They go to school together and protect each other from any roadblocks that come up during the day.
For starters, Lissa is a vampire princess and the heir to a royal dynasty.
But they aren’t the only cast members along for the ride.
Kaiser spoke exclusively to The List about how she got involved with the series.
In the process, she revealed that she’s a longtime fan of Mead’s books.
Doing the audition process when you’re just getting your foot in the door.
I moved down [to Los Angeles in] 2018 to start acting professionally.
When you’re doing it, you literally audition for everything.
That’s when I got a little excited.
I was like, “I didn’t realize.”
That’s what drew me to it.
[I realized] in real time what was going on.
Had you had read the books before auditioning?
I read them when I was 13.
Those are the first young adult fantasy books that I read.
It was so cool.
My sister [and I], we would just go.
We were superfans of these books.
I read those books.
There’s other[s].
Do you have a favorite character from the series that isn’t Rose, Lissa, or Sonya?
That is a good question.
I think Christian is … No, Mason.
Mason’s my favorite.
It’s like, “No.”
Yeah, Mason’s my favorite.
He’s a fun character.
I loved reading him with Rose.
The way they’re written is just so … You’re fully there.
You’re like, “Yes!
Team Mason, Team Rose.”
She has that whole dynamic going on.
[During] my upbringing as a kid, I was always a kid that was not cool.
That’s why I definitely relate to that a lot more.
I would love to relate more to Lissa.
That’d be so cool if I could relate to being a princess and being super rich.
Rose is a baddie, though!
So in the long run, you came out ahead.
Yeah, and 13-year-old me was like, “I want every guy to like me.”
Every guy loves Rose.
I saw on Instagram that you said you’d always wanted to play a book character.
If you could play anyone, who would be your dream character from a book?
Oh, this is so easy for me: Katniss Everdeen from “The Hunger Games.”
I read those books, and those books have my heart.
I’m such a dork.
She probably never saw it, but it exists.
I still have the letter.
Can you talk at all about how she’s different?
I can’t say too much.
We’ve taken the world in “Vampire Academy” and we’ve expanded upon it.
Everyone’s getting a little bit of a backstory, which we never got with Sonya in the books.
That’s a main difference.
You have to watch to find out!
Are there any challenges as an actor to bring a character like that to life?
But there’s only so much that I can …
It comes down to a person being a people pleaser.
I’m not in the moment.
That’s the joy of acting; it’s spontaneous.
You never know exactly what’s going to happen.
you’ve got the option to prep.
It sounds like part of it is having that confidence in yourself and faith in knowing your character.
That helps with the confidence.
Jonetta Kaiser’s favorite vampire tale involves Aaliyah
You mentioned “Twilight.”
I have to put you on the spot: Do you have a favorite vampire story?
I loved the movie “Queen of the Damned,” with Aaliyah.
My mom was super obsessed with that movie.
Aaliyah is so beautiful and captivating, and it’s so dark.
I love that about it.
It’s like the underworld.
Yeah, I think that’s my favorite vampire story.
You mentioned that you’ve been working in acting since 2018.
What drew you to the field?
I’ve always wanted to do it.
I would watch movies with my favorite actors.
Angelina Jolie is a huge one.
I’ve always absorbed everything I could.
I’ve always studied people and really good actors doing what they do by watching their movies.
That’s when I found my way back to “I can actually do this professionally.
That’s something that people actually can do.”
Then I made the big move to Los Angeles.
Then everything fell into place because it was something that I’d always been exercising without actually doing it.
That was a whole different thing once I actually started auditioning and then exercising that instrument.
It’s a whole craft to master in itself, auditioning.
I think that’s what got me to this point.
Is there any actor or actress that you would most love to work with?
Obviously, Jennifer Lawrence; I love her.
I’ve loved her since her playing Katniss Everdeen.
Also, I’ve gone back and watched other things that she’s done.
She’s so great.
I really want to work with Denzel Washington.
He’s so great at what he does.
Oh my gosh, there’s so many.
Zendaya is killing it.
She’s so great.
Yeah, the list goes on and on.
Do you still get to do anything in those fields as you’re pursuing acting?
Before booking “Vampire Academy,” I actually had website clients [whose websites I’d] code.
I haven’t had time to hand off the clients to anyone else yet.
It’s been like, go, go, go, go, go.
So I’m looking to do that.
If there’s anyone who wants a website client, let me know.
I will be happy to hand them off.
But yeah, I loved coding.
That’s just one of the ways to do shorthand JavaScript.
So I know all of that.
It’s literally another language that I know and understand.
The biochemistry came in when I was diagnosed with scoliosis in ninth grade.
I gave up on becoming an actress.
My dad, he’s like, “Women in STEM, that’s the new direction.
Do that; you’ll be successful.”
So I was like, “Okay,” and went to school for biochemistry in 2018.
‘17-‘18 is when I dropped out to move to LA and do the acting professionally.
But yeah, that’s what I was doing before, right before.
Did that draw you in at all when you were looking at the offer?
Oh my, yes.
When I saw that our female lead would be a Black woman, I was like, “Finally.
It’s time.”
For a show like this, I want people to be able to see themselves in the characters.
The world has evolved.
“Bridgerton” is doing it.
It doesn’t take away from the acting.
It doesn’t take away from the story at all.
Yeah, it drew me to it.
That’s so amazing and beautiful.
This interview has been edited for clarity.
