Kieron Moore Interview | From Boots to Poetry, Between Character and Self

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From Boots to Poetry With Kieron Moore

written + interview ALBAN E. SMAJLI

Kieron Moore begins 2026 with a sharpened profile. The British actor reached a wider global audience through Boots, the recent Netflix production in which he plays Slovacek, a volatile young American shaped by environment and impulse, marking his first on-screen American role at a moment when his career is expanding across genre. The series aligns with further shifts, including drama in Blue Film, horror in Crave, and an upcoming poetry publication that extends his practice beyond performance.

Born in England and trained through years of competitive boxing before fully committing to acting, Moore brings a physical discipline that continues to inform his work. Boxing, he has often said, structured his thinking. On screen, that control translates into characters who oscillate between restraint and eruption. In Boots, Slovacek operates through bravado and emotional bluntness, yet Moore anchors him in recognisable vulnerability. The role positions him within a lineage of young British actors crossing into American television at scale, navigating accent, cultural nuance, and expectation.

Across recent projects, Moore gravitates toward morally complex material. Blue Film explores ethically charged terrain; Crave leans into horror’s heightened emotional register. In parallel, his photography and poetry suggest a sustained interest in self-examination. A recurring thread runs through all of it, identity as construction, negotiation, and ongoing revision. His own words echo that stance. “Kieron is just an idea,” he reflects, framing the self as plural and in motion.

Alban E. Smajli
Let’s start with Boots. What was it about this role that made you say yes and who is your character in Boots at his core?

Kieron Moore
Boots was my first opportunity to play an American on screen. That in itself was quite the incentive. I had something to prove. If I want to have the career I desire, I have to reach audiences near and far. Boots was a real opportunity to deliver something people had not seen from me. It seems to have worked too, some of my favourite interactions are people mind blown that I’m British.

Slovacek was a misguided young man, moulded by his environment and upbringing. I fell in love with the idea of his unseen potential. What lurks beneath all that testosterone and bravado. So many young men are counted out, and disregarded of before they have a chance to shine. Sometimes all we need is a little bit of direction and discipline to find our footing, and above all, love. I think Boots gave us a real insight into how people from all walks of life can come together, and how our differences are outweighed by our human similarities, if we just pay attention and give them the space to bloom. Growing up where I grew up, in the environments I did, I knew first hand boys like Slovacek. I’m known for being quite sentimental, and I seek that in all my jobs, this one was kind of a healing experience for me, how to understand everyone that bullied me growing up.

Also, one of my best friends was already booked for the show, every job comes with memories to cherish but that made this one extra sweet.

What did the role in Boots ask you to question about yourself?

I don’t really know how to answer this, it’s unheard of for me to be at a loss for words aha, but answering in hindsight is tough. I’ve changed so much since we filmed Boots, and further since its release. Who was I when I played Slovacek?

I always say it’s impossible to play similarities with characters, if we have anything in common I don’t need to lean into it. So I focus on the differences, and with Slovacek there were a lot. What fascinated me was his wiring, this absolute balls to the wall brutishness, his ability to say what he was thinking regardless of consequence, yet underneath that was just a kid trying to make sense of it and survive.

When I review him now, it reminds me that somewhere deep in us all we have a desire to connect. We just go about it in different ways. And I question whether I am being patient and understanding enough to notice that in others. It also highlights how timid I can be. I do not desire to be anything like him, but a fraction of his confidence and fearlessness would be powerful at times.

Kieron wears jumper and trousers by BOSS, shoes by PAUL SMITH and belt Fashion Archive

Kieron wears shirts and ties by FURSAC and ear cuffs by ALT PARIS

You’ve spoken about boxing shaping you for years. Did that physical discipline influence how you approached Boots?

The discipline I acquired from boxing has influenced everything that I do in life, and always will. It’s drilled into me. I approach my life through an athletes lens, and roles are no different.

With Slovacek though, I drew from less disciplined individuals I had been surrounded with in gyms growing up. The kids who had raw, undeniable talent but a defiance to them. An uncontainable roguishness. For the first half of Boots I got to be naughty, Slovacek is a naughty kid. And that was so fun, to break away from all the refinement I had been taught.

When you prepare for a role, do you work through language first, or through feeling?

I guess they fight, good wiring will always inspire deep feeling. But I have a lust for language and what works for me is reliance on the script. How much information can I gather from what is in front of me? I’ve found feelings can’t be trusted in preparation. They’re fleeting. I never want to arrive on set knowing how I should feel, it’s in the word isn’t it, feel. I want to feel it out as it’s happening.

