Kai Wener

**Kai Di'Nilo Wener** is an American actor who portrays Ty Finn in *The Orville*.

## The Orville

Kai Wener auditioned for the role of Ty Finn with the famous cold opening of *Into the Fold*:

> *To prepare for my audition for the role of Ty Finn on* The Orville*, created by Seth MacFarlane, my script had Ty calling out “Mom” over and over again to wake her up. I immediately thought about the famous* Family Guy *scene where Stewie wakes up Lois by continuously saying “Mom!, Mum!, Mommy!…” Since my Dad told me that Family Guy was also a Seth MacFarlane show, I thought it would be fun to incorporate that scene into my audition.*
>
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He received news that he won the part by phone call while riding in the backseat of a car.

During filming, Wener arrived at the set each morning by 7 a.m. to check in. He then ate breakfast, attended school for three hours, and then acted on set.

### Season 1

During the first table read, Wener met the show's creator Seth MacFarlane, the cast, producers, and writing team. After, he took a tour of the 20th Century Fox studio lot.

### Season 2

Ty takes a more prominent role in Season 2 when Isaac teaches him piano, culminating in a piano recital in front of the ship in *A Happy Refrain*. Wener learned classical piano for the part.

> *I began learning classical piano for my role on The Orville for Season 2. The producers wanted my scenes to be as real as possible, so instead of using a professional pianist as a photo double, I had to put my little fingers to work!*
>
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Wener continued to take piano lessons even after Season 2's conclusion.

### Awards

For his performance in Season 1, Wener was nominated by the Young Entertainer Awards for Best Recurring Young Actor 11 or Under - Television Series. Wener commented:

> *It’s a great feeling being nominated for something you work hard doing and enjoy. I think its really special to be highlighted amongst other young artists who love doing what they do!*
>
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Wener was also nominated by the Young Artist Awards for Best Performance in a TV Series - Recurring Young Actor.

## Trivia

* Penny Johnson Jerald, who plays Wener's mom, taught Wener her "morning dancing."
	+ In return, Wener and BJ Tanner (Marcus Finn) taught her dances from Fortnite.
* Wener drew the picture that, in-universe, Ty made for Isaac in *Identity, Pt. 1* so that he would remember him and his family.
* His favorite episodes are *Identity, Pt. 1* and *Pt. 2*.
* He says he is like Ty in that they both love watching their siblings get in trouble, their mothers, and going on adventures; but he would "definitely not go down that dark tunnel" (referring to *Identity, Pt. 1*).

## Interviews

* Undated, 2018: *TV Over Mind*
* December 2018: *Star Kidz*
* April 2019: *BCSKids*

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Berman, Nat. "10 Things You Didn’t know about Kai Wener". *TV Over Mind*. 2018.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "1 Day ‘Til Christmas!". *Star Kidz*. Dec. 24, 2018.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "The Orville Official Fan Podcast w/ Kai Wener and Jon Cassar (32)". Planetary Union Network. Feb. 23, 2019.
4. ↑ 2018 Nominations. Young Entertainer Awards. Last accessed Dec. 28, 2018.
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Cap, Damon. "Kai Wener From The Orville Exclusive BSCKids Interview". *BCSKids*. April 5, 2019.
6. ↑ Young Artist Awards. IMDB. Last accessed June 23, 2020.
7. ↑ /u/LoganBlade14. "Kai Wener drew the picture he gave to Isaac.". Reddit. Feb. 22, 2019.