2014 has been a phenomenal year for Texas-born actress Kelly Frye. Starting off the year playing alongside Greg Kinnear in Rake as his sassy assistant, Frye is now starring as ex-military specialist turned superhero Plastique in the CW’s The Flash. Her bad-ass new role is inspiring girls around the world to go for what they want. Frye talks growing up with comic book fanatics, her love of feminine fashion and her desire to take flight in her exclusive interview with Runway.
You were recently cast as Bette Sans Souci aka Plastique on The CW’s The Flash. Playing a bomb disposal expert in Iraq, what kind of research did you do to prepare yourself for the role?
My oldest brother, Jason, is a huge DC Comics fan. When I told him about booking
Plastique he said, “I can’t believe MY little sister is going to be PLASTIQUE!” I made
sure to learn as much about the original character as I could before filming to make
DC Comic fans proud, especially my brother. Plastique in the TV show is different from
Plastique in the comics. I think people are really going to like her. The writers did an
awesome job adapting the character to fit into the world of the show. Plastique has a
military background on the show and one of the writers, Brooke Eikmeier, was in the
army herself. She was able to give me great advice on set.
Growing up with brothers, were you yourself exposed to comic books as a child? Did you have a favorite?
Comic book characters actually came to life in my home. My brothers created stories about their favorite characters and put on productions all the time. Jason always played Batman and I always wanted to be Batgirl. I definitely knew a lot more about Batman and The Beatles than any of my friends at school.
The benefits of having older brothers. As Plastique, your superpower is turning objects into weapons. That has to come in handy. If you could have any superpower in real life, what would it be?
You know, I’ve been thinking about that a lot. It would be incredible to be fast like The Flash or to be able to create explosives by just touching an object like Plastique, but I’ve always wanted to fly. What an incredible feeling to take off and soar through the sky whenever you want. Yeah, my superpower
would be flight.
Touching on your other roles, you also recently worked on the Fox series Rake alongside Greg Kinnear. Can you tell us a little more about your role as Cindy? Cindy Beck was a load of fun to play. She
was really smart, sassy, wore fab clothes and got frisky with Greg Kinnear’s character,
Keegan Deane. That job was fantastic on so many levels. On Rake, Cindy was Keegan
Deane’s new assistant at Leon & Associates. Keegan wasn’t too sure about working there
until he met Cindy and got the run-down of all the perks of working for the company.
When coming to the law firm, Keegan already had an assistant, Leanne, played by
the amazing Tara Summers. Tara’s character and my character got to butt heads a few
times. Playing Cindy was a great way to kick off 2014.
What has been your most memorable role to date, and what is your dream role?
I’ve had the chance to be a part of quite a few great productions, but joining The Flash has been the most exciting. The opportunity to be a part of a show of this magnitude and to see the audience’s reaction from the beginning has been an amazing gift. The
You are an inspiration to many young women and aspiring actors who want to
play strong roles. How do you stay inspired and motivated?
My mom is a strong woman herself, a constant inspiration and a great motivator. She gave my brothers and me the confidence to go after what we want in life. When my own confidence wavers, I call and ask her to
tell me a few magic stories from our life. I call them “magic stories” because they tend to
be situations where fate has played a heavy hand. She’s a wonderful storyteller and they
always lift my spirits and remind me that what is meant to be will be. I attribute my
ability to go after what I want completely to my mom. I surround myself with like-minded
people and they motivate me every day in their pursuit of their dreams. It’s never easy,
but nothing worth having ever is.
You are a natural beauty! You have great
hair and your complexion is gorgeous. What
are a few of your beauty secrets?
Thank you! I hope I don’t sound like a broken
record, but this is something else I attribute
to my mom. She’s a redhead as well and
has wonderful skin. She told me as a young
woman to never smoke, drink much, or
spend a lot of time in the sun. I don’t smoke,
drink much, or spend a lot of time in the sun,
or if I am in the sun, I’m slathered in SPF
50+. I also eat plenty of vegetables, drink an
inordinate amount of water, and go for long
walks with my pup, Coco.
How do you change up your routine to
combat winter weather?
I wear sunblock year round. It’s the one
product I can’t do without. Wintertime
usually has me moisturizing a bit more to
keep the dryness away.
When you lived in Oahu that probably
wasn’t much of a problem. That must be a
relaxing lifestyle! Did you enjoy island life?
I LOVED living on Oahu. I must have been
Hawaiian in a past life, because I take to
Hawaii like a fish takes to water. It is what
I imagine Heaven is like. I’d love to end up
back there at some point.
We have seen you both casually dressed
down and all decked out on the red carpet.
What style makes you feel most like “you”?
I am a Texas girl and we looooooove getting
dressed up for events! The idea of dressing
up every day does not interest me, but
everything surrounding getting ready for an
event can be so much fun! I’m a total girl’s
girl in that way. In my day to day life, I’d
describe my style as polished with a little
edge.
And last, but certainly not least, we must
know… is there a favorite winter style trend
you are excited about this season?
I keep seeing the over the knee boot and think
it looks so chic. I need to get to Neiman’s
and get myself a pair.
whole Flash experience has been magical
for me. To get to play a kick ass, strong
woman has always been a dream of mine. I
get to play my kick ass, strong woman in the
DC Comics Universe as a metahuman! Pretty
memorable!
Plastique would be any actress’s dream
role, and I get to be the one chosen to play
her! I hope to continue playing strong, kick
ass women for the rest of my career. I love
watching strong female characters and I love
playing them. Another dream would be to
work with Charlie Kaufman. I love his movies
and working with him has been on my wish
list for as long as I can remember.
Dress: Datari Austin @ Runway Archives & Showroom