Rising star August Kyss is a Luso-Canadian actress, whose parents emigrated from São Miguel, a Portuguese island which belongs to the Azores archipelago. As a single child, August was raised in a devout Catholic home and surrounded by cinema from an early age.

"I spent most of my childhood in video stores because they were so popular in North America at the time”, she revealed. “My dad was really into pop culture, so that influenced me. I was probably four years old when I decided I wanted to be an actress". Despite this, she was never encouraged to pursue a career in acting because of how challenging the acting industry can be. The horror scene was also incredibly prominent in the 80’s when August was still a child; something which she admitted had a great impact on her life.

Despite August's love for acting, she followed a different career and educational path before breaking into the movie industry, working at a veterinary clinic and running her aesthetics spa, the latest something she still does as a side job nowadays. Following a frightful assault experience that interrupted her first effort to break into the film business in 2000, it was not until the Covid-19 outbreak that she realised she wanted to give the acting industry another try. “I thought that this could be the end of the world, so I felt the urge to immerse myself in the world of acting once again”, she confessed. "Then, it was fate that I met David Bond, a Canadian horror producer, who saw my intense enthusiasm for the field and encouraged me to pursue a career in it, and since 2022 I've been working nonstop”, August proudly shared.


Early credits

Kyss’ early credits include the hit horror comedy "Murdercise" which starred cult star Ginger Lynn, the science fiction film "Murderbot" which was directed by Jim Wynorski, and the suspenseful thriller "Death Bitch”. Her most recent work was a voiceover for the Hollywood picture "House on Haunted Hill," in which she got the chance to work with Vincent Price’s daughter, Victoria Price. When asked to name her best acting moment to date, she revealed that she does not have a favourite because every scene she has done so far has been exceptional in some way but working with the legendary director Jim Wynorski was a big one. “He saw something in me, and it gave me a lot of confidence”, she stressed. Talking about the most challenging, she admitted it was a role she had to perform last June. “I had to play a religious crazy judgemental person and that is completely the opposite of who I am, so that was a challenge indeed”.


A huge fan of the 80's genre, musically and cinematically, and a big fan of directors such as Tim Burton and Guillermo del Toro August aspires to be a director herself. In "Dark Rewind”, her debut Horror Hosting show, which is scheduled to premiere soon, different types of 80’s films will be covered at the same time as they are aired on the television network. According to Kyss, "Dark Rewind" will be filmed in Edmonton, Alberta and stream in England, Canada and the USA. "I get to direct and write the entire show. The filming is meant to start in the beginning of December and it should air in April or May. I am quite excited about it, not going to lie”. August also expressed her desire to write, produce, and direct her own film, saying that she would love to travel to Portugal to do so. “I would love to work with Portuguese actors using the Portuguese language”, August emphasised adding that "I truly want to do something about Portugal's previous dictatorship. I think that a lot of people don't even know that happened, and I would like to contribute to the Portuguese film culture in that way”.

A woman of many talents, she also published a fiction book inspired by her experiences growing up in the difficult town of Winnipeg, Manitoba, back in 2002. “The book was inspired by a youth game in that region and it was even picked up to be a film in 2008, but it is still in development”, she shared.

August Kyss always looks forward to new opportunities and challenges and strives to have a busy professional life. "I'm fortunate; even though I started a little late in the film industry, everything has gone well, and I can't wait to see what comes next”.

Author

After studying Journalism for five years in the UK and Malta, Sara Durães moved back to Portugal to pursue her passion for writing and connecting with people. A ‘wanderluster’, Sara loves the beach, long walks, and sports. 

Sara J. Durães