This year, Kate Godfrey was seen playing Ashlyn Thomas in the short film Leading Man, which has been showing at film festivals in recent months, with the film receiving great success including winning the Most Moving Narrative Award at the 2024 Tribeca Film Festival. It has been announced that Kate will be in the cast of the upcoming Hulu series Paradise playing the daughter of Julianne Nicholson’s character, and her previous projects have included starring as Ruby in the Nickelodeon series Warped!, with which she filmed a crossover episode in Series 2 of Side Hustle alongside other shows Danger Force, That Girl Lay Lay and Young Dylan, and she was a lead regular in the revival of Nickelodeon’s All That, filming in front of a live studio audience. As well as acting, Kate is a student at UCLA. Kate answered our questions about playing Ashlyn Thomas in short film Leading Man, what she’s looking forward to for the upcoming Hulu series Paradise and working with Nickelodeon on Warped! and All That.
You star as Ashlyn Thomas in this year’s short film Leading Man, can you tell us about the film and your character?
Leading Man shows the journey of my character, Ash, and how she copes with the death of her mother while also navigating how to correctly and comfortably express her gender. Leading Man confronts a lot of topics around gender that often aren’t seen on screen.
How was it reading the Leading Man script for the first time and what was Ash like to play?
I think playing Ash helped me become a better and more empathetic person. I knew about gender dysphoria before the film, but to take a few weeks and sit in that feeling helped me understand it in a way I couldn’t before. I am very grateful to the film and its directors Amanda Michaels and Whitney Houser for this.
What has it been like attending film festivals in recent months and seeing the film’s success, including winning the Most Moving Narrative Award at the 2024 Tribeca Film Festival?
It has been so exciting! I have been able to travel with my friends and family to go see it which has been fun. Seeing the whole cast and crew again to celebrate it has been really rewarding as well. I wasn’t expecting any awards, so it was great.
Also this year, you played Kate in short film The End of the Party, what was this like to work on?
A few of my friends were putting this together and it ended up going to Tribeca! It was very fun to work on, and I really like the director, Kate Sullivan.
It has been announced that you will be in the cast of the upcoming Hulu series Paradise as Hadley – daughter of Julianne Nicholson’s character, what are you looking forward to for the release of the series?
Honestly, I am most excited just to watch the show. The script had so many plot twists it was hard to put down. The cast is so great – I’m excited to see their work on screen.
Is there anything you can tell us about Paradise and your time filming as Hadley?
Julianne Nicholson is the nicest person ever. Working with her was pretty insane, I learned so much from her even though I was only on set for a few days. I hope to be like her as an actor.
How did you find the experience starring in the Nickelodeon series Warped! as Ruby and how was it getting into character?
Playing Ruby was really fun and way more physical than I thought. She reminded me a bit of Phoebe from Friends in how random she could be. Ruby was definitely my dream character to play, so I’m lucky I got to do that. Getting into character was pretty easy, because I think as a kid I was a lot like Ruby, so I just used that.
What did you enjoy most being part of Warped! and what was it like working with the rest of the cast?
I mostly enjoyed the cast, honestly. They are still some of my closest friends today. It didn’t really feel like work because I was always surrounded by my friends.
How was it filming the crossover episode in Series 2 of Side Hustle with Danger Force, That Girl Lay Lay and Young Dylan?
I have always wanted to film a giant crossover episode. I always loved them on Disney and Nickelodeon growing up, and this one was crazy because there were so many shows on it. It was fun to hang out with the other Nickelodeon kids because our lives were so similar. We got to go to the Side Hustle set for a few weeks to film this one so that was fun.
For your first major on-screen project, you were a regular on the revival of Nickelodeon’s All That, do you have any favourite memories from filming the show that you can tell us about?
A lot of my best memories from All That were with my friend, Nathan Janak. We actually met before we both booked that show in acting class and were best friends there. We were always on some kind of weird new adventure when we were not rehearsing or filming.
What was it like performing to a live studio audience and how did you prepare for the comedy sketches?
It was a lot like theatre, if you messed up you just kind of found a way to keep going. We would prep all week and then do our live show on Fridays. It was always so nerve-racking and exciting. Before the show aired, live shows were one of the only ways we would see feedback, so that was really exciting for all of us.
Where does your love of acting come from and how did you get into it?
My love of acting comes from childhood, I used to do community theatre when I was little and I loved it.
What are some of your favourite films and TV shows to watch?
I love Modern Family, Hacks, and The Bear right now. All so good.
How do you like to spend your free time?
I am a student at UCLA right now, so I am usually in class or studying when I am not acting. I have been really into cooking and baking recently as well.
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