Lala sets the record straight with ET about her alleged ‘shade’ towards Megan, the star of her fiancé Randall Emmett’s new movie.
Lala Kent is setting the record straight!
The 30-year-old made headlines this week after tabloids took an Instagram Story she posted as shading Megan Fox, the star of Lala’s fiancé Randall Emmett’s directorial debut, Midnight in the Switchgrass.
"I don't know how to throw shade subtly. It was honestly, my mother took a picture of me. I was standing next to the poster," Lala tells ET's Brice Sander about the alleged shade. "Before we went into the premiere, I did a quick, 'I'm excited' and posted it. And I know how this works. It makes a much more intriguing headline to see, 'Lala Kent tries to shade Megan Fox' rather than, 'Lala's mom takes a picture of her next to Randall's poster.'"
Megan and boyfriend Machine Gun Kelly, who both met on the set of the film, skipped the Los Angeles premiere of Midnight in the Switchgrass citing COVID-19 concerns. In the picture the Vanderpump Rules star posted and then deleted, she stands directly in front of Megan’s face on the movie’s poster. Lala also covered the actress’ name with text praising others involved in the project.
"So no [shade]," she says, explaining the actual story behind it and praising Megan. "I really enjoy Megan. We've had amazing times together. I got my tattoo that says 'Rand' with Megan and MGK, so I would never throw shade at her, no. I wish it was more interesting, but that's really the story."
Megan, meanwhile, was asked about the drama, telling USA Today, "I really like Lala, so I can’t imagine she would be trying to do anything negative like that. She’s a lovely person.”
Upon hearing Megan's response, Lala replies, "Oh, good. That was the first thing because I actually didn't know that it had become a thing until Randall told me, 'This is a thing.' And I was like, 'God d*mn it.' You really have to be careful of every single thing that you post because anything can come across as something completely different."
"I am the first person to say, if you have a COVID concern, you should stay home," the reality star continues. "Especially me being a new mom. I also had those same concerns, so I in no way was thinking, 'You should have shown up.' I completely understand. Safety is the most important thing."
But the beef might not be over, as MGK posted a cryptic tweet about a "trash" movie on Friday, the day Midnight in the Switchgrass was released.
"If i don’t talk or tweet about a movie i’m barely in it’s because it’s [trash emoji]," Kelly tweeted without mentioning names or titles.
Drama aside, Lala couldn't be happier for her fans to see her latest movie, Out of Death. The film, starring Bruce Willis and Jaime King, follows a corrupt Sheriff's department in a rural mountain town that comes undone when an unintended witness throws a wrench into their shady operation. Lala plays "dirty cop" Billie Jean.
"I love it! That's the one thing that I was so drawn to this because I've never played a dirty cop before," she expresses. "I've played a lot of things, but that has not been one. It was a lot of fun."
"I tried to speak in a Southern accent for a while because accents are not my strong point, which was another reason why I loved it because I like anything that challenges me," the actress continues. "And I was five months pregnant when we were filming this, so I've never been a diva on set ever, except for this film. I was hormonally raging at times. Luckily, the director was very chill with me and allowed me to go through my process. But I really did have a great time."
Lala gave birth to her and Randall's first child together, a baby girl named Ocean, in March. The new mom jokes that this movie was her daughter's big screen debut.
"She's definitely a star on Vanderpump Rules, but this was her first on camera appearance," Lala teases, before noting her baby girl is already a "professional." "Her timing is impeccable, I will say. When we film Vanderpump, they're only allowed to film for 20 minutes just because of their age, and she could be a terror. The second she knows she's on camera, she calms herself down and then when she's wrapped she's back to screaming her head off. She's a professional."
Meanwhile, working alongside the one and only Bruce Willis is always a treat -- no matter how many times she's shared the screen with the actor.
"I've been lucky enough to have played opposite Bruce Willis a handful of times before. I'm telling you, it doesn't even matter if I had done it a million times before. The second he shows up on set, I forget my own name because he's a legend," she marvels. "I show up and I'm like, 'I'm Lala Kent.' And then he shows up and I'm like, 'That's Bruce Willis! You are Lauren from Utah right now, and it's Bruce Willis. It's very intimidating."
Lala and Randall -- who produced Out of Death -- have a consistent partnership, as she almost only stars in films he produces. She understands that people might perceive their working relationship as he's just giving her these opportunities.
"I would think the same thing," she honestly replies. "If I were an outsider, I'd be like, 'Well, how easy is this? She just gets to be put in every film.' For people who don't understand, I have to be approved by the studio before I'm in any of Randall's films. When I first acted in one of Randall's films, which was opposite Bruce Willis, I then had proven myself to go on to being okayed for other roles like this."
"When it came to Al Pacino, not only did the studio have to approve me, but Al Pacino had to approve me, as well. It wasn't just handed to me," she says of her role in Axis Sally. "It's almost more intimidating and a different kind of rejection because if I say to Randall, 'I really want this part,' and then I don't get it, it's like, 'You couldn't fight hard enough for me?' But it just goes so far beyond Randall. I wish it was that easy because then I feel like I would be in a lot more. Like the Al Pacino film, I had to audition for the Bruce Willis film. I had proven myself and I feel very proud of that."
Lala doesn't mind addressing her credibility and whether people take her seriously as an actress.
"I don't feel like I get taken seriously at really anything that I try to break into, and I'm OK with that," she notes. "I knew the second that I signed on for Vanderpump Rules that I would put myself into a box. I knew that it would bring a lot of opportunity, but I knew that it would also be really hard for me to break out of the box."
That doesn't stop her from pushing forward and continuing to pursue her acting dreams. "My hope is just that people watch anything that I'm in as far as films," she expresses, adding that she's "been working on this craft since I was 12 years old."
"I didn't move to L.A. to be on Vanderpump Rules. I moved to L.A. to be an actress," she adds. "No matter what the feedback is, I will continue to work on that craft and try my best to give a great performance."
As for her dream role, she would "love to be in a comedy." "I would love to be in a [Judd] Apatow film because I think he's just a creative genius," she shares. "And just the way he presents comedy in a film is brilliant. I think that that would be my dream."
Expect to see more of Lala on the big and small screen. Out of Death is on available VOD.
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