Kayla Manuel, an actress from Inglewood, California, approaches her craft with the precision and dedication of an athlete. “It’s easy to take in the crowd, take in the audience, but you got a job to do—you gotta play the game,” she says. Much like a driven athlete, she doesn’t accept “no” as an answer. Manuel brought this Olympian mentality to the set of INSP’s Wild West Chronicles, now streaming on Peacock, Amazon Prime and Sling. In the latest season, she portrays Cassie, a newlywed celebrating her marriage to Bennie Reeves, the son of the town marshal. But things take a tragic turn when Bennie murders Cassie in a fit of rage.

In a recent interview, Manuel and I discussed her roots in Debbie Allen’s dance academy, how she prepared for her role in Wild West Chronicles, and her favorite creative outlets.

Manuel’s journey into the arts began early, thanks to her educator parents, who recognized her creative spark. “My dad was a special education counselor and musician, and my mother was a beauty sales director who helped her and her sisters with costumes, hair, and makeup for their recitals,” Manuel shared. It wasn’t long before Manuel found herself at Debbie Allen’s renowned dance academy, performing in Debbie Allen’s Hot Chocolate Nutcracker for 2 years and it aired on BET along with and training at her summer intensive.  “My parents knew I needed that type of leadership, that type of mentorship, to help me get the right vocabulary, the right techniques. So doing that helped,” she says of her ballet experience.

Though dance was her first love, Manuel felt a pull toward acting during her time at Cal State Long Beach. “I knew theater would just expand my horizons. I knew it would just open me up,” she says. As an undergrad in one of the five play productions she booked, Kayla was the only female undergrad cast with graduate students. She booked a commercial with her dad that aired during the Super Bowl. Despite being offered a spot in USC’s M.F.A. acting program after graduating, she chose to dive straight into the industry. “I was ready to hit the ground running,” Manuel explains.

Her role in Wild West Chronicles is a dream come true, though not without its challenges. With all of her scenes shot in a single day, she had to transform from an excited newlywed to a terrified and confused wife in quick succession. “I had to get my head in the game, really hone in on my scene partner and get the point across. In that scene, I’m trying to understand, like, where is this coming from? Why? Why are you almost attacking me and not actually trying to understand me?” she recalls, noting how the raw emotion of the scene was something she could connect with personally.

One of Manuel’s favorite aspects of acting is the ability to immerse herself in another world. For Wild West Chronicles, she researched everything from accents to the physical postures of people in the 1800s. “There’s so many moving parts,” she says. “And I think the most fun part is when it all comes to life and you’re like, ‘Oh my God.’ Honestly, I feel like it doesn’t matter how many times you get a booking, how many times you get a yes, when you’re in it, I feel like a kid again. Honestly, I feel like it’s what little Kayla always wanted.”

Despite her successes, Manuel acknowledges that rejection is the hardest part of the industry. Her approach? “Keep getting back up,” she advises aspiring actors. “I always have a backup to the backup to the backup to the backup plan.” She makes it a point to be grateful for the things that are working, like nailing an audition or getting a callback, and tries not to dwell too much on the quieter patches.

Looking ahead, Manuel has big dreams and an array of creative visions she wants to bring to life. Her ultimate role would be something like Kill Bill, where she can apply her martial arts training, but she’s also eager to collaborate with other artists and even direct a music video. “I envisioned [Sabrina Carpenter’s ‘Espresso’ video] to be a little different,” Manuel laughs, adding that she didn’t expect it to be set on a beach.With upcoming roles in Phyllis Bancroft’s award-winning short film The Merge and Jeremy O’Keefe’s new sci-fi film, Manuel continues to carve out a name for herself. Her journey is just beginning, but it’s clear she’s playing the game on her own terms, with the same resilience and focus she’s had from the start.

Photography Credit: Andrea David