Kyra Leroux Talks ‘Firefly Lane’ and ‘Riverdale’ [Interview]

The second part of Firefly Lane Season 2 is coming to Netflix on Thursday, April 27th, and the recent trailer implies it will be more emotional than ever.

I recently spoke with Kyra Leroux, who plays the enigmatic Lisa-Karen in the flashback scenes, trying to break up the bond Tully Hart (Katherine Heigl) and Kate Malarkey (Sarah Chalke) hold during their teenage years.

Firefly Lane Season 2 Part 1 saw Lisa-Karen in a myriad of situations, from running AV club meetings, to exposing Kate for sleeping with Tully’s brother, and more.

While Leroux couldn’t give away too much detail about Firefly Lane Season 2 Part 2, she did confirm that Lisa-Karen’s journey will take quite the turn while providing funnier, heartwarming, and more serious moments.

“It’s definitely more adventurous. I mean, the teaser that they released literally made me cry. It’s so emotional, and it’s so heartwarming. I think that’s the biggest thing: it’ll definitely pull on your heartstrings,” Leroux said.

Joining Firefly Lane was a feat Leroux was determined to achieve. She told me that when she booked the role of Lisa-Karen, she was excited and took it as a sign that things happen for a reason.

“I had auditioned for the show twice before,” Leroux said. “The time before I auditioned for Lisa-Karen, I almost got it and then didn’t. I was really disappointed. It was two years later, I think, or one year later that I got Lisa-Karen. I was really happy. It was just a confirmation that when one door closes, another one opens.”

Prior to landing the role of Lisa-Karen, Leroux auditioned for the role of Tully when the series initially began casting. She then auditioned for a different role in Season 1 but had a schedule conflict that prevented her from taking it.

Leroux said one of her favorite scenes to film throughout her time on the series is coming up in Season 2 Part 2, and without giving too much away, she confirmed that it includes a new character.

Her favorite moment filming, overall, was leading the AV Club meeting, because she got to use the gavel.

“It was so much fun to decide when to bang it and do all that stuff,” Leroux laughed. “I love weird props, and just having my little name tag and all of the little papers that I had; it was just so much fun for me.”

She also shared a bit of background information from the scene where Lisa-Karen breaks up the AV Club’s house party, only to steal the bottle and become the life of the party.

“That the whole part with the liquor bottle actually wasn’t written in. We kind of came up with that on the day, which was really, really fun.”

“There were so many moments in that scene, specifically the whole party sequence, that just kind of happened on the day. There’s a part where it cuts to me and Ali (Skovbye), who plays Young Tully, kind of asleep on the couch, like lying on each other; that was our idea. It wasn’t written in and just fun little things that were kind of sprinkled in, especially in that scene, I love,” Leroux continued.

Leroux is, of course, also known for her role as Britta Beach on Riverdale. She was originally booked for two episodes on the series but was brought back as a recurring character due to fan reception.

At one point, she was even filming both series simultaneously, which she says was interesting because of the tone shifts. “While I was filming the two, it was a pretty crazy couple of months,” Leroux said.

“I think I literally had one week where I spent six days on set, and three days were on Riverdale, and three days were on Firefly Lane.”

“It was a really cool experience to be kind of going between two worlds, it felt like. Riverdale is definitely more intense and a lot of fun because of the weird stuff that you get to do, like casting spells and playing football.”

“There’s always something random going on on that show, which is a lot of fun. And then doing something heartwarming, like Firefly Lane, and really bringing it back into the heart. I feel like was a really cool experience as well,” Leroux added.

While working on Riverdale, Leroux was kept in the dark on whether her character would return, even after being on set for more than four episodes.

“It was basically just on an episode-to-episode basis,” Leroux said. “So, I’d be doing one episode and then all of a sudden get an email from my agent being like, ‘they want you for the next one.’ And then I’d be like, ‘okay, great, one more.'”

“All of a sudden, that one more became like twenty episodes. And I’ve been on the show for two years and kind of created a family within the crew. I had one of the most amazing set experiences I’ve ever had,” she continued.

“It was really cool and an honor to be brought back on a show that big.”

One thing working on Firefly Lane taught Leroux is commitment, because of the particularities in Lisa-Karen’s physicality and little tics. “Some days, I felt like I was making a complete fool of myself, but I just had to own it, have fun with it, and commit to what I was doing one hundred percent.”

Meanwhile, Leroux’s time on Riverdale taught her how to open up and be herself on set, even in the midst of intimidation due to being a big fan of the series before booking her role.

“It’s definitely very intimidating to go into those environments and just take up space, but I really learned to just work hard, do what I do best and what I love, which is perform,” she said. “I feel like I really learned to just trust myself.”

Leroux attributes her success so far to not only her talent and determination but also her mother, who put the star in musical theater at a young age to give her an outlet for her creativity.

“I’m so grateful that my mom had that intuition, or whatever it was, because, from that young age, I fell in love with it and have loved it ever since. My parents aren’t in the industry; my mom still teaches tap classes. So, it really was just because they saw me as a person and were like, ‘I think this person is a performer,'” Leroux shared.

Leroux went on to say that her biggest goal right now is to make it on Broadway, a dream she’s aspired to do since she was a child. Until then, she’s going to continue working on expanding her TV and film credits but would love to do both simultaneously eventually.

“It’s a hard thing to do both because they’re so different,” Leroux said.

“TV and film, you know, you get an audition, you get a call next week, and then you’re off to a different country for three months filming a random thing. Whereas in theatre, you know that you have a three-month contract or a six-month contract, like a year in advance sometimes. So, it’s hard to balance the two and know where you’ll be.”

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*Featured image credit: The Portrait Sessions

Firefly Lane Season 2 Part 2 streams Thursday, April 27th on Netflix.

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Firefly Lane to End with Two-Part Season 2 at Netflix