focus in a person’s life that nobody can deter them from. I like that she was written to care more about something other than love or having a beautiful life. She was obsessed with what she was doing and I related to that.
WCT: This movie could have gone off the rails and been bad, but it’s very multilayered.
KC: Yes. You hit the nail on the head. It could have been bad, but there are so many things it takes on. It’s a magic trick in combining all of these things that are human experiences with a cast telling a story that is grounded. It never feels like it’s preaching at you, which is one of the things that I appreciate.
WCT: Immigrants have been referred to as aliens in the past. Was that an influence on the writing of Star People?
KC: We didn’t talk explicitly about whether that was intentional or not. Regardless, it’s a beautiful allusion to the way people other themselves from whatever is extraterrestrial and each other. When you see something up close that you fear or project lore onto, then you can see they are just people. I don’t know if that’s how I would feel if I met an alien in real life, but I know that fear in our world is very powerful and dominating over the way we move as a society. It meant so much to be part of a story that gives important representation to that narrative, especially in this time that we couldn’t have predicted when we made this movie.
WCT: There’s representation as far as finding a chosen family in the film as well.
KC: The story is inherently queer in its concept. I love the universal narrative and the queer aspect is not preached to the audience. My queer body is telling this story through a character who has probably never thought about her pronouns, but I hope it’s relatable to anyone watching and can see themselves in her shoes. I hope they don’t feel alienated by my personal queer experience and can see themselves through Claire. I have never played someone with so little opinionated character before in my career.
WCT: McCabe Slye portrayed your brother, Taylor, in Star People with an outstanding performance.
KC: He was incredible. I have a real little brother and he was giving.
WCT: You gave a noticeably well-rounded performance as Claire, even though she’s not always likable.
KC: I appreciate that because I tried to play her as someone who was not a people pleaser. At times, she is a weirdo and other times a badass.
WCT: Talk about your song in the credits, “Constellation.”
KC: The director, Adam, knew I sang, so he told me and Reza Safinia, who wrote the score, to get together and write something. I write music all the time and about five percent of it makes it out into the world. It was so easy to write from Claire’s perspective and we wrote it after the fact.
It makes it fun to watch back. I grew up watching J Lo movies where she was acting and then had a song at the end of the movie. It was a diva moment for me, honestly.
WCT: How was working with the cast of last year’s film, On Swift Horses?
KC: Everyone in that film—Jacob Elordi, Daisy Edgar-Jones and Will Poulter—were the coolest kids and generous actors to work with.
WCT: Talk about your character in the film, Gail.
KC: I love a period piece. My role was small, playing Gail, but she had a huge impact. She is a closeted, queer person living in the 1950s. She is living her best double life. She is fully queer in undercover spaces at night and she has a monster of a husband while living her capitalist republican life during the day.
My presentation gave me the ability to play that dynamic character even though she doesn’t look queer in the ‘50s. Star People and On Swift Horses are two different worlds, which makes it so fun as an actor to jump around.
WCT: I have a feeling the awards are going to come your way.
KC: We are manifesting an EGOT [Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony], honey. Give them all to me…
WCT: You have many talents. You styled yourself for the “Sinderella” video?
KC: Yes, it’s a tiny team. I am so proud to play the man in that story, too. It was my first time in drag. It’s funny to show people that music video because they think it’s just a guy I cast.
The next song on the EP just came out and it’s called “Dancer.” I also worked with and directed the same small team that I did on “Sinderella.” This one is set in a queer Fight Club and Love Lies Bleeding type of world. I couldn’t be prouder of that video.
There are a couple of other singles and it’s a fully visual album, so I have been experimenting with being a director and using this EP to play some of the roles that I haven’t been cast in yet.
I hope my EP inspires others to play with their own presentation and not feel confined in however they are perceived.
WCT: Do you work out a lot? The “Dancer” video was very physical.
KC: I get off on being a method actor, so when I was set to play a boxer in that video, I worked out. I put out a post on social media that said, “Conditions under which I will lift weights: I’m on camera or when four or more hot gays are saying nice things about me.
I am not motivated to be beefy, but when it’s art that I am making, I love transforming.
WCT: What keeps you going after all of these years of performing?
KC: It’s the desire to have an exchange with people. As a singer, I get to feel it directly in live rooms with music in ways that I don’t as an actor. The feeling of changing the energy, altering an opinion or moving the needle on a thought that was unhelpful. I continually make progress on empathizing with others. I get to bridge the gap with people and make it narrower while telling stories that are not often seen.
Star People is an example of telling nuanced stories that don’t seem like they would go together, but then you realize crazy stuff happens to people all the time. If we can broaden the imagination of what real people are like out there in the world, then people feel safer. Especially as a queer person, that’s my agenda to make everyone feel like they belong here.
Star People is out on all major streaming platforms now and keep your eyes on katcunning.com for updates on their growing career.