Most Oakland University students cannot say they have been in a major Hollywood film. But for junior Laura Klosterhaus, she had the chance to appear as an extra in the movie ‘Real Steel’.

Klosterhaus is a 24-year-old Japanese major at OU, but she has aspirations far beyond that of just graduating. She is an aspiring actress, hoping to reach stardom in the near future.

Going by the stage name ‘Laura Kriss,’ she has been working since the age of 14 to get a foothold in the film industry.

When it began

“Back in high school it wasn’t serious,” Kriss said. “My buddies had a really expensive camera and we would film things and put them online for film competitions. They were always shorts.”

Most of the shorts she did with friends were spoofs, such as an Iron Chef spoof called “Happy Chef” and Survivor spoof “Disease Island”.

Kriss also actively participated in theater in high school, but never thought about any of it as a realistic future for herself.

“In high school, you’re not really taught anything about it, so I thought it was easier. But you have to do it right the first time, there are no retakes,” Kriss said.

After high school, Kriss attended college but also tried branching by auditioning for projects she found locally. She commented that they were always goofy.

“One audition, the guy grabbed a camera and said, ‘Alright, act happy. Now, act sad.’ I was like, ‘You’re Kidding me, right?’ I got really frustrated,” Kriss said.

The Purple Rose

Kriss decided, after a few years of living in Lansing and attending the community college there, to move back home and attend Oakland University for Japanese.  She feels her study of the language can help her with her future as an actress.

“There are a lot of movies that incorporate language into it, and you’re already beating out the competition by adding that extra skill,” Kriss said.

Despite being away, she never took her eyes off her goal. Kriss is currently enrolled in classes at The Purple Rose Theatre in Chelsea, Mich. The theater was founded in 1991 by acclaimed actor, Jeff Daniels.

“She is now attending classes at the Purple Rose Theatre to get professional instruction on her acting abilities,” said her sister and former OU student, Kristen Klosterhaus. “She practices different accents and facial expressions, different identities and styles to make herself more flexible for anything that might come her way.”

Kriss enjoys the experience she gains from those she studies with.

“It is professional, as opposed to a civic players or something,” Kriss said. “These people are actually paid, professional actors. I started with a boot camp like class that was monologue intensive and I just fell in love with that. Then I moved on to a voice and movement class, and I just finished an actor-director lab.”

Kriss has been at the theater since January 2011, and will be involved in open auditions for their 2012 season in coming weeks.

Recent auditions and features

Recently, Kriss has auditioned for a handful of full length films, two of which are low-budget Screen Actors Guild projects. In addition to this, she has also auditioned for television shows, mainly the show ‘Survivor’.

“The auditions were in December, but I had missed it because I was studying for an exam. But then I went online and found I could still submit an audition — all I had to do was fill out a form and send in a video of myself,” said Kriss.

Kristen, her sister, has also been helping Kriss with her auditions and technique.

“I always read opposite Laura in her auditions, and I listen to how she performs and I offer her constructive criticism from listeners prospective,” Kristen said. “I ask her how she wants to portray the character and i let her know if she’s delivering the character that way or not. I’ll let her know whether the way she performs sounds like she’s reading a script, or genuinely ‘becoming’ the character.”

The help from her sister has paid off for Kriss.

“I’m doing this film called ‘Bender’. We should be filming that in March, and it’s with this company called FireFox Films,” Kriss said.

Real Steel was released on DVD on Tuesday, with Kriss appearing as an extra.

“I got my dad in it, and I was so angry because I could see him in five occasions and they just loved him. Then you get to my scene and I am just lost in the crowd,” Kriss said jokingly.

Contact Staff Reporter Damien Dennis via e-mail at [email protected]