Interview: Jaimie Alexander from Kyle XY

Kyle XY follows a mysterious boy who looks like a teenager, but otherwise appears to be a newborn. The Trager family takes him in as one of their own. The series is produced by Touchstone and executive producers J. Mackye Gruber, Eric Bress, and David Himelfarb.

We had the honor of interviewing Jaimie Alexander who plays Jessi XX on the series, and here’s what she had to say.

How involved are you going to be in the rest of the season? Are you going to be in most of the shows or have a fairly big part going forward?

Actually, yes. Jessi is, if I can remember correctly, in every episode in season 2.5. She plays a big role and definitely stirs up things a lot more than she did last season. Still while trying to be a good person, but things don’t always go her way.

What is your favorite episode or favorite storyline been to film this far?

My favorite storyline is Jessi’s quest to find her mother, her parents, who those people were in the picture. Just her quest to find where she belongs, which is very broad, I guess. My favorite episode so far is 13.

How would you describe the connection between Kyle and Jessi, that mental connection that they have?

The connection between Kyle and Jessi, it’s a lot different than a normal human being to a normal human being. They are pretty much made of the same mold. They’re the only two that understand each other completely and, even still, they have difficulties.

They’re pretty much each others guardians. I think Kyle would be okay if Jessi wasn’t around. In a sense, he could manage. But I don’t think Jessi would be okay without Kyle because she doesn’t have anybody else. To be honest in the episodes that are coming up, their connection is questioned and it is explored heavily throughout the next nine episodes.

Is the relationship between Jessi and Kyle going to evolve in the next few episodes?

Just like with any relationship, you have to go through certain highs and lows to see how strong the relationship is and where it’s going to take you. And Jessi and Kyle – I’m trying to think how to word this. Jessi and Kyle kind of duke it out throughout the next few episodes, though not intentionally.

Jessi will try and do something that she thinks is beneficial or good for somebody else but, in reality, is a bad thing. Eventually, a heavy strain gets put on their relationship because of the things that Jessi is doing where it makes Kyle kind of shy away from her a little bit because he has so many other things going on. So their relationship becomes very strained, like very heavily strained, throughout the next few episodes.

Concerning the strain between Kyle and Jessi, can you kind of give us a hint at what some of the things Jessi does just to kind of cause that, how she will intersect with other people’s storylines?

Sure. After all this goes down and the Tragers kind of know about what Kyle is and where he came from, she starts to realize she’s capable of lot of things physically and mentally that maybe she knew about last season, but didn’t really explore because she was afraid or she wasn’t sure about. Now she’s very sure about it and she, while exploring these things, gets – I don’t know if it’s power hungry. That maybe too much to say. She realizes some of her abilities can help people, although what she thinks is helping somebody is not actually helping someone. Say she helps one person, she might hurt four other people doing it. But just thinks she’s doing a good thing. And she finds out she has these abilities that nobody else has and, even if Kyle has them, he’s not going to use them. So she’s like “why should they go to waste?” It’s kind of this showdown for the rest of the season.

At the same time, how well written Jessi is, they explore that-look, it’s not just her showing off, she’s doing it for a purpose. So you can’t really hate her in a way. As I was reading the script, I realized like in a sense, you can’t really blame her. She’s only trying to do something to either get attention or to help somebody, but she always ends up doing the opposite of what she intended it to do.

That puts a heavy strain because Kyle can’t just walk away from her, because he realizes she trying to do something good or trying to help somebody. It’s almost like dealing with a baby. Like, “Okay, I don’t want to punish her too much because it’s going to make her go in the wrong direction, but I can’t let this just go because this was bad.”

If you don’t like somebody, it’s easy just to walk away. But if they’re doing something that you don’t like, but it’s really not their fault, you can’t just walk away. That becomes the internal battle for both Kyle and Jessi.

What effect will Emily have on Nicole or Jessi in their effort to help Jessi adjust?

