After his big move to the States, Kip's life was pretty much that of an average upper-middle class Jewish kid growing up on the West Coast – which was to say that it was in fact a bit like being Seth Cohen. If life really is what one made of it, however, it was safe to assume that Kip approached everything with the moody, overly sensitive temperament of a boy who has absolutely no convictions in life other than a healthy appreciation for Star Wars and an unconscious but distinct affection for the philosophy explored in the franchise: that things are never black and white. Perhaps his sensitivity was spurred on by the fact that he was the youngest of three boys, and the fact that his older brothers had assimilated into their heteronormative, machismo-worshiping environment seemingly without any problems whatsoever. His middle brother played football well enough that his coaches dreamt of being known as the man behind a glittering success story; his oldest brother's talents lay in the less athletic but not less appreciated field of loud class clownery. Left to fend for himself, Kip had no idea where he fit in, and so he did his best to stay by the sidelines lest he get noticed and then, as was common for kids like him who were clueless and too emotional, mercilessly teased.
He made his way through elementary school tentatively, then, the kind of kid who chose to spend recess off by himself – not reading, no, but instead watching anthills or the more bizarre social patterns of his fellow classmates. It wasn't that he made no friends, but those he invited over for sleepovers or pizza parties were few and far between. In fact, some of his better friends were actually those that technically belonged to his older brothers; that was, they were girls. It is probably no surprise that Kip got along much better with girls than he did with boys, but this was only because he hadn't met the right boys, it seemed. Girls were just better at accepting his moodiness, seemed to understand him and helped him understand himself better, as well. Instead of socializing in his real life, then, he spent a lot more time socializing in the fictional lives he was privy to through his participation in community and school theater as well as improv. He became a staple of the Los Angeles Children's Theater, and through these connections, he landed his first part in a film: the voice role of Andy in Pixar’s Toy Story. In the grand scheme of things, it wasn’t a big deal, and Kip certainly wasn’t the only child in his school to have worked on a movie. Really, his part in the film was tiny, and he wasn’t even seen; there were child actors in his community. Even at eleven years old, Kip didn’t think anything would come of his participation in what he assumed would be a one-off voice role. He went back to school and got through middle school the way he’d gotten through elementary school: he kept his head down and barreled through.
But four years later he was asked to return for Toy Story 2, and the few connections he had made in the industry allowed him to audition for a television pilot – something that meant he’d actually be seen on screen. It was a strange experience, and he was fairly sure his parents weren’t even going to allow him to go to the audition; not only did they allow him to go, though, they even allowed him to take the job once a part was offered to him. Freaks and Geeks only lasted a season before it was canceled, but instead of being disheartened, Kip saw a door opening for himself. Instead of considering acting some sort of side hobby that he could escape to, he started realizing that he might actually be able to make a career out of it for himself. Of course, his parents prioritized school even if he didn’t, and so he complied with their wishes and finished high school. Against their wishes, however, he auditioned for another television show during his first year of college – Six Feet Under. His part was small enough that he was able to continue his education, though, and this appeased them enough that he wasn’t put on their shit lists for too long.
Besides, it was in college that Kip discovered that as freeing as acting was, writing could be equally as cathartic in different ways. He majored in English and started testing his creative writing chops more and more. Although he kept auditioning for acting roles after he graduated – and secured a solid, staple cast part in Friday Night Lights – he kept pushing behind the scenes work on the side, exploring his theater roots through playwriting. And as it turned out, the role of Matt Saracen was something of a breakout for him: it gave him some recognition and made people in the industry take notice of him enough to give him influence, not only in getting more auditions, but also for his writing. In 2010, he moved to New York City, and in 2011, after Friday Night Lights’ wrap, he managed to stage his first play with Cherry Lane Theater. It was by far his most exhilarating experience in the industry so far, because it allowed him to take much more control of his own words, but since he asked someone else to direct the production, it also allowed him to see his words through someone else’s creative process. More than anything, staging Asuncion was a marked moment of pride for Kip in his career, and although he continued acting on screen afterwards, he kept writing, too. Betrayal. Expectedly, it was a far cry from the off-Broadway shows he had both written and participated in, but the heart of it was the same, and despite his petrification, the experience was flooring. Plus, it seemed that his career really was taking on a specific – and up-slating – trajectory. Betrayal signaled his first real ‘break’ into bigger productions, and although he was undeniably excited about the opportunities that were coming to him, he was also somewhat uneasy. He knew that he did not, after all, want to turn into a Hollywood name, nor did he want to forget about his priorities. More than ever, he tried to be choosy in the roles he took, and that meant that he started having to reject scripts that came to him (which was itself a phenomenon that he couldn’t believe was happening to him).
But in 2014, it was clear that he’d come a long way from where he’d started when he secured a part in his largest production yet: Star Wars. As always, there are parts of him that are ashamed for having taken it, given the franchise’s notoriety, but on the other hand, his connection to the film is genuine, and he has been conscious working on trying to follow his own heart rather than worry about what other people think. In any case, his third play, The Spoils, is going to be produced by The New Group in the spring of 2015, and he's looking forward to cooling off a little on the Hollywood front and getting back to his roots.