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In acting and martial arts, Kieran Tamondong learns to love a challenge

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Yong Chavez | TFC News Hollywood

<figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Y6VcCfe6Kgc?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>Kieran Tamondong started as a performer at a young age.His Hollywood story of going to many auditions that go nowhere is a common tale among aspiring actors like him.The 21-year-old Filipino-American talent shared what he thinks led to finally getting the big break that changed his life.&quot;I’ve done this a thousand times,&quot; he said. &quot;You get used to a lot of rejection as an actor. I&#x27;m in a place where I&#x27;m learning how to be more authentic and grounded.&quot;Tamondong added: &quot;Sometimes, the best auditions that I&#x27;ve had been where I hadn’t pushed so hard to the limit, where I really reeled it back and tried to keep it more truthful to what I feel and whatever my character — whoever I&#x27;m portraying — feels. And that actually really shone through.&quot;In July, Tamondong received a Best Supporting Actor nomination from the HCA TV Awards for his performance in &quot;Dahmer - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story.&quot;He described his reaction upon getting the good news from his manager.&quot;I&#x27;m starstruck by this,&quot; Tamondong added. &quot;And she&#x27;s naming off other nominees, I&#x27;m like, ‘Oh my goodness.’ These are like the top dogs that I&#x27;m literally inspired by, people that I’ve been watching for years. I’m lost for words. I&#x27;m so excited for this.&quot;In portraying the real-life Dahmer victim, Laotian Konerak Sinthasomphone, Tamondong co-starred with his fellow Asian actors, including another FilAm talent, Brayden Maniago.The series showed how America&#x27;s systemic racism and police missteps allowed a notorious serial murderer to kill for over a decade.Asked how he fell in love with acting, Tamondong shared: &quot;I didn&#x27;t know anything about acting until I would say, early 2010s. I was a competitor for martial arts for a very long time, and I liked the spotlight. I like to perform, I like to give the audience a good show. The applause gets me going, and it really motivates me.&quot;He added: &quot;I think that&#x27;s where my competition mindset has stemmed from. I like competition. I like to be challenged. I like to fail over and over and over again until I can finally get something right and understand it.&quot;Apart from acting, the actor is also busy with school as a college senior.&quot;My mom has always been a big supporter for me to continue my education journey alongside acting,&quot; Tamondong said. &quot;And so I&#x27;ve been pretty okay at managing my time and my schedules, workloads.&quot;The actor said he is pursuing a bachelor&#x27;s degree in kinesiology and hopes to get a doctorate in physical therapy someday.&quot;It&#x27;s very Filipino, I know,&quot; Tamondong quipped.In 2019, he also appeared as the young version of Ah Sahm, the lead character played by Andrew Koji, in HBO Max’s Bruce Lee-inspired series “Warrior.&quot;<address>* * * </address><address>Note: This interview was completed before the Hollywood writers/actors&#x27; strike.</address>

Tamondong shared how he felt about his nomination and how martial arts taught him to bounce back from setbacks in life.