As far as Emily goes – I’m not quite sure how to answer this question without giving away too much, but I’ll do my best. I think Emily doesn’t play as big of a role as most people think. She kind of takes a backseat to the storyline this season. That is pretty broad, but I can’t really say much else or I might get in trouble.

One of the complaints and probably the only one that I’ve heard about from the new season premiere was that Jessi jumps off the ledge glancing back at Madacorp and nothing is explained. Will we see more of that later on in the season or can you explain how that happened? Did it get cut for timing or what went on there?

Here’s the thing. They never really explained it. The things about our show – and it becomes a little bit more this way in a good way – is that they don’t like to spoon feed the audience that much, which is very good. Because I think, with SciFi, if you do that, it’s just a piece of crap.

But with her jumping off, it’s assumed – and you can, of course, make up your own story with this – it’s assumed that Madacorp got her. Tom Foss was there to pull Kyle back off the cliff, and you’ve got to know Madacorp was around somewhere watching this happen, watching this go down. Pretty much, she did what they wanted her to do, so they obviously were looking out for this.

Obviously, she can survive a lot of things. If you saw episode nine, how I got out of the facility and yet I had no burn marks, it’s kind of weird. I think what happened is that Jessi is much physically stronger than Kyle and I think, when she jumped off, Madacorp was there to drag her out real fast.

You will learn to see-how do I want to phrase this without giving much away? Throughout the rest of the season, you’re going to see what Jessi is really capable of concerning her health. That’s where I’ve got to stop because I was about to say something else. But just know that Madacorp had a huge part in how Jessi survives.

Stephen stumbles onto the secret research taking place at Madacorp. How much will that part of the story unfold in the new season?

In the next few episodes, they kind of explore what’s happening to Madacorp or what’s going to happen to Madacorp. The fact that he found all that information, it’s really his battle, like he either he’s going to stay there or he’s going to go away from that company. You’ll be surprised how much Madacorp has to do with Kyle and Jessi in this season.

What’s your favorite thing about Jessi to play?

There are so many things. I like the fact that she represents-this is going to sound really odd to all you guys. But she represents a normal person in the sense that she has two sides that kind of battle against each other. And that’s fun because I’m telling you, one moment, I’ll be good and sweet and kind and doing the right thing, and then the next few minutes, I’ll be doing something that’s horrendous. And I love that.

I could never get bored. I honestly feel that I have some of the best material on the show and I’m so blessed to play this character because it’s exciting each day. We’ll get the new scripts and I’ll be like, “Whoa, what am I doing in this one?” And it’s always a surprise. I guess my favorite part of her is her dual personalities in a sense.

Is it kind of a guilty pleasure playing to your evil side? Is it kind of exciting?

Yes. I’m still very new to the acting world, but I’ve always played the hero and the good person, even though she’s an ass kicker, pardon my French. But, with Jessi, I kind of get to indulge in that little bit of-for a lack of a better phrase, a bitch. It’s great because you get to indulge in what it would be like to really stand up to somebody in that sense. But, then, when the director says, “Cut,” you’re like, “Okay, I’ll go get you a cookie,” or you know whatever. But yes, it’s fun. After work a lot of days, I would go home and I wanted to watch comedies. It almost made me happier in my life because I was getting all the drama and all the craziness at work. I was like, “Man, I don’t need any extra of this.”

I thought it was going to be kind of weird or kind of difficult to do and then I realized I was actually good at it. Then I was like, “Oh, geez, what does that say about me?” But I like it. I do like it and it does have a slight effect on my real life in a positive way.

I kind of like the good side of Jessi. I like her goodness because there is some of that in there. Is she going to be any happier in the rest of the season because, while she does do some good things in the last episode, she’s still very traumatized? It was very sad for me and a lot of the fans. So is she going to have that happier time and even glimmers of actual happiness coming up?

She ends up having some glimmers of happiness, but again, that’s her internal battle to find like what would make her happy. When she figures out what that is, she goes to find it. Now whether or not she finds it, that’s up to you guys to see.

