V Girls: Kathryn Newton
An actress and golf pro plays the long game.
An actress and golf pro plays the long game.
For Kathryn Newton, life in front of the camera began at the age of fuve on the soap opera All My Children. That early start has led to 15 years of film and television experience: a small part in Bad Teacher with Cameron Diaz, the lead in Paranormal Activity 4, and a recurring role on the beloved CW thriller Supernatural. But it’s her turn as Reese Witherspoon’s rebellious daughter on HBO’s megahit Big Little Lies that has finally placed her firmly in the limelight.
“What I learned from Reese is why she’s such a big star,” says Newton. “All the big stars came to the show wanting to make the show better. It wasn’t about making themselves better. It was about making everyone else rise up, and it starts from the top and trickles down on set. So, Reese really set the tone. The first scene we did was a really intimate scene at a piano. I swear, I didn’t think I was acting; she was my mom.”
Newton, whose real-life mom was an airline pilot for 20 years, isn’t just an actress, she’s also a high- level golfer. “I was going to try and play as a walk-on at USC, and got Big Little Lies instead,” she reveals. “I still could go pro. To be good at that game is way hard. It’s harder than acting.”
That’s the thing: Newton, who considers Angelina Jolie’s role in Girl, Interrupted her favorite performance, makes acting look easy and natural. She’ll take that instinctive ability with her to Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (costarring Woody Harrelson and Caleb Landry Jones) as well as Greta Gerwig’s solo directorial debut, Lady Bird, later in the year. With so much going on, 2017 is shaping up to be a hole in one.
