by Kirsten Quinn
When 9-year-old Kendall Nicole Yakshe of Stevenson Ranch auditioned for the role of a young heroine in a big, hush-hush TV commercial, she had no idea she’d be living one of her wildest dreams within weeks. An audition? That was exciting enough.
On the big day, Kendall and her mother Nancy put their imaginations together to create a costume fit for a heroine: an all-silver jumpsuit complete with light-up tennis shoes. Wearing her dance costume turned impromptu superhero uniform, Kendall entered the audition, picked up her designated prop, and started showing off her moves with the toy lightsaber.
Though she’d been asked to show her “fighting spirit,” the audition was turning out to feel more like Kendall’s typical afternoon. She’d been playing Star Wars with her brother for what seemed like forever. He made her watch all six movies, after all.
“When they handed her a lightsaber, I thought it was just laying around the office, and they wanted to see her fighting spirit,” said Kendall’s mother Nancy. “It never dawned on me that this could be for the new Star Wars movie.”
But weeks later, Kendall and her mother were in for a surprise, when they walked on set to find Storm Troopers, R2D2, C-3PO and a pair of lightsabers. Co-starring in a Duracell commercial, Kendall would be playing a young Jedi on Christmas morning, with the power of Duracell in her hands. In making the commercial, Duracell collaborated with Disney, Lucasfilm and Industrial Light & Magic, ensuring authenticity to Star Wars, according to starwars.com.
Unaware of her good fortune, Kendall had landed a co-starring role in a global commercial to promote the new Star Wars film. For Kendall, her imagination had just become her reality.
Before filming started, Kendall and her co-star, a young boy from across the country who would play her older brother, sat down for a meeting with director Shawn Levy of Night at the Museum, Real Steel, Cheaper by the Dozen and many others. As the director worked with the two kids, things began to feel surreal.
“When we were walking out of the director’s office,” Kendall recalled, “the boy who played my brother and I just looked at each other and I thought, ‘This is the good life.’”
Over the next four days of filming, Kendall would work one-on-one with a big-name director, complete a stunt workshop, battle Storm Troopers and wrap three days of filming in more than 100-degree heat. By the end of it all, she would be more certain than ever that her dreams are within reach.
“The commercial was the most fun and the most challenging thing I’ve ever done,” Kendall said. More than that, Kendall grew from the opportunity.
“It gave her the experience and confidence she needed to go into the next audition and do what she needs to do,” Nancy said.
Though the commercial presented its challenges for Kendall, the real challenge came after – when she couldn’t tell a soul about her big gig until it debuted. Without an official release date, Kendall got dressed for her school Halloween parade on October 30 like it was any other day.
“I was going to give everyone a taste of what they were going to see,” Kendall recalled, “without giving anything away.”
Resolved to not say a word, she jumped into her Jedi costume – the same Party City outfit she wore on set – and hopped in the car.
“My mom came running to the car screaming my name,” Kendall said, “and I was like, ‘Oh no, what did I do now?’”
The commercial had dropped, and social media was on fire about the new Duracell/Star Wars teaser.
“It just went viral within 24 hours,” Nancy said.
But at home, Kendall walked in her school’s Halloween parade with her friends, wearing her Jedi costume, free to share the experience for the first time.
“Everyone kept coming up to me and (repeating my line back to me),” Kendall said. “They all wanted to know if they used the real (droids) from the movie. And yes, they did!”
Following the commercial’s positive reception, several doors have opened for Kendall. She was pursued by a big management agency and signed with a manager who will take her the theatrical route: TV and films. The commercial has been released in at least four countries, and most importantly, it has shown Kendall that she is capable of shining.
“This is the biggest thing she’s ever done,” Nancy said. “Her whole world just exploded in the last few weeks. She’s having a blast.”
But Kendall has no plan of slowing down.
“I hope to book an A-list movie one day,” Kendall said. “And when I grow up, I want to go to business school at USC and start my own awesome fashion business.”
With a Star Wars commercial behind her, it seems not even this galaxy is the limit for Kendall Yakshe.
