Mars student to appear in Netflix series
Mars Area High School junior Morgan Kivlan is appearing in the newly released Netflix series “I Am Not Okay With This.”
Morgan, who is the daughter of Benjamin and Kimberly Kivlan of Valencia, has taken film acting classes at Donna Belajac Casting Agency in Pittsburgh for eight years.
In May 2019, a local casting agent took notice of Morgan's performance in a Studio Showcase and asked her to read for a part in the Netflix series.
The audition process was “intense,” Morgan said, adding she never expected to be selected from more than 5,000 girls who read for parts in the series.
“I thought that I would just go for the experience,” Morgan said. “I was in the right place at the right time.”
The only Pittsburgh native selected for a role in the series, Morgan can be seen approximately 16 minutes into Episode 6 of “I Am Not Okay With This.” Her character, credited as “Girl #2,” is leaning against a tree and having a conversation with another girl.
Morgan previously appeared in a few short films, as well as an ad campaign for Child Hunger Awareness.
She also held roles in Mars Area High School's musical productions of “Mamma Mia!,” “Beauty and the Beast” and “Willy Wonka” and its stage plays, “The Somewhat True Tale of Robin Hood,” “Alice in Wonderland” and “Twelve Angry Jurors.”
“(Acting) is something that I would love to do all of the time,” Morgan said. “It's a good experience ... working with a script, playing and developing different characters.”
Morgan plans to pursue a degree in performing arts with a possible double major in education and film.
“I Am Not Okay With This,” based on the graphic novel of the same name by Charles Forsman, follows a 15-year-old girl named Syd, who is struggling with teenage angst while coming to grips with the mysterious death of her father and her newfound telekinetic powers.
The series was filmed this past June in Brownsville.
