Lala Kent Traded Acting Career For ‘Vanderpump Rules’
Lala Kent is trying to get back into acting after putting her movie career aside to appear on Vanderpump Rules. Kent told Page Six that she has two high-profile acting roles in the works, and she credits her stint on the Bravo reality show for helping her to get more opportunities.
“I’m definitely back into acting. I’m actually doing my private acting classes again. I have two projects coming up, one of which I l have a lead role in, that are with very talented actors and actresses. We start filming those in April and May.”
Vanderpump Rules fans may not realize that Lala Kent was an actress before she became a hostess at Lisa Vanderpump’s Sur restaurant. Last year, Lala starred with High School Musical alum Shawn Carter in the Christian film Pitching Love and Catching Faith, an experience — or at least a movie — she seems like she wants to forget.
“I knew that film would come back to haunt me.”
Lala Kent was reportedly a bit of a diva on the set of the low-budget film, especially when she was called back in to do pickup shots. But Kent received praise for her acting chops, even if a faith-based flick is about as far as you can get from her racy Vanderpump Rules persona. (Hey, that’s why they call it acting.) Lala, who’s credited as Lauryn Kent on her acting resume, also starred alongside Luke Perry in the 2015 movie Dudes & Dragons before heading to reality TV.
“Before I signed my contract with Vanderpump, I actually threw my acting career out the window because I figured no one is going to take me seriously. I met with a manager at one of the largest agencies in the world, and I don’t even know how I got a meeting with him, but he prepared me and was like, ‘Just know, you’re not going to be taken seriously as an actress.'”
Kent said she was surprised she landed movie roles with well-known stars like Carter and Perry.
“To have someone come to me and ask me for two roles with A-List celebrities, that was surreal to me. And booking it was crazy.”
Lala isn’t sure about her future on Vanderpump Rules, but she is grateful for the doors the Bravo reality show has opened up for her, and she says she has been getting more offers now.
“I mean, who knows what my life would be like without it, I probably would have to work a million times harder. I’m so thankful for that show because they put me on it and now, people are starting to recognize me and offers are coming in. As much as I’ve had issues with the cast and the cast has had issues with me, without that show I definitely wouldn’t have the opportunities I have now.”
Lala Kent is definitely working on keeping herself in the spotlight. According to People, Lala recently hosted a Rehab Beach Club pool party in Las Vegas with her Vanderpump Rules co-star James Kennedy, and she made headlines for her wild Tupac-themed thong bathing suit.
Lala Kent isn’t the only Vanderpump Rules star with acting in her blood. Former cast member Vail Bloom was a Young and the Restless alum, Tom Sandoval, Scheana Shay, and Katie Maloney all have backgrounds in acting, and Tom Schwartz even has a small TV rez, with roles on Two and a Half Men and True Blood to his credit.
Take a look at the video below to see Lala Kent in Pitching Love and Catching Faith.
[Photo by Rochelle Brodin/Getty Images for De Re Gallery]
