Awesome Kong Discusses Her Early GLOW Fandom, Her Powerful "Mother Of All Matches" GLOW Episode
Kia Stevens, aka Awesome Kong, has expanded into more than sports entertainment as in addition to being a wrestler, she also acts in the Netflix series GLOW. Stevens portrays Tamme "The Welfare Queen" Dawson and she revealed if she was a fan of the original GLOW when she spoke to Wrestling Inc. on our WINCLY podcast.
"I was; I indeed was. I would watch wrestling with my brother and he would torture me with wrestling moves. Then I decided to go watch wrestling by myself and learn some moves so the next time he came at me I would have something for him, which I did. Then he stopped teasing me and we would watch wrestling together and we absolutely loved GLOW," said Stevens.
Many likely think that GLOW is Stevens' first acting credits but she revealed that she was actually an actress before becoming a wrestler.
"I started off in acting and was a child actor which is why I think I slid into wrestling so easily. It was a different kind of performance for me and I've been performing since I was seven. So going back to screen acting was just going full circle; I loved it," Stevens said before adding how excited she was when she received the script.
"I was so excited and I could see it mentally when reading that first script. I was like, 'Oh, I can totally see this.' And even if I don't get the part, then it will be a show I'm definitely gonna delve into."
Stevens has been wrestling for over 15 years and she was asked why it's taken so long for there to be a pro wrestling TV show.
"I don't know. I'm happy that [GLOW creators] Liz and Carly saw the GLOW documentary, so this idea for GLOW came to live," stated Stevens. "If they had never seen it then perhaps this would have taken longer. So I think it was just all the stars aligning for this to happen."
As for her character of Tamme Dawson, Stevens says it is one she can identify with because of her mom being in a similar situation.
"My mom was an actress and she had to accept roles that she didn't feel comfortable with so I felt it was a story that needed to be told. When I saw Tamme in her role, I thought it was important to tell this story as a cautionary tale for producers and directors alike to know the social and emotional impact their decisions have when it comes to entertainment," revealed Stevens.
One episode from Season 2 of GLOW really sticks out to Stevens and that is "Mother of All Matches" which details Dawson's relationship with her son. Stevens talked about why she really enjoyed filming that episode.
"It allowed me to show a different dimension to my acting ability and to contribute to telling that story was very important to me. It's something that's gonna stick with me for the rest of my life," said Stevens.
Kia Stevens (aka Awesome Kong) returns as Tammy "Welfare Queen" Dawson to GLOW for season three. GLOW season three will be released August 9h on Netflix. Her full interview with Wrestling Inc aired as part of a recent episode of our WINCLY podcast. It can be heard via the embedded audio player at the bottom of this post. In it Kong discusses her GLOW fandom as a kid, GLOW's powerful "Mother Of All Matches" episode, getting a bigger "push" in GLOW season two, her AEW future, possible GLOW – AEW crossover, her role in pro wrestling's women's revolution and more.
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