But yes, there are a few moments throughout the season where you get these real happy moments that you’re like, “Wow, this girl is finally getting something that shows her what good and happiness is.” But again, as quickly as it comes, it’s taken away. But through Kyle’s help, she’ll find kind of where she fits, I guess would be the proper thing to say.

Do we get to see Jessi kind of experience some of the typical or normal teenage life in the last half of the season?

That is something that they explore a lot more. When we would get the scripts, we were like, “Wow, I didn’t know they were going to go this route.” So it was actually kind of a pleasant surprise.

You’ll get to see that she gets to experience a lot of what like high school is like. For the viewers, its going to be like watching these kids go through high school. They have the same issues as most of the kids that are in high school right now. And that’s what I think I like the most about it and they don’t sugarcoat anything.

But Jessi is an outcast and she will go through certain things like normal kids go through everyday in high school, but you’ll get to see how she deals with it. There’s a lot of shows that are so Afterschool Special and they’ll show, “Oh, this is how you get away from this.” No, not with her. You see the worst of it and the best of it. But yes, she gets to experience high school life and what it’s like to be a high school kid and a normal teenager. I like that they did that this season.

Is Jessi going to get her own family or is she going to get people that love her that you mentioned earlier, and are we going to see that?

I can’t answer that like completely, because that would give away a lot of what ends up happening throughout the season. I guess with Brian Taylor coming into the picture last night, there is a little bit of this, “Hey, I’m your father. What can everybody else do about it? If we match blood tests and everything, you’re going to have to be with me.”

Jessi’s so desperate to have a family that she does end up sort of going with the wrong people. She just wants the label “family.” She’s just wants somebody to love her, so it doesn’t matter if they’re good or bad. She wouldn’t know.

In a way, she does have a family. She ends up having a family, but it’s not what you think and it’s not who you think either. That’s the best I can do on this one because-you know.

Is there a love interest friend for Jessi for the future?

They’ve kind of toyed with the notion of that and nothing has really come full force. As of right now, I can say like there are some moments she has with certain people that it could take off in a certain direction, but it doesn’t necessarily go there this season.

Trust me, I’m like, “I need a make-out scene. Let’s do this.” But nobody listens to me. I’m just teasing.

What is the atmosphere like on the set? Are there any funny moments or inside jokes that you can share?

It feels like a huge dorm or something on our set. No matter what age you are, everybody gets along pretty well and, at the same time, we all help each other. If somebody has something going on in their life, we talk about it or we joke about it or whatever it may be.

One time, aside from the goosings, which is a whole other story, I was on set and I went to this really great place in Vancouver to live because that’s where we shoot and I didn’t realize in their summer months, they have a mice infestation problem. So I get home one day after being in L.A. for some press thing and there’s a bunch of mice in my apartment and I freak out because I have a huge phobia of mice, which is kind of strange because I’m not scared of snakes or anything. I had told Matt about it – and I get to set and I walk in my trailer and there’s a bunch of mouse traps with cheese. And I was like, “That’s not funny.” And I found out April and Bruce did it and I was like, “You guys stink.” So we kind of make bad situations funny, I guess. But that was a good one because everybody was kind of waiting to see what I would do and they all know I hate mice and I have a phobia of mice. So witty they are.

I know it’s different coming into a new show that already has a season. You came in in the second season. How did that transition go for you, as far as coming into a cast that was already made? Did you come in and fit in right away, or was it a little bit harder to take and how was that transition?

I’ve heard horror stories of people who are joining casts after their first season or second season and how it was really difficult. But when I got up there, everybody was pretty nice and pretty warm and welcoming. And I think they knew this girl is going to be here for awhile. We’ve got to sort of try. When I realized I was like, “Look, I’m easy.”

We all kind of have the same sense of humor. There are times that some of us would sort of butt head on set, but that’s normal. You have that in school, if you’re in class or at work, and it’s really on a small scale, that we’d ever have a disagreement and whatever. And sometimes it’s just in the heat of the moment in a scene. If I’m doing something really horrible to somebody that cannon might linger in the air just a tiny bit and then it goes away, but because your emotions get high and things get crazy.

