GLOW Star Kimmy Gatewood Discusses Her Appreciation for Wrestlers, Meeting Awesome Kong

– WrestlingInc.com recently interviewed GLOW star Kimmy Gatewood for its WINCLY podcast. Below are some highlights from WrestlingInc.com.

Her thoughts on wrestling: “I have an appreciation for what wrestlers do. I’m not actively following the drama like my co-star Rebekka Johnson. She is fully into it because she will give me tidbits here and there. She’ll keep me up to date. She is like my wrestling sports news reporter. I absolutely adore wrestling fans. I think they are awesome. Every wrestler we’ve come across has been so nice. It has been mutual admiration, which is pretty cool.”

Gatewood on meeting Kia Stevens for GLOW: “I looked her up, and she looked so intimidating. The first day I met her it was, ‘Hi, nice to meet you. My name is Kia.’ So sweet and kind. They played a prank on the girl who went five days into training. None of us had ever wrestled. I think it was Britt Baron. Our trainer Chavo Guerrero told Kia, ‘Really go at me.’…They just went at it throwing each other around. The look on Britt’s face was like, ‘What have we got into ourselves into?’ Her and her husband come to my house for Thanksgiving, and it feels like she is a superhero in my home.”

Gatewood on being a physical comedian: “I attribute a lot of it to being a physical comedian. I think any kind of joke, physical humor is what helped me. I also took dance and music. I’m not a professional dancer or anything, but I do have a lot of body awareness. I didn’t realize wrestling was this mix of slam-dance with physical comedy and also be a ham when you fall it’s like a good soccer player where you’re like, ‘My knee! My knee!'”

On appearing on Smackdown Live: “We did a bit with two of the wrestlers. They were so funny and fun. I think the most amazing part was watching them. You get one take backstage. It’s like, ‘I’m going to kick your ass,’ and, ‘I’m going to kick your ass.’ Then it’s like cut. ‘It was a pleasure. See you in the ring.’ I believe it was Naomi. She was pretty awesome. Then there was [Lana] she was beefing with. They were so awesome. Then we got to meet the real GLOW girls from the 1980s series. They’re been so supportive Dawn, who plays Godiva, Little Egypt, they’ve shared their stories and been a pretty trippy experience.”

On working with Geena Davis for Season 3: “Geena Davis on set brought an exciting energy because she is a legend. The show is all about a lot of female empowerment, women’s issues, she had stood for that her entire career. For her to be there was very special for all of us. I think every single cast member said at a different point, ‘I admire you so much. You are my hero.’ It was really amazing to see the ensemble shine this season. We’ve always really supported each other no matter where we are on screen. It’s always felt like an ensemble show. This season in particular it was nice. For example episode six, Melrose and Jenny, played by Jackie Tohn and Ellen Wong, they shared their real stories to show-runners and incorporated a lot of their real life stories into that episode. It was really emotional and is personally my favorite episode. For me, I’m playing a clown most of the first two seasons, and then suddenly I’m ending season three as a villain. It was an interesting transformation for me.”