Younger fans know Kali Rocha best from her role as Karen Rooney on the Disney series, Liv & Maddie. However, Kali Rocha had dozens of other roles before heading over to Disney. The Tennessee native has been acting professionally since the early 90s. Throughout her career, she’s gotten to work alongside some of the biggest names in the entertainment industry including Winona Ryder and Michelle Pfeiffer. In addition to her on screen roles, Kali has also appeared in several stage shows such as an off Broadway production of the 1982 play, Noises Off. Time and time again, Kali Rocha has proven that she’s fully capable of doing it all. Here are 10 things you didn’t know about Kali Rocha.
1. She’s A Mom In Real Life
Playing the role of a parent comes naturally to Kali Rocha. In real life, she’s the proud mother of two children, a son named Barlow Aix Krikorian and a daughter named Savria Dune Krikorian. Kali enjoys being a mom and is thankful that her career allows her the opportunity to make a good living while still being present in her children’s lives.
2. She Studied Drama In College
Kali Rocha is formally trained in acting and she believes that proper training is an important element of success. She attended Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh where she studied drama. After graduating from college, Kali moved to New York City to pursue her career. She lived in NYC for about 8 years before relocating to Los Angeles.
3. Her First Professional Role Was On Stage
While living in New York, Kali Rocha took on mostly theater roles. In fact, her first professional acting job was a role in the play In the Summer House. She hopes to return to theater one day but says that the typically rehearsal/performance schedule for being in a play would be too hard to balance while she still has young kids at home.
4. She Prefers Comedic Roles
Over the years, Kali has become most well-known for her humorous characters. In 2000, her role as a flight attendant in the hit film, Meet the Parents, helped take her career to the next level. When asked which types of rules she prefers, Kali didn’t hesitate to say comedic. For her, it’s all about making her viewers laugh.
5. Liv & Maddie Was Her First Role In A Children’s Show
Kali Rocha has taken on a wide variety of roles during her career. But being a cast member on Liv & Maddie marked the first time that she had starred in a children’s show. Rocha said she wasn’t exactly to become so popular among the younger crowd, but she enjoyed getting the chance to be introduced to a new audience.
6. She Loves To Write For TV
Acting isn’t all that Kali enjoys doing. She also has plans to get into writing. Kali actually wrote a few episodes during her time on Liv & Maddie. During an interview she expressed that she would love to write one episode per year if possible. But as much as she loves writing, she also admitted that she could never leave acting behind.
7. She Filmed All Of Her Scenes On Buffy The Vampire Slayer In One Day
In 2000, Kali Rocha landed a role on the popular TV show, Buffy The Vampire Slayer. However, she was also working on a play at the exact same time. In order to make both situations work, Kali had to film all of her scenes for Buffy in one day. Things clearly worked out well for Kali because she was brought back to the series in 2002 with a recurring role.
8. She Speaks French
No matter what you plan to do in life, being able to speak more than one language is something that will always come in handy. Luckily for Kali Rocha, she speaks French fluently. Ironically, there was an episode during the third season of Liv & Maddie where Kali’s character attempted to teach Liv French.
9. Rayna Russom Is Her Cousin
Entertainment must be in Kali Rocha’s gene pool. Her cousin is none other than Rayna Russom, the lead synthesizer for the band, LCD Sound System. In 2018, the band won a Grammy for best dance recording. Russom is also an electronic music producer who has released several projects of her own.
10. Her Husband Is A Sound Engineer
In 2006, Kali Rocha married Michael Krikorian, a sound engineer. Krikorian has had a pretty impressive career himself. He’s worked as a mixer on several popular shows like This is Us and American Horror Story. Like his wife, he’s also done some work with Disney. He was a ProTools Playback Operator on both The Jungle Book and The Lion King.
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