Kyla Kenedy Had a Breakout Role on 'The Walking Dead' Before 'Mr. Mayor'

Just under a year after The Good Place aired its revered series finale, Ted Danson is returning to the small screen in another NBC comedy. The TV legend is starring as Neil Bremer, a businessman who decides to run for the mayor of Los Angeles, on Mr. Mayor. His intentions for running for political office are flawed at best, meaning that his surprising victory will cause a lot of problems for himself and his family.

While Ted is a household name, as are co-stars Holly Hunter and Bobby Moynihan, there are a few other actors in Mr. Mayor whom you may not recognize. 

Who is Kyla Kenedy from Mr. Mayor? The teenager has a key role in Neil's life on the show.

Though South Carolina native Kyla Kenedy is only 17 years old, she already has an impressive acting resume. Her first role really brings her latest gig on Mr. Mayor full circle. 

Her earliest credit was in 2011, when she played Fiona Chambliss on "Tell-Tale Hearts," a Season 12 episode of CSI. As fans of the crime drama will know, CSI was led in its latter seasons by Ted Danson. He played supervisor D.B. Russell from Seasons 12 through 15.

After her first instance of sharing the screen with Ted, Kyla briefly appeared in three movies, including The Three Stooges in 2012. From 2012 to 2013, she had a guest arc on the Ryan Murphy comedy, The New Normal, as Rebecca.

She also acted in an episode each of Doc McStuffins and Rizzoli & Isles. 

In what could be considered her "breakout" role, Kyla was Myka Samuels in six episodes of The Walking Dead. Her character was the daughter of Ryan Samuels (Victor McKay) and Carol Peletier (Melissa McBride) took her and her sister in after she killed Ryan. The role continued from Seasons 4 through 5. 

Her other credits include eight episodes of NBC medical drama, The Night Shift, and spots on Chicago Med and Chicago P.D.

Prior to snagging a lead spot on Mr. Mayor, Kyla had a lead role on the ABC comedy Speechless, which centered around a child with cerebral palsy named JJ DiMeo (Micah Fowler). Her character, Dylan DiMeo, was the youngest child of Maya (Minnie Driver) and Jimmy (John Ross Bowie), and the sister of JJ. The show was canceled after three seasons in 2019. 

From 2015 to 2020, she voiced Piper on the short series If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, which is based on the children's books by Laura Numeroff.

When Ted's character, Neil, decides to run for office, he soon learns that it means he'll be sacrificing bonding time with his daughter, Orly (who is played by Kyla). It doesn't appear as if Neil's character is married, or if Orly's mom is still in the picture on the show. 

Viewers will have to tune in to see Neil and Orly's father-daughter bond play out on screen. 

Mr. Mayor airs on Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET on NBC.