Meet 'LA to Vegas' Star Kim Matula

If you've seen the trailers for the new Fox comedy LA to Vegas and summed it up as a bro comedy about Dylan McDermott as an airline pilot, you're not entirely wrong. The series does boast Will Ferrell and Adam McKay as executive producers. But if you thought, Eh, I could do without it—well, think again. The airline workplace comedy—from L.A. to Vegas, of course, and back again—is actually told through the lens of its female lead, Kim Matula. The 29-year-old Unreal alum, who plays Ronnie, is the real discovery of the show. With all due respect to McDermott and fellow costars Ed Weeks, Peter Stormare, and Nathan Lee Graham (all superb), this is Matula's show.

“I just think there’s a lot more to it," Matula tells us. "When you actually sit down and watch it, you’ll realize that all these characters are utilized so beautifully, and it’s way more than a bro culture. I know there are obviously elements of that, and they are hilarious to me, even as a woman. But it is taken a lot from a woman’s point of view."

Although Matula's character works with a bunch of men, she's the one who keeps the ship running. "If it weren’t for Ronnie, it would all fall apart," she explains. "Everyone comes to her for what to do. Reese Witherspoon gave that [Glamour Women of the Year] speech in 2015 where she talked about how in every movie, the women are like, ‘What do we do now?’ and how she said, ‘What woman do you know that would be like, "What do we do?!"' Women have plans A, B, and C worked out. I’m so happy to play a character that doesn’t have to say, ‘What do we do now?’" Ronnie says, "Here’s what we do now."

For years Matula fought against those same stereotypes in her career. "I typically got called in to play the dumb blond, and then the casting director would say, 'Oh, that's not who you are at all.' So to be playing someone who isn’t afraid to vocalize her opinions, go after what she wants, and be very honest about what she wants is very refreshing. Ronnie keeps every single man on this plane in line."