Carolyn Bridget Kennedy

Carolyn Bridget Kennedy is an award-winning actor (SAG-AFTRA, ACTRA) and filmmaker living in Los Angeles. Carolyn appears in the 4th season of the award-winning Netflix Original series "The Umbrella Academy" and in an upcoming ABC Studios comedy series "How to Die Alone". She was a lead in a multi-cam sitcom pilot filmed in front of a live studio audience at USC.

Carolyn is an improv maven. She has completed The Groundlings Advanced Improv and Writing Lab in their Performance Track and is invited up by the Main Company to Advanced Writing Lab (one level below Sunday Company). In addition, she completed the Upright Citizens Brigade and Second City Hollywood Conservatory programs. She improvises in the Steinkellner Workshop led by Deanna Oliver and Phyllis Katz of The Groundlings and Bill Steinkellner. She has performed stand up at comedy clubs in LA.

Carolyn has studied acting as a working actor with Larry Moss in his Master Class; Advanced Acting Technique with Jason Alexander; and at the Beverly Hills Playhouse with Director Howard Deutch in their Advanced Scene Study Class. She has trained in Alexander Technique with Kristof Konrad and Jean-Louis Rodrigue and worked with voice coach Denise Woods. She has also trained with Margie Haber Studios (Master/Advanced Class), Gunnar Rohrbacher at Actors Comedy Studio, and Lesly Kahn.

Carolyn has been cast in numerous projects with the top film schools in the world, including American Film Institute, UCLA, USC, CalArts, and Loyola Marymount.

Carolyn has honed her comedy sketch writing skills at The Groundlings and with a former showrunner for MadTV and has submitted a spec comedy sketch packet to Saturday Night Live. At Second City Hollywood she co-wrote and performed in three live sketch comedy Grad Revue shows, "Saturday Night Quarantine Fever". She also wrote, produced, directed and acted in a micro short film "Masks", which screened during the live shows. That film earned 22 laurels from film festivals in New York, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Berlin, including a win for Best Comedy, multiple wins for Best Microfilm, and a nomination for Best Picture.

In 2020, with "isolation" and "online" the reality, Carolyn created and co-wrote a pilot script for a half-hour comedy series, "InFirm". It was a Quarterfinalist at the Oscar®-Qualifying HollyShorts Film Festival and the prestigious CineStory Foundation TV Retreat & Fellowship Competition. It was a Finalist (in the Top 20) at the Los Angeles International Screenplay Awards. In addition, it placed in Scriptation Showcase Script Competition, FILMMATIC Comedy Screenplay Awards, Richmond International Film Festival, Stage 32 Diversity Springboard Screenwriting Contest, and Finish Line Script Competition.

Also in 2020, Carolyn directed her first short film "Just Desserts" (which she also wrote and produced), spawned from a directing course with an AFI Fellow. The film starred her 86-year-old mother. It garnered 16 laurels from film festivals in New York, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Berlin, including wins for Best First Time Director, Best Indie Film, and Outstanding Achievement, as well as a nomination for Best Picture. A few months later, she directed her second short film, "The Gift" (which she also wrote and produced). It garnered 9 laurels from film festivals in New York and Los Angeles, including a nomination for Best Indie Short (Low Budget).

In early 2021, Carolyn wrote, produced, directed, and starred in her short comedy film, "Janet", for which she won Best Lead Actress in an Indie Film at New York Film Awards and at Festigious International Film Festival. She was nominated Best Screenwriter at the Alberta Film & Television Awards. So far, "Janet" has garnered a total of 11 film festival laurels, including Quarter-Finalist at Top Shorts Film Festival and Official Selections at Los Angeles Film Awards and at LA Webfest.

In 2022 Carolyn wrote, produced and starred in 3 further short films. "Dope Mom" garnered a total of 10 film festival laurels. It won Best Microfilm at Top Shorts Film Festival. Carolyn was nominated Best Lead Actress in an Indie Film at Los Angeles Film Awards. It was also nominated Best Microfilm at Los Angeles Film Awards, a Semi-Finalist at Festigious International Film Festival, and an Official Selection at New York Film Awards. "Shrew" garnered a total of 13 film festival laurels. It won Best Microfilm at Festigious International Film Festival, was nominated Best Picture at New York Film Awards, and was a Semi-Finalist at Los Angeles Film Awards and at Top Shorts Film Festival.

Carolyn is an accomplished voice-over actor, with a national network voice-over booking. In early 2020, Carolyn was cast in the lead role of "Margaret", the mother in the famed series "Father Knows Best", for two live performances of a Radio Play produced by SAG-AFTRA at The Autry theater in Los Angeles.

Carolyn is an active member of the Television Academy, Women in Film LA, Raindance Los Angeles, Film Independent, SAG-AFTRA, ACTRA, the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television, Alberta Media Production Industries Association, Women in Film & Television Alberta, Women in Film & Television Vancouver, and Calgary Society of Independent Filmmakers. In 2019, she was selected into Women in Film LA's year-long Mentorship Program as both an actor and content creator.

Carolyn has overcome personal obstacles, including losing over 110 pounds over two decades ago. Her perseverance, down to earth nature and unique sense of humor have earned her a strong following on social media, with over 105,000 followers on X (formerly Twitter) and over 10,000 on Instagram. She has been featured in over 90 interviews in online publications, print magazines, talk shows, podcasts, and radio shows around the globe.