San Antonio Child Actor Lands Role in Kevin Bacon’s Family Movie

A San Antonio, Texas, child actor, Emery Kaler, 9, has appeared alongside Kevin Bacon in his new horror-comedy, Family Movie, which premiered at the 2026 South by Southwest Film & TV Festival in Austin.

Kaler plays Young Ula, the daughter of Bacon’s character, Jack Smith, a B-movie director who frequently casts his family in his low-budget slasher films, according to reports. The film centers on a filmmaking family whose production is disrupted by a real-life murder on set, forcing them to attempt a cover-up to continue filming.

This marks Kaler’s big-screen debut. She lives in Boerne, Texas, with her family. “I got to play pretend on camera with him,” Kaler told MySA, referring to Bacon. “I have maybe five lines.”

The cast also includes Sosie Bacon, Kevin Bacon’s daughter, who portrays the adult version of Ula, and Kyra Sedgwick, Bacon’s wife, who plays Jack Smith’s wife. Kevin Bacon and Sedgwick co-directed Family Movie.

Kaler’s interest in acting was sparked by her grandparents, who introduced her to films like Home Alone and Back to the Future. Her father, John Kaler, recorded her audition and submitted it to the casting director. “Emery is a quick learner,” John Kaler said to MySA. “When she got this opportunity, she hit the ground running. Once we were on set, it was like she had already been there before. She was a natural.”

Despite her recent involvement in a horror-comedy, Kaler has limited experience with the genre, having recently seen the original Ghostbusters. Family Movie reportedly contains more intense scenes than Ghostbusters.