Girl On: Keala Kennelly

Mar 13 2008 / Los Angeles, CA

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UPDATE: "John From Cincinnati" may be gone (it was not renewed after its first season completed) but Keala isn't slowing down. While she's not back on the tour full-time, she did compete in a couple of events at the end of '07 and will likely show up at some events in '08. Find out more about her in the story below done before the premiere of "John."


Many would consider Layne Beachley the greatest female surfer alive.  After seven world titles, it's tough to argue against that.  However, when faced against one of the most awe-inspiring waves on the planet, Teahupoo, even Beachley prefers to not face the brute force (and jagged reef) that Teahupoo presents.

Not the case with Keala Kennelly.  A regular top-eight finisher on the ASP tour (she was runner-up to Beachley in 2003), Kennelly not only dominates the break at Teahupoo, but a session there in 2005 catapulted her amongst the ranks of the great.  During that epic session, Kennelly towed into a quadruple-overheard monster and conquered it.

PHOTO GALLERY    Check out photos of surfer/actress Keala Kennelly in action and having fun... View Gallery>

Kennelly grew up on the shores of Kauai, in the same area as two of the greatest surfers alive today, siblings Andy and Bruce Irons.  And their roots go deep.  "We were in preschool together.  We've known each other since we were baby kids.  We grew up on Kauai, surfing with each other, against each other, traveled together to our first events," says Keala.

Keala's Historic Ride   Check out this Billabong video of Keala Kennelly's historic 2005 tow-in ride in Tahiti.

"They're like my brothers.  I used to give Brucie (Bruce Irons) rides home from school everyday, and he was just so funny.  He was always picking on my older brother, and just talking sh*t to him, and making us laugh the whole ride home.  They're funny kids."

Despite her tremendous surfing skills, it wasn't until her cameo appearance in the 2003 surf flick "Blue Crush" that Keala became mainstream in the surfing community.  Kennelly explains how she got her big break in the film.  "I had actually read for Kate (Bosworth)'s role, and had read for Michelle Rodriguez's role, and I had never read off scripts before," explains Keala.  "So when I went in, I totally messed up.  When the script said 'action' I thought was dialogue.  So I'm sitting there, looking at the director like it's his line, and he's looking at me like 'OK, it's your line.'  I totally messed that up.

"I was super bummed.  And then they picked Rochelle (Ballard) to be Kate Bosworth's stunt-double, and they started filming in Hawaii for like a month or two before I ever came on the project at all.  I was really super bummed, and then one morning all of a sudden one of the executive producers called me and was like, 'Hey, what's up!  We'd like you to come down and do this really fantastic wipeout.  We'll pay you for it!  You can play to be yourself.  We want you to go over the falls of pipeline.  How does that sound to you?'  I was like 'Yeah, ok!'  I go over the falls all the time, so this time they paid me for it."

  While the movie opened acting (and increased sponsorship) doors for Keala, it also opened doors for all female surfers.  "It sent out a good message to young women.  That (surfing)'s not just for boys.  You can have this.  You can challenge yourself.  And it's cool, it's okay to be a woman and do sports," says Keala.

Her latest acting adventure is HBO's new surf-drama "John From Cincinnati."  The show focuses on generations of surfers in the U.S.-Mexico border town of Imperial Beach.  The twist involves a mysterious character named John, and it goes from there.

Keala's character, 'Kai,' plays the love interest of one of the stars of the show, a fallen-from-grace surfer named Butchie.  Keala was asked how the experience has been thus far with the filming for the show, and further explains her role.  "We're on episode ten, and I still don't know what the show is about.  I play a character named Kai.  She is a surfer, and she's a board shaper.  And she's an artist.

"She happens to be in love with Butchie, who's one of the main characters.  Butchie is like the prodigy surfer who fell from grace.  He was so far ahead of his time, and he got involved with drugs and completely wrecked his life and became a junkie.  My character Kai, she grew up with him and instead of making a success of her life, she's kind of just put her life on hold.  She's working at his parent's surf shop and just hanging around in a really ghetto town (Imperial Beach), to just kind of watch over him."

Early reviews for the show are strong, and the fact that it debuts after the series finale of "The Sopranos" means a ton of viewers will be watching.  If you love surfing, and you dig the type of shows HBO produces, you will not be disappointed.

As for Keala, she feels confident that the show will do well.  So much so, that she opted to not compete on the ASP tour in the 2007 season so she can fully commit to "John From Cincinnati."  She's left the door open however for a return in 2008.   "I realized that there is no possible way that I can do both the acting and the surfing thing," says Keala.  "I'm glad I made the right choice."