But it’s seriously the best group of people I’ve ever been around and they’re so easy going. The best thing about them is that they’re very genuine. They’re not superficial and Hollywood at all. That’s something I was worried about. I was like, “Look I don’t want to have to be around a bunch of Hollywood jerks for 10 months.”

But when I got up there, it’s just like being at home in Texas. We get together and have dinner parties and stuff where we’d bake like homemade macaroni and cheese. It wasn’t like tea and crumpets or whatever. I love those guys up there and, actually, I miss them a lot when I don’t get to see them that much. They’re good people.

How, as an actor, do you prepare for such a part as Jessi?

That is just so loaded, because I’m probably one of the worst actors as far as preparation goes, because I actually don’t prepare. I find it easier to read the script and whatever hits me in my stomach, like deep down, I just go with it. And the director kind of molds me whether to go right or left with it.

So there is really no preparing, because the thing is, she’s so unpredictable that if I kind of, in my head, make up my own story for her, it’s never the same. It’s never the same as what the writers had planned. So I just kind of fly by the seat of my pants and whatever happens, happens. And I’ve been lucky so far.

How you would like the character of Jessi to evolve?

That’s open for so much. I really, really want her to be just evil. I don’t know if you guys watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but between Angel and Buffy. Angel in a sense is a little like my character. He had dueling sides. It’s something that he couldn’t help. He would try and be good. I just for some reason loved it when he was really bad.

I was like, “You know, I really wish Jessi would just…” Like I did in the beginning where I kill a hunter without really knowing and all this stuff? There were scenes that we had filmed throughout last season that had to be cut because they were too brutal for ABC Family. I just wish that my character could go back to being that kind of evil bad ass type of character, but it wouldn’t necessarily fit into the storyline that is taking place right now.

Before Kyle XY, were you a SciFi fan at all or enjoyed the genre?

Yes, actually I got most of my start in SciFi/horror films. And I’ve always liked it because it’s kind of like reality, but with a little spice. There’s always things that you’re like, “Man, sometimes that could happen, but I’m not sure,” and it makes you think. I love the genre. I’m a huge fan of SciFi.

Can you talk a little bit about your role in Watch Over Me?

Oh, Watch Over Me. Nobody has asked me about that in awhile. This is the only time I’ve ever played a character like this. I was the younger sister, kind of troubled – well, I guess I always do play troubled people. Never mind. But I was kind of the troubled promiscuous younger sister of the lead and I caused a lot of people to die.

That was a fun role, but I’ve got to say it’s more like a crash course. Learning how to memorize lines fast to shoot 66 episodes out of order was the hardest thing I’ve ever done because I didn’t know what had happened before and what was going to happen next. We had to make charts and that kind of stuff. So that was really hard but again, it was like great prepping and practice for getting the role of Jessi on Kyle XY.

Pretty much my character was just like young, naive, cute girl who would get herself into these horrible situations and her older brother who is an ex-marine would have to save her. And she would unintentionally get herself into these situations and then, even if she knew something bad was going on, she couldn’t pull herself away from whoever she was in love with or whatever was happening. She caused lots of harm and hurt to her family and to her friends, even death. So it was like a soap opera version of 24 pretty much.

Can you talk a little bit about what your thoughts are on the current writers’ strike.

This could last for awhile. Let’s just narrow it down to I believe it’s something that needed to happen. It’s definitely taking its toll on everyone, but again, it wouldn’t be an effective strike, had it not taken its toll on everyone.

So it’s tough but, again, being on Kyle XY, we’re in a position to have this happen at the moment it did. We got through season 2.5 and whatever’s going to happen in the future is going to happen. I think it’ll be okay for Kyle XY, but I have lots of friends that are in some heavy positions and bad positions with their families. This is really taking a toll on them. But again, it wouldn’t be a strike if that wasn’t happening. It needs to happen, yes.

Do you have any upcoming movie projects or is that something you’d like to do in the future?

