Written By: Jayme Face

Daya Vaidya can be seen playing Jen Kowski on Amazon Prime’s wildly popular Bosch. We caught up with her on what’s going on in Season 6 which just premiered and her thoughts about where the show is headed for its final season, her latest feature film and what she’s doing during this pandemic to keep positive!

upfrontNY: For those that may just be starting Bosch, can you tell us a little bit about it and about your character Jen Kowski.

Daya Vaidya: Bosch is a procedural drama that takes place in L.A. It has a bunch of different storylines, the murder storylines and the political storylines. I’m part of the political storyline that has to do with the Mayor and the Chief of Police who is played by Lance Reddick. I play Jen Kowski. Basically, I’m a political operative running his campaign and making things happen. It’s authentically L.A.; how a city like L.A. gets run from the police department to the Mayor’s office.

 

upfrontNY: Can you tell us about Season 6, that has just come out?

Daya Vaidya: Yes. So, this season changed because I am working directly with Lance and running his campaign personally. Before I was working with Mayor Ramos and now he’s not in the story anymore. Now it’s just me and Lance running the show and it’s really fun this season because the writers really let me do my thing. They let Jen kind of take charge. I think it’s really cool to watch a woman come in and she’s such a strong character and he’s so strong so to go toe to toe with him is always challenging and also just super fun to play as an actress.

 

upfrontNY: You entered in Season 2, how has your character grown since?

Daya Vaidya: She’s grown a lot because, like I was saying, I entered in Season 2. I was working with Mayor Ramos on the sideline with him and he was the person mostly in charge. I think over the past few seasons Jen has just become more and more ambitious and I would say ruthless. I think she has a lot of ruthless in her. She does what she has to do to run the show and her main goal is to win. It’s been fun. Now that Ramos isn’t in the picture she really gets to run it. It’s always fun when you have a little more power. Right?

 

upfrontNY: It was renewed for a seventh and final season, what do you hope for the series and your character as the show ends?

Daya Vaidya: Without giving the ending away some of the pretty crazy stuff that happens at the end of Season 6,  I’m really curious as to how the writers are going to handle Jen handling that. She doesn’t take those kind of things lightly. She doesn’t take being crossed lightly. So, I say watch out. I know when we end the season I’m not too happy so let’s just see how she handles that. I don’t even know. It’s a surprise to us. We don’t know until we read the script. I’m excited about how they will have her handle it because it’s not pretty, she is mad.

 

upfrontNY: Were you familiar with the books before you got the role? Do you use them to help in your acting process?

Daya Vaidya: I didn’t until I had gotten the role, When I auditioned for it I started to research it and read them. I read the first one and started studying them; especially for seasons two through four because we were still following the books more. Now we’ve kind of gone off the books. Although Michael Connelly is a big part of it. He is the author of the books, a producer, and very much involved. The books are more like a guideline. You sort of see the sort of tone and vibe. I feel like we follow that really moody tone in the show. Also, my character was a man in the book and they made her a woman in the show which is really fun and cool. I really like that because then I can play with that. When it was originally thought of as a man now how do I bring that into a woman.

 

upfrontNY: Can you tell us about The Locksmith, which you produced?

Daya Vaidya: The Locksmith is a horror movie shot in Atlanta. My husband is producing it with me and Ryan Miningham. Actually, we all worked together on Blue initially, where I met my husband. It is a movie on Amazon Prime that you can watch right now that I’m in and I’m starring with my husband. So, we all came back together, the same team, to produce Locksmith which is a bit different. It’s a murder taking place in the sticks in Atlanta. It’s a lot of twists and turns. The pandemic has changed our timeline for releasing it, but as soon as we can we are going to try to get it out there. It’s a fun gritty horror movie.

 

upfrontNY: What are the advantages and setbacks to working with your husband?

Daya Vaidya: I would say more advantages than setbacks because we work really well together. We met in this business; we met on set. I think it is kind of built into our relationship. We have a lot of fun creating. Every day we are bouncing ideas off each other and coming up with ideas and writing it down. It’s just a part of our lives, the kids too. It’s a big group effort with our family.

 

upfrontNY: Being a woman of color you support organizations that promote diversity, what advice do you give young girls looking to make their way in the business on how to overcome adversity or obstacles?

Daya Vaidya: I get this question a lot on twitter. Interestingly enough I would say it’s the most common question people ask me from all over the country.  I always say and this is my advice for everyone, it’s about not giving up. It’s as simple as that. It’s really about deciding if this is what you love and this is what you want to do then don’t let anyone stop you. Study and really, really put in the work. It’s a craft, just like anything else, if you want to be a doctor, a lawyer, if you want to become anything you have to go to school, you have to study. Acting is no different. So, I always say if you put in the work and you study it like a craft then you really thicken that skin and no matter what happens to you or what they throw at you you’ll be able to handle it. As a woman of color, I think even more so you have to really be strong in your center and know who you are as person and that helps your acting. You know what I mean, once you are strong and honest your characters are strong and honest.

 

upfrontNY: What are you doing to keep busy or keep positive during this pandemic?

Daya Vaidya: I am baking a lot of bread. I know a lot of people are doing that, but I’ve never made bread before. I’m like obsessed with making bread. I don’t know, it makes me happy. It’s so crazy how kneading dough can just be soothing. So, I’m doing that and I’ve been dancing. I’m playing music and dancing. I’m cooking and I’m just trying to be present and keep moving a lot.  I’m a dancer that’s also what I’ve done my whole life. I just have to get to moving, singing, and creating. That keeps my spirits up because then it just gets so hard. Right?

 

upfrontNY: Is there anything else you would like to let our readers know?

Daya Vaidya: Well, I always say this when I’m talking to people right now, just because I always want to give a shout out to the first responders and the nurses and the doctors and the frontline workers right now. It’s just a really tough time and I just want to always put out my support and love for them. I just hope that we all do our best to keep them safe.