“Who is that incredible actor playing Zero in Stick?” If this is something you’ve Googled in the last week or so, you are not alone. In fact, we are right there with you.
Since the first several episodes of Owen Wilson‘s new golf comedy series dropped on Apple TV+ in early June, the audience has been introduced to a slew of new characters, including Elena (Mariana Treviño), Mitts (Marc Maron), and most recently, Zero (Lilli Kay).
In Episode 3, “Daddy Issues,” we meet Zero, a bartender-waitress whose tolerance level for golf a-holes is, well, at zero. She quickly becomes a favorite character because of what she does to the aforementioned golf a-holes — we’ll hold spoilers just in case you paused the TV to look her up after her first moment on screen — and we promise that you will continue to love her through the end of the first season.
But if you’re in the camp of people taking a good hard look at Zero and wondering where you’ve seen her before and what else she’s been in, let us help you out with that. Here’s everything you need to know about Lilli Kay.
Born to actor, writer, and director Stephen Kay — best known for his work on Friday Night Lights and Sons of Anarchy — the 29-year-old actress burst onto the screen for the first time in 2018, appearing in HBO’s Paterno alongside Al Pacino and Kathy Baker. From there, her career slowly began to take off as she took on roles in Madam Secretary with Téa Leoni and 10 episodes of Netflix’s Chambers.
In 2019, Kay got her big break as she was cast in Showtime’s Your Honor as Fia Baxter, the daughter of Gina Baxter (Hope Davis) and Jimmy Baxter (Michael Stuhlbarg). The show ran for two seasons and helped get the young actress her next roles in Rustin with Colman Domingo and Yellowstone, where she played Clara Brewer, an assistant to John Dutton (Kevin Costner).
DECIDER spoke with Kay around the time of her major character arc in Yellowstone Season 5, and she explained what she learned from working with Costner, as well as what lessons she would be taking to future sets.
“There were many things that he said to me, but one conversation in particular stands out. I remember he was talking about feeling free to shift things around between when we rehearse things and when we lock things in,” she said in a 2023 sitdown. “As an actor, you should not feel beholden to an idea that you had for five minutes. It’s important to keep playing. You shouldn’t feel pressured to keep doing something the same way if it feels dishonest, even if all the cameras are configured around a choice you made in rehearsal.”
She added, “There’s always flexibility if it means getting the character and the scene right. There’s still room to explore. What makes all of our acting greats so great is that they play.”
It’s possible that those lessons helped to cement her blossoming career, which leads us to her starring role as Zero in Stick. No spoilers but Zero is here to stay and will be playing a pretty big role throughout the entire first season. All but guaranteed you will continue to fall in love.
We cannot wait to see what she does next, both in Stick and in other shows and movies!
The first four episodes of Stick are currently streaming on Apple TV+.
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