Right now, I’m in talks for a few things I can’t mention yet because they haven’t gone through all the way. But yes, I love movies – there’s a certain magic that goes into filmmaking that you can’t necessarily find on a television set. Yes, I would love that. Of course, the right parts would have to come along. I wouldn’t take just anything, but that’s something I definitely want to pursue in the future.

Is there a way that fans can contact you through MySpace Web site or mailing address? Or how can fans get a hold of you if they just want to tell you thank you for doing what you do?

It’s www.myspace.combatinthesungirl. I know that sounds really weird. And don’t ask me how I came up with that one.

Kyle XY follows a mysterious boy who looks like a teenager, but otherwise appears to be a newborn. The Trager family takes him in as one of their own. The series is produced by Touchstone and executive producers J. Mackye Gruber, Eric Bress, and David Himelfarb.

We had the honor of interviewing Jean-Luc Bilodeau who plays Josh Trager on the series, and here’s what she had to say.

What drew you to pursue acting?

As a kid, I always loved Jim Carey. I used to do his impersonations and stuff like that. I don’t know what it was, but I just like to entertain people. I’ve always been a dancer. I went to dance competitions and stuff like that, and just being in front of a big crowd of people brings me to an awesome place. So, I think it made me want to become an actor because the majority of famous actors are just in front of everybody all the time and, being in the spot light, I like it. I like to entertain people and make them laugh. Acting just fit the part.

Can you tell us a little bit about how you got the part of Josh, and why you accepted the role, the audition process and stuff like that?

It was pretty much like any other audition for anything else. My agent called up, I had an audition, so I went to downtown Vancouver and I did the audition, thought I did well, and within about a couple of weeks I got a call from some Hollywood execs saying that they wanted me to fly out to L.A. to audition for them. I pretty much just got on a plane, went to L.A., did the audition, thought I did well again, so I was pretty excited and flew back home. Then my agent called and said I had the part. So, it was pretty much just like any other TV show or movie audition.

What drew you to the role? Do you enjoy science fiction yourself?

I guess anything drew me to the role, because I’m going to take whatever I can get, right? But, yes, it is a really funny character. Josh is a great kid and I love his lines. He is such a funny, outgoing person. The lines the writers give me are just hilarious, and I love to play around with it and whatnot. I just got lucky, that’s for sure, with Josh.

So the comedic aspect of your role really drew you to it? Do you get a lot of input on your lines as far as that goes?

Yes. My Mom is always looking at the IMDb message boards, and people always write in, ‘Oh, that line was funny; that line was good.’ I can just credit that to the writers. The writers come up with the best stuff. I get a lot of good feedback, but I think that just goes right back to the writers. They come up with the stuff and I’m just the one saying it. The show likes the funniness of Josh, and I’m overjoyed to provide that for them.

What about as far as your input into your lines? Do you get any input?

No, I have no problems with any of the lines. I never have. There’s a couple of things you’ll change, like vocab. Would Josh say that? Maybe not. Or maybe something doesn’t make sense, but not really. I just leave it up to them. It’s usually all right. I have no problems with any of the lines.

If you could write your own story lines for Josh, what would you want him to do if it was your choice?

Oh, God forbid that ever happens. Josh’d go off to a ninja fighting camp and then come back and beat the crap out of these androids that come after Kyle… I’d twist that show up. It would not be on the air any more, probably. I love action and whatnot, so I’ll probably just put myself in this huge army suit with a lot of guns. You wouldn’t be on ABC Family any more, that’s for sure, HBO. I hope that never happens. I would just make it ridiculous.

We haven’t seen much of Andy and Josh lately. Will that change for the rest of the season?

Oh yes. You get to see a lot of the “Jandy” stuff later in the season. You should expect some more of that. They get into a pretty deep, deep relationship. It’s coming. Just wait.

Can you tell us any of how it’s going to evolve, especially now that Josh is hiding a secret from her? Do you think that’s going to impact the relationship, and how that will come about?