I use the language to gather as much information as I can, to deepen my understanding. Then I hear action, surrender, and trust that the feelings will figure themselves out.

The words, the words, the words. ‘The limits of my language are the limits of my world’ — nothing can affect me when it matters if I don’t have a deep understanding of the text, and hopefully with that comes further emotional capacity.

Blue Film moves into uncomfortable territory, so what attracts you to stories that don’t offer easy moral ground?

Life is hard. The arts can offer consolation, an escape, or highlight the difficulties that exist. I believe we can develop without necessarily experiencing everything first hand, which is why empathy matters. In listening to others’ accounts and stepping into these characters, I broaden my horizons, test my boundaries, and pick at my conscience.

We only know the limits of our beliefs if we question them, and in my view the questions are more important than the answers. We do not grow in comfort. If we ignore things and leave them in the dark, they fester and become uncontrollable. We have to attack life’s difficulties head on. I’ve said this many times about Blue Film, but it’s the truth. I was terrified of the subject matter and scared of being insufficient in that role, but nothing scared me more than the idea of another actor doing it. That is attractive to me. Fear. You can’t be brave unless you’re scared.

watch film

Kieron wears full look by AMI and ear cuffs by ALT PARIS

Kieron wears total look by LOUIS GABRIEL NOUCHI and ear cuffs by ALT PARIS

What drew you toward horror in Crave?

I want to do all the genres. I read the script and fell in love with the idea of playing Eric. It’s always about the character for me, what can I bring to it, what does it give me in exchange? Horror gives a heightened sense of feeling, and I wanted to see if I had the minerals. Eric is less subtle, borderline immoral, and I wanted to see if I could make people sympathise with someone like him.

I also felt drawn to the directors, David and Justin. When we first connected, I felt seen. They believed in me immediately and gave me the space to make Eric my own. Hopefully audiences enjoy what we’ve created.

What happens to your own sense of self after inhabiting different identities again and again?

Not to sound crazy, but Kieron is just an idea. There are different versions of me in different perspectives, and all of them are right. I can’t control them, nor do I wish to. I’m changing day by day, each character just speeds that up.

All I know is my intention, to come out of this as a better person. A more understanding, patient, empathetic and kind human being. I’m getting to know myself, and that is a gift.

You also photograph to “capture time.” Does photography change the way you observe people when you’re preparing for a role?

I like trying to make moments tangible. That’s where my love for photography comes from. I take polaroids so I can hold a memory in my hands. Life is lived in the between, and a photograph can capture that and fill it with feeling. We project onto it. We make it ours.

I’ve never really drawn a link between photography and preparing for characters. Polaroids have always been a very Kieron thing, maybe an anchor for myself through it all. But acting is just anthropology, a deep interest in human beings. I’m a thief when it comes to preparing a character. If it’s an expression or a quirk in someone’s behaviour, whatever is interesting, whatever is human, I’m banking it for future use.

You’re preparing to publish your poetry — is there a poem you would be willing to share that connects to our theme of IDENTITY?

Ah, testing me … I’m keeping a lot of poems under wraps but I have attached two shorter ones that may or may not fit the theme, they aren’t very strong though. I can’t give the goodies away yet!

Kieron wears jacket and shorts by LUDOVIC DE SAINT SERNIN and ear cuffs by ALT PARIS

the red moon looks up at me tonight
i look down at myself
all the things I said no to
made me who I am
I used to think they made me little
but now I realise they make me Moore

I drift through clouds of colours again
street lights
car lights
that red moonlight
no lights inside the people
but i’m connected to them for once

I look at them with smiles
I don’t want to be held
or to hold
or to be close to anyone
i feel myself again

touch departed
significantly hardened
but soft again

something’s changed
or something has been reclaimed
I don’t know which I prefer to call it
I just try to feel it for once
i don’t try to coin it
for once I just feed it

falling forward my feet carve my way
down the road i’ve walked many times before
these new eyes see something
I wish I saw sooner

I see past
past myself
past all of the things I thought I wanted

poem by Kieron Moore

Kieron wears cardigan by CAMPER LAB, trousers and shoes by AMIRI and necklace by ALT PARIS

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actor KIERON MOORE
photographer LOUIS TERAN
stylist SIMON NGO NDJOCK
set design EL MEHDI LARGO
make up NAFIK BOUCHAREB
nails MAHARA DIARTE-ZEROUALI
casting director MARVIN LATOURNALD with MODELS LANE
producer MARIA SHAKOLINA
special thanks to MEUTES STUDIO

credits
all Images (c) LE MILE
and Louis Teran