We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kendal Brenneman a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Kendal, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

In 2020, when the lockdowns first began, I stumbled upon a video online of a girl reading from a Victorian diary. It intrigued me so I went to eBay to see what I could find. I started by purchasing two diaries – one by a woman in Kentucky in 1929 and one by a young man named Marcus who was traveling Europe with a group of Catholics in 1931. I read them to my subscribers on YouTube and was hooked. I started buying more diaries. I loved discovering who these people were, and having a peek into what life was like decades ago. The earliest diary in my possession dates back to 1814. With the more recent diaries (recent as in the 1940’s or 1950’s), I wondered how they had ended up on eBay, and if any of the writers’ families even knew about them. First I reached out to a man I knew had some connection to Marcus – the young man whose diary I purchased. He had written a book about a member of the family, which was on Amazon along with his email address. It turned out to be Marcus’s nephew and he was so excited that I had found this diary. The family had Marcus’s photo album from the trip and had no idea there were diaries as well. So I returned it to them. This became my mission, and I set up thelostdiaryproject.com . I have returned three diaries so far and look forward to more reunion stories.

Kendal, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Kendal Brenneman and from a young age, I knew I wanted to act. It began with Olivia Hussey in Romeo and Juliet… the costumes. Oh, the costumes! I was hooked. After high school, I made my way to Los Angeles, where I did everything I could to “make it” in the film industry. Lots of background work, stand-in work, auditioning for what I could, doing student films, etc… At some point I started working online to give myself more freedom to take class, go to auditions, and to travel. I ended up in France for a while and produced two short films while I was there. I moved to Cannes in 2019, hoping for better weather, and of course, easy access to the film festival and the beach, which I missed. The lockdowns threw a wrench in my plans and I ended up in the Netherlands for my Dutch boyfriend. While living so far from the cities and people I knew, I entertained myself in part by buying old diaries and reading them along with my research on YouTube, which I am still doing 3 years later. At some point I started reaching out to living relatives when I could find them, and returning these lost or stolen diaries, which has become a quite fulfilling mission for me. Acting took a backseat for the majority of my time in the Netherlands, however this past year I co-wrote a short film with a friend from the States which we finally filmed in Paris over the summer. My dream for the past 20 years of my life has been to play Audrey Hepburn in a biographical film. That was not something I could personally produce, but I played a fictional version of her in our film, and I anxiously await the edited version to see if I did a good job. We will be submitting it to festivals, and despite my location I hope to dive back into acting.
I have always enjoyed being creative, whether it’s drawing, painting, sewing, acting, or just hosting a tea party, and I always hope that what I do in some big or small way can have a positive impact on somebody else.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I think I’ve pivoted a lot in my life, trying to make the best decision that would lead me to my goals, but I suppose the largest pivot came in 2020. I had just started settling down again in a new home in Cannes, France. I had just had my first paying job as a background actor on a film in France, I was beginning to make friends, going to ballet and art class, and looking into the film community in the south of France when the lockdowns hit. I had been seeing someone long-distance in the Netherlands, and when everything came crashing down, I ended up there, and a year later, getting residency and giving up my dream of living and working in France. My world shrank and suddenly I was living in a country where I didn’t have friends or family, didn’t know the language, wasn’t living on my own, and couldn’t really work thanks to the lockdowns and distances. At first I put a lot of time into my YouTube videos, then into my new diary project. I started learning to paint, hoping I could make that into a back-up plan. Starting over again in this new place was really a plot twist I didn’t expect or want, and I am still trying to find my way.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

I have many goals and interests, and I think my main driver is just curiosity and a desire to be the best version of myself I can be. As an actress, my dream is to portray Audrey Hepburn in a biographical film or television show. She has been my inspiration for a very long time. However, in a broader sense, I have what I think is a simple goal. I’d like to fulfill my dream of owning a home that I love, where I can settle in and immerse myself in my passions: renovating, decorating, gardening, meditating, painting, photography, sewing, and hosting friends and family…. I dream of a life where nearby friends stop by for tea and we exchange things from our gardens before meeting up later to go swing dancing. Maybe I’m a bit old-fashioned! But home and friends mean a lot to me, and all the work I do is done with this goal in mind. Thinking beyond my little life, I’m still in search of the best way to give back to the world and improve the lives of others, perhaps by finding a way to contribute to the fight to legalize substances like cannabis and psychedelics, educating others about herbalism or meditation, or embarking on an entirely different path.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.kendalbrenneman.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/kendal_in_wonderland
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@kendalbrenneman
• Other: www.DatingAudrey.com www.thelostdiaryproject.com

Image Credits
Photos 2, 4, and 5 (in the tulip field, on the steps of Fontainebleau chateau, and playing Audrey in Paris) were taken by my boyfriend, Diederik van Harreveld.