Stables is a real dead ringer for love

Jacqui Brown

Kelly Stables has a knack for creeping people out.

It’s not how the 20-something actress looks when she walks down

the street with her girl-next-door beauty and long red hair. It’s

more when her image appears on the big screen as Samara in DreamWorks

Pictures’ “The Ring,” a psychological thriller released in 2002, and

its sequel, “The Ring Two,” released Friday.

“I moved to Burbank from St. Louis in March of 2000 to pursue

acting because this is something that’s been inside me forever,”

Stables said. “Little did I know I’d end up playing a rotting

10-year-old.”

In the 2002 release, she portrays a child adopted by a

horse-breeding family that soon discovers there is something very

wrong with the long-dark-haired, pasty-faced little girl. Her mother

subsequently suffocates her and dumps her tiny body in a deep water

well, where, even after she dies, she continues to cause havoc

throughout the rest of the film.

It won’t be the last time she scares horror fans either. Stables

has just returned from London after shooting another thriller called

“Telling Lies,” in which she plays a rebel trouble-maker, and she is

set to begin an untitled film project this summer in which she will

have a leading role in, you guessed it, another scary movie.

“It’s not intentional I play these scary parts but sometimes

people see you in something and they choose you because of that,”

Stables said. “I don’t mind because I’m just happy to be working.”

Stables also voices the character of Will on the ABC Family

Channel’s animated series “W.I.T.C.H.” Other films to her credit

include the lead role of Lydia in the independent film “Pride &

Prejudice,” currently out on DVD and supporting roles in Universal

Home Entertainment’s “Bring It On Again” and Buena Vista Pictures’

“The Haunted Mansion.”

Stables says her first real inkling toward becoming an actress

came after she watched “Annie.” It’s a story about a little girl who

came from nothing only to discover family and love could conquer all.

“She has red hair, she’s small and I can relate to that,” said

Stables, comparing herself to Annie’s character. “She was a little

girl who basically was told she was going to be nothing and said ‘I’m

going to give it a shot.’ And she ends up finding not only a father

but love as well, and that’s inspiring for little girls.”

Performing is something Stables loves to do because, as she says,

some roles make people smile and help them remember good things about

their childhood, and she loves to have that affect on people.

But it’s not only movie buffs she affects. Stables spends a great

deal of time inspiring second-graders at a church in Bel Air teaching

Sunday-school classes.

Stables, who stands just a little more than five feet tall,

believes her Sunday students can easily relate to her because she’s

closer to their size.

“I’ve been teaching for four years now, and it reminds me that

life is not all about me,” Stables said. “Kids are honest and simple,

and I love to be with them, and I think they’re not intimidated by

me because they can see closer to my eye level.”

Are there children in Stables future? Absolutely, but not quite

yet because there’s one role she’s been gearing up for over the last

six months.

Stables and longtime love Kurt Patino, 33, owner of a talent

management business, Link Talent Group, will tie the knot on March 26

at an undisclosed location in Malibu.

The couple first met when Patino became her agent more than three

years ago.

Having only dealt with each other over the phone, it was only

after an invitation by Patino to attend a friend’s birthday party

that she realized that there was more to the relationship than she

expected.

“He led me through the door, and his fingertips touched the small

of my back,” Stables said, adding that it was that exact moment her

life changed. “I felt inspired -- I felt true love.”

Patino, born and raised in Burbank, graduated from Bellarmine-

Jefferson High School in 1990.

He was class president and pitched for the school’s baseball team.

“She was my first client,” said Patino, who had just begun his

company at the time.

One of things he really admires about Stables is her ability to

keep herself grounded.

“She keeps herself really busy and works very hard, but her first

priority is always family,” Patino said. “One of the reasons I

pursued a relationship with her is because she’s different than a lot

of actresses. She thinks about the big picture in life rather that

just waiting for her next audition.”

The couple is looking around Burbank, hoping to find a home that

suits them both now and will accommodate one or two little Patinos in

the future.