Pretty much just like any other long relationship goes, there’s a roller coaster, up and down. You’re going to see us get into a couple arguments. We’re going to bump heads in a lot of ways, but we’re always going to makeup like Josh and Andy do – over a good make-out scene. They just become stronger together. They become closer. The secret doesn’t affect the relationship much. Josh can’t really hide much from her, but he does a pretty good job of this one. No, it doesn’t affect it much, they just kind of move on from it and then they just kind of flourish their relationship even more.

In previous interviews I’ve read it said that if you didn’t get into acting you probably would’ve taken a career in music. I wonder if you have talked to the writers or the producers about maybe, because Lori sings on the show, if you’ve talked about maybe being able to show off some of your music talent on the show.

I would love to pursue a music career. I love music, and I love this whole industry of music and film and whatnot. But I don’t know. I haven’t asked the writers and don’t really plan to. I’m a drummer, so there’s not many ways you can incorporate drumming with Josh. He’s kind of an impatient sort of person, so I doubt that they could write that in. But, hey, if they need something to put in it, for sure put me as a drummer. That would be awesome.

What’s been your favorite episode so far?

Oh, every time someone asks me this question I have no idea what to say. Oh my God. I think my most eye-opening scene would be the one where I got naked in the hot tub, episode 4 of the first season. I was wearing a Speedo. I had never worn a Speedo before, so it was a very eye opening and a pretty fun experience, I’d say. Me and Merritt Patterson had a lot of fun shooting that scene, that’s for sure.

What’s been your favorite story line thus far on the series?

I’ve always been kind of an action sort of guy, so anything to do with Tom Foss and Kyle, all that training stuff, I love that; that’s cool. Pretty much all that action or the mystery between Kyle and Baylin. That’s really cool stuff. I like all the story lines on Kyle, but I’d say the action would be my top favorite for sure.

What’s your favorite part about working on Kyle?

I’d say my favorite part about working on Kyle XY is the actors. Everyday of my life being around them is just so fun, you know? Even if you’re having a hard time, being around Matt or any of the guys, they’re great people. I’d like the show even if they weren’t on it, but they just make everything so much better. I came from commercials to going into TV and they made the transition really easy by being so outgoing and so cool. I’d say that’s my most favorite part on being on Kyle XY.

What’s your least favorite thing about being on Kyle XY?

Oh, that’s a hard question. There aren’t many negative things about being on the set of Kyle XY that’s for sure. I’d say the least thing I like about being on Kyle XY is the fact that I live in Surrey, and they shoot in Vancouver. Surrey is about an hour and a half away from Vancouver where we shoot during heavy traffic. In the mornings, I have to wake up two hours before my call time, so I don’t get much sleep, which I need as a growing teenager, right? But I can’t complain. Kyle XY has been so good to me and I love the show, so I can put up with the short sleep. I’m no baby.

Do you have any funny stories or practical jokes you can tell us about from the set?

Ooh, I’ve got a couple of good ones. One day I just started scaring Matt Dallas. I’d just hide behind things and I’d pop out whenever he was walking anywhere, and I’d just scream really loud and lunge at him. I don’t know, I just started doing it almost every day. A couple of times, he almost punched me in the face once. His gut reaction to getting scared is throwing a punch. So if I get too close to him, I’m going to get a fist in the face. It’s stuff like that. I love scaring Matt. He’s such a funny guy to play around with like that. Other than that, there’s not much PG rated stuff we talk about on the show. So I don’t know. I’d say that the scaring and all that is the biggest practical joke I play on the people.

Who do you enjoy working with the most on the show?

Oh, that’s a hard one. That is a hard question. I enjoy working with them all equally. I don’t have a price to put on that, honestly. They’re all great people. I think the most star struck I’ve ever been with a person on the cast was Ally Sheedy. Ally Sheedy joined the cast within the last couple of episodes, and I love Breakfast Club, and I just enjoy just seeing her. I was star struck; I was done. But I enjoy working with her just because she was on the Breakfast Club, and that’s one of my favorite movies. Everybody else, I love them all and I can’t really say. That’s a hard question.

