‘Yoga Teacher Killer: The Kaitlin Armstrong Story’: Caity Lotz & Kyle Schmid on Working Together, Arrowverse & More

After spending recent years suited up in the comic book world of the Arrowverse, Caity Lotz’s latest project is ripped from today’s headlines. The actress stars alongside real-life husband Kyle Schmid (NCIS: Origins) in Lifetime’s Yoga Teacher KIller: The Kaitlin Armstrong Story.

When pro-cyclist Moriah “Mo”  Wilson (Larissa Dias, When Calls the Heart) is found dead in 2022, an investigation points to Lotz’s Armstrong. The yoga teacher lived with her on-and-off boyfriend and pro gravel-racer in his own right, Colin Strickland (Schmid). Rage and jealousy overtook her after finding out about Wilson and Strickland’s affair.

Knowing the authorities were hot on her heels, Armstrong fled the country leading to an international manhunt. There are, of course, twists and trunks along the way. Armstrong was ultimately found guilty of shooting Wilson and sentenced to 90 years in prison.

Here Lotz and Schmid talk about what it’s like working together onscreen for the first time.

Lifetime

How was it on set? 

Caity Lotz: It was awesome. Kyle was nervous. I don’t know why.

Kyle Schmid: I was nervous. I was like, “Is my marriage going to last this thing?” Living together and loving one another are two different things. Then you’re working together. I’ve been doing this for almost 30 years. We got on set and watching Caity work was really cool. Being able to see your partner who you love for totally different reasons and then being professional and doing what we do together. Watching people fall in love with her and watching her create this character. I went from nervous to being excited on the first day.

Caity: I was pregnant while we were filming. It was early, so I was getting this morning sickness and thinking how it would go. Having Kyle there to help take care of me was so helpful. I only threw up in the car once.

Kyle: We do make a good team.

How much of this story did you know beforehand? What was your takeaway from researching it? 

Caity: We weren’t familiar with the case before. Then we started looking into it. The thing that struck me about Kaitlin was how hard she tries and how she never quite gets it right. That was what I tried to tune into. Knowing that feeling when you’re trying so hard and you’re always getting it wrong. I think that was the thing I attached to her character.

What would you take from the relationship? They are hit with financial complications, breaking up, and getting back together. 

Caity: I felt for her in the sense of how badly she wanted a partner. She wanted to move on and have a family. She felt like Colin was it. That Colin was the only one for her. She was willing to sacrifice for him. It was like Kaitlin was living in a movie in her head. A true romance where you’d do anything and no matter what, it’s for you and your partner. It’s this twisted romance. If he was into it too, then it would have been this epic love story. Obviously, he was not mentally unstable. Murder was not anything romantic, but that’s how I viewed it from her point of view. What it could have been, which is delusional.

Kyle: I think relationships in their simplest forms are incredibly complicated. You can be with someone without being in love with somebody. You can deeply care for someone and not want to hurt them and not want to let them go, which in turn creates a lot of emotional damage. I think that was a big part of Colin and his hand in the unraveling of Kaitlin. At the same time, people need to be selfish when it comes to love. You need to know what you want and be willing to put up with and what your make-or-break categories are. You need to make those things very clear, which I don’t think Colin did. It created this relationship that dragged on in a way because Colin lacked the courage to break things off with Kaitlin when he should.

In that sense, and in the way Caity approached the role, it became this absolute hurricane. There is some sympathy for Kaitlin in how Colin handled their relationship from the beginning. When it comes to his relationship moving forward after Katilin, I think there is some immaturity there. He didn’t handle things well. I think he did find someone he truly cared about and loved, but because he didn’t find the courage to break things off in a mature manner, it led to other things that happened.

Caity: For me, you have to take the point of view of your character. She was the one! He was the one for her! She was the one for him. She wanted them to live happily ever after!

Kyle: Do you think our relationship helped with that?

Good question! 

Caity: Yeah because I love you a lot and I’d do anything for you. Well, I’m not going to kill anyone for you. We’re not doing anything illegal. No, but it definitely helped in that you’re my deep soulmate love. Then it was easy to put that on the character.

Were you cast together initially? 

Caity: They called us both We thought it would be fun.

Kyle: We never worked together. It was a good script that allowed us to take it in whatever direction respectfully we could. That was a lot of fun.

Lifetime

Caity, so many people know you for the Arroverse. How was it showing a different side of yourself beyond Sara Lance? 

Caity: It was weird because we shot in Vancouver, which was where we shot the whole Arrowverse. It was like coming back to that. It was awesome, but the character is so different. I’m so used to playing these strong badass females. Katilin is kind of the opposite of that. She does not have a lot of strength, even though she killed someone in cold blood. There is nothing really strong about it. It was interesting to play a character that wasn’t in control. I didn’t know what to do and was more emotionally unstable. It’s fun to do something different.

You were part of most Arrowverse shows. Now The CW seems to be moving away from superhero-based programming. Does it bring a renewed appreciation that you were part of something that simply doesn’t exist anymore? 

Caity: Definitely! You know while you’re in it and doing episode after episode, you get tired. It’s easy to take this for granted. Now that it’s gone, it’s like, “Aw, this was such a magic time we had.” I feel nostalgic for it and recognize it. At the time, when you did so many seasons and episodes and shows for so long, it was different. I understand now how rare that is to have that longevity and lifespan. I definitely appreciate what I was able to do and look back on it fondly.

Caity Lotz as Sara Lance/White Canary (Photo: Bettina Strauss/The CW)

How would you have liked DC’s Legends of Tomorrow to end? Sadly, fans never got closure in the last episode. 

Caity: I would have loved to get an end. It felt a little like, “Come on guys! You can’t do a one-episode wrapup or movie or something?” It would have been cool. Especially, with how they ended things. Booster Gold as Donald Faison was so promising and Sara was pregnant. There was foreshadowing there with me now, ha! I would have loved to get closure for us and the fans. We didn’t even say goodbye. It was like, “See you later. I would love a wrap-up whatever that is, movie, episode. As long as it wasn’t, “We’re just going to have you appear on The Flash.” That would not work. They have to do it properly or not at all. They chose not at all.

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Is there anything from the set you took from your character and cherish? 

Caity: If I knew the show was ending, I probably would have taken a lot more. I would have been like, “Can I take this and this?” But we didn’t know. I may have been like, “I don’t need that stuff cluttering my house.” Now it’s, “I need that stuff!”I have a lot of wardrobe socks though. I would have wanted my mask maybe. Just the Black Canary mask would have been cool. I do have gifts from fans. Some really beautiful artwork. This one fan made a photobook with every single episode Sara had been in. Her whole journey from Arrow on. It was a thick book. That to me is so cool because you can see every single episode. I have that kind of stuff, which has been good for keepsakes.

Yoga Teacher Killer: The Kaitlin Armstrong Story premiere, June 15, 8/7c, Lifetime