Kylr Coffman grew up in Oklahoma City, skateboarding and playing punk music, and he swears that if someone had told his high school self that he would one day move to Hollywood to pursue acting, he would have thought that was the corniest thing he could imagine. He also credits his high school drama teacher, Emily Farnam, for saving his life.
“Every other teacher sent me out to the hall for being disruptive. But not her,” he said. “I was usually treated like a problem child and I felt like one. But Ms. Farnam gave me responsibility. My first job was to open and close the curtains for the play. For the first time, I had a purpose. I also saw that it took a community to make a performance work. I didn’t want to leave it behind.”
Coffman is one of the leads in the upcoming movie Nimrods. The story kicks off with teenage bandmates receiving what they believe is a life‑changing call inviting their band, the Analog Dogs, to open for Green Day at a New Year’s Eve concert in L.A. It’s actually an elaborate prank, but this false hope propels the band into a chaotic cross‑country road trip.
The lead singer of Green Day (Billie Joe Armstrong) has a mother from Oklahoma, and 27 of the 35 production days were shot here in the Sooner State. The crew and the background actors are all from Oklahoma, too. Coffman said, “It’s so special to get to share this film with my home state.
“There is a scene at the end of the movie where my character is playing live on stage with Green Day. It was such a surreal experience, because there were other people in the movie like Jenna Fischer, Fred Armisen and Bobby Lee. It was such an honor.”
Coffman described moving out to Los Angeles after college, where he experienced all the ups and downs of an aspiring actor. “I was poor, I was homeless. When my mom got cancer, which is what brought me back to Oklahoma, I started auditioning via self-tape.” His mom is doing well now, but he found a lot to keep him in the Sooner State.
“Back home, actors kept asking me questions about how to find agents and how to audition. That allowed me to start thinking about others and give energy to them instead of only myself.”
Coffman started an acting studio in Oklahoma City to give back to his community. “It’s so important to let others know what is possible,” he said. “Oklahoma Film Actors Studio started in my living room in the Plaza District, and now we have a studio space. I think of it as a vending machine or a one-stop shop for actors. We have classes, self-audition tapes and headshots. Opportunities to meet with managers and agents. We even have dialect coaches.
“We have an amazing film industry getting started in Oklahoma, and I know so many actors that need assistance. When I needed headshots and an audition tape, I didn’t know where to go. Our community deserves these resources,” he continued.
“Just last week, OFA had an actor sign with a major agent in L.A. It’s so good to know that you don’t have to move to L.A. when you are getting started. You can chase your dreams from Oklahoma now that you have these tools that are professional-caliber. We have actors who are getting booked on local movies and projects.”
The process builds on itself; Coffman said, “I thought I would come back to Oklahoma for a month, help my mom. But there have been so many incredible actors and opportunities. I just kept staying and finding new ways to support them.”
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