Can you say anything about Ally’s upcoming role?

I don’t want to say much. Let’s just say she does a great job at it, of course, because she’s Ally Sheedy, and I think everybody’s going to enjoy her part on the show.

Can you tell us a little bit of what we can expect to happen to Josh for the rest of the season? Can you give us a little preview?

Wow, I haven’t done an interview in a while. I’ll have to think about this. I think Josh builds up his relationship with Andy, of course. And again, he’s building up a stronger, brotherly relationship with Kyle. They run into a couple of things during the season. It’s just developing Josh. He doesn’t really involve himself too much with Kyle’s mystery and Kyle figuring out what’s going on with his life. Josh is kind of figuring out himself and just going with it. He’s a family kid, right? So, it’s plain ‘ole Josh. He’s saying the same jokes, being the nice kid he is. So I guess that’s what you can expect from him.

Do you think that we’re going to see any more of the back story of Josh? Sometimes they show things that tell why characters do certain things or whatever. We see more with Kyle and everything, and we’d like to see more of the other characters, too.

Yes, you do. I think this goes for every character on Kyle XY. They all just get a really in-depth look at themselves, so everyone gets to see who they really are. As it goes for Josh, same thing. As the season goes on, you just get to know him better and you just kind of know how he makes decisions and how he thinks. He is a funny, clever kid. He’s a really normal kid. He’s not like Kyle. There are obviously reasons for the way he acts most of the time, because he’s a genius or he’s super human, right? With Josh, he’s just a normal teenager and you can really see that aspect of it for sure.

Has it been hard for you to balance work and school?

I’ve never really liked school, so it’s not too hard, because I don’t really stress myself over a lot of things in school, especially exams. I kinda just do it. Sometimes it gets a little edgy when you’re behind with homework and you’ve got to catch up. But, other than that, school on set is really cool because you’re just with your one-on-one teacher, except with Kristen Prout as well. It’s a cool environment to be in. I can leave the school trailer to go get some food any time I want to, and I can’t do that in normal school, so that’s a plus. It’s been easy for sure.

I saw on MTV that you have a film coming out soon called Trick or Treat. Can you tell us a little bit about it and what part you play on that?

I play a part named Schrader. I don’t know what his last name is. They didn’t give me one. He’s just a supporting character. It’s about these four stories that all intertwine over this one kid. It’s all about people breaking the rules of Halloween and kind of disobeying the spirits, I guess you could say. It’s just them paying the consequences and whatnot. Yes, Schrader, he’s just kind of the cool kid in the group.

Now that you have some experience working on a movie set, how does that differ from working on Kyle XY, and which do you enjoy more?

You can tell the difference. The difference between working on a TV set and a movie set is that, with TV, things have to be moving. There is a time limit and shows are airing, and they need to shoot stuff before the date. It’s very fast paced. On a movie, they can take as much time as they want to, really. On Trick or Treat, it was a pretty long shoot for the stuff I did. If we did the same stuff for the TV, it would be much shorter. We would have just plowed right through it. But, of course, movies have a much bigger budget, bigger time limit. Other than that, I don’t know. I’ve only been on one movie set, so I can’t say much, but I thought they were relatively the same other than the time. I think the timing is much different.

Where would you want your career to go after Kyle XY? Do you want to keep doing television, or maybe move into films?

Whatever pays me more money. No, I’m kidding, I’m kidding. TV is fun. The movie I did was fun. I guess, just whatever comes up first, and whatever seems good and a fit for my career. I’ve worked on TV for two years now, so I think I have more of a TV, fast-paced sort of mind set now that I’ve worked on Kyle XY for so long. But whatever; hey, TV is cool. Movies are cool. Whatever works.

Expanding on what you just said, what would your dream role be if you could pick the kind of role you wanted?

My dream role would be probably a ninja/motorcycle racer/monster-killer guy. I just like that corny action stuff. It’s all good, but I’d say that crazy extraterrestrial-killing guy. I don’t know what you call it, but that’s my favorite for sure.

Interview By: Emma Loggins