Derek Theler – Baby Daddy

Q) What’s on the agenda for your character [Danny Wheeler] in the upcoming season?

A) This season is definitely better than ever!  We had such a good time shooting it.  Our characters have really developed a lot throughout the last couple of seasons, especially this season because I feel like us as actors know exactly what we want to do with the characters. We have a lot more history so we can have more fun in the episodes. Danny has a lot going on.  He still has those feelings for Riley and he’s trying to figure out his feelings towards Ben and Riley, trying to figure their relationship out and when he wants to take his moment to actually tell his dream girl how he feels.  At the same time, he’s also exploring some other options, he’s dating other girls and he’s still going through all the same stuff with his team and not being one of the best players. He’s trying to solidify his position on his hockey team for his job.  It’s more crazy situations that involve the baby and costumes.  It’s bigger than ever.  It’s a great time!

Q) What was it like working with Lucy Hale?

A) She’s great!  She was such a sweetheart.  I barely knew her before she came onto the show, but she fit in just perfectly.  It was an amazing week of work.

Q) What do you think about Danny not stepping up and telling Riley how he feels?

A) That’s a hard question because when you look at their history, they’ve known each other for so long and they’ve been best friends since they were kids.  I think it’s just one of those things where he’s scared to lose her in that way and feels like if he really expresses his true feelings for her that their relationship as best friends isn’t going to be the same at all. He’s definitely waiting for the right moment to strike.  It’s hard because it seems to never want to come.

Q) Why do you think he hasn’t told his brother [Ben] about his feelings for Riley?

A) Ben is the only one in the show that actually doesn’t have any idea about Danny’s feelings.  He has never heard anything that Danny has said about Riley and even Riley is somewhat aware of Danny’s feelings at this point just due to one voicemail. I think the main reason is because Ben and Riley are trying to figure out if they’re right for each other and he’s his brother.  I think it would make it worse if Ben knew that Danny had these feelings and it would complicate things a lot.  I think Danny is pretty much trying to keep it a secret for those reasons, because he doesn’t want to lose his relationship with his best friend and his brother.

Q) What is your favorite thing about working on Baby Daddy?

A) I feel like the show is really lightening in a baby bottle.  That’s kind of the way we put it.  It’s so fun because we love coming to work so much and we’re such a close family, the cast and the crew, the behind-the-scenes folks. The show has really become most of my life, at this point.  We’re on hiatus and I don’t even know what to do with myself [laughs]. I live with my TV brother, Jean-Luc [Bilodeau], and so we’re seeing each other every day.  I’m still in communication with Chelsea, Melissa and Tahj.  I’m supposed to go to a movie with Tahj.  I just went and saw a show with Melissa and Chelsea.  We want to go back and keep hanging out with our friends.  I think that’s the most special part of the show. We truly do love each other and we find ways to hang with each other and be close and catch up even though we’re not working together at this point.

Q) What is it like to play a comedic role?  Is it hard to keep a straight face?

A) Yes, it’s hard on this show because we’re working with our friends and the hardest part about it is just getting through the scenes without cracking up.  We have such a good time.  This is sort of the last thing that I thought that I would be working on.  When I first dropped into L.A., I wanted to be a superhero!  I wanted to do action movies and now that I’m working on a live audience sitcom, it’s almost the last thing I thought I would be doing, but I’m having the most fun I ever could.

Q) How did you get started in acting?

A) I went to school at Colorado State.  I finished my degree in pre-medicine and nutrition with aspirations of actually going to graduate school in medicine, which I didn’t.  I started saving up money to move to L.A. a couple years into my degree and then I finished my degree for my parents because they insisted.  I took classes in Colorado and wherever I could I took theaterclasses at that point.  When I hit L.A., I wanted to be as prepared as I could.  That was just a few years ago now.

Q) What was it like auditioning for Baby Daddy specifically?

A) Specifically Baby Daddy, it was pretty much the same process you hear about. I came in for a pre-read with our casting director and I think they were seeing a whole lot of people.  I kept coming back and I auditioned for the creator of the show and then I auditioned for our director. I then got into a session with our director talking about the role.  Then I went onto the test.  There were a lot of steps involved with me getting the part.  I think I was actually the first character cast in the show a couple years ago now, almost.

Q) Who is your acting inspiration?

A) At this point the person that’s really killing it as an actor and I really respect his career is Bradley Cooper.  I like to see what actors are doing these days and make it a template for what I want to do, and he’s doing all the same kinds of movies that I’m interested in.  I have a lot of respect for his stuff.

*CONFERENCE CALL*