Jake Allyn – The Quad

By: Jamie Steinberg

Q) What are the recent projects that you are working on?

A) I actually just had a film released on Lifetime. It was called Over Exposed that I shot in Oklahoma last February and March. It was really cool. It was a small town thriller that was shot in Guthrie, OK last year. It was a completely different experience from shooting “The Quad” in Atlanta on a sound stage.

Q) What can you tease is in store this season on “The Quad” and for BoJohn Folsom?

A) For BoJohn, you’re going to see a lot of emotional aftermath of things you learned about him in Season One. In Season One, he kind of comes to the school as a bit of a mystery and his Season One is really all about folding back the layers of this kind of mysterious guy. Obviously, you get to learn a lot about the characters from Season One. In Season Two, you get to move forward with their lives. For better or worse, the things of their past either come back to haunt them or make them stronger people. That’s certainly the case for BJ and his friends at school, but also his relationship with his dad and mom back in Texas.

Q) How do you get into character?

A) Lately it is different week by week. I do find I try to latch on. I find that you can get really detailed work when you actually keep it really simple. So, for BoJohn, I try to latch on to really simple wants that he has a character and person – from his family or the school. I find if I can do that and I know what he wants, then that really makes everything else work very easily and smoothly. Especially on a show where you are getting your script week by week and you don’t necessarily know what is going to happen, I find it doubly important if I really know BoJohn inside and out, what makes him tick, what he is afraid of, what makes him happy and what drives him then no matter what script they give me I’ll be able to handle it.

Q) Was there someone you were excited to get to work with this season?

A) I don’t know if it would be someone you expect, but I got to work with Carlton Pettiway or as I know him E. Roger Mitchell – the dean. So, I get to work with him a little bit in Season Two and have a little bit of interactions with him. That was cool because I’m usually with the coach, in terms of acting with all of the administrative side of things. Getting to kind of go into a different kind of administrative-student relationship was kind of fun. I just really respect Carlton as an actor. He’s such an experienced guy and it’s just really cool to be around him. It’s one of the fun, educational parts of our set. The “kids on the set” as I call them, we really get to learn from these really experienced actors. Anika [Noni Rose] and Ruben [Santiago-Hudson] are Tony award winners. I’ve been watching him in movies and television for over a decade. Sean Blakemore is a daytime Emmy winner. Getting to be around that experience is so awesome for me as a young actor. Then, I also find (and I hope they would agree) that there is kind of a young energy that the younger cast brings that the more senior adult actors can feed off as well. It’s really cool.

Q) Who are some of the guest stars you can tease making appearances this season?

A) One of the guest stars that I get a couple scenes with is Big Boi. He plays the father of a recruit that is coming in and he wants him to take my spot, basically. He thinks BoJohn’s time is over.

Q) What have been some of your most memorable moments behind the scenes of filming “The Quad?”

A) On a serious level, it’s been really cool since we have such an ensemble. Some days I don’t work at all and some days I’m in every scene. So, on the days that I’m not working it’s really, really cool for me to be able to go and watch my castmates who have become some of my really good friends really excel and shine in their moments. I’m really close with Miles Stroter who plays my roommate on the show. This season he gets his storyline expanded and he has some material with Jasmine Guy, whom he absolutely adores (as we all do). So, getting to sit and see him on set get his opportunity. It was really cool as a castmate and as a friend because Season One he was so great about being BoJohn’s friend. That’s kind of how our relationship on screen started was being roommates and buddies on the show. Obviously, dramatically it unfolds when my dad comes in and out of our lives and turns out to be vary racist. But to see Miles have his one storyline in Season Two was really cool. It was just really cool to be able to support him.

Q) In the current political climate, are there certain themes you enjoy seeing explored on the show?

A) There are always political times going on. I do think it is a heightened time, for sure. But really I have always found the heartbeat of our show to be social, racial and political issues. So, I do think we’ve always carried that. I do think in Season Two that we take it (as you always want to do in a second season) to the next level. We really go into a lot more that deals with race on college campuses. So, I’m very, very excited for people to see it.

Q) As someone who is a part of social media, do you enjoy that instant fan feedback you receive to episodes?

A) It is cool. It’s weird. I really like Instagram for friends, family and getting to show my friends back in Texas what I’m doing in Atlanta and Texas. But I find Twitter to be really fun with that interaction with fans because it’s so immediate and you can interact with so many people on a quicker level. It’s been really cool. As much as it’s funny to see a meme about me or something like that, it’s also been very proud. I’ve also had some really proud moments where someone has reached out saying I attend a BCU and I’m so glad you don’t shy away from the ugliness of that. You’ve shined a small light on that and I really appreciate it. For an actor, that just means the world to me. That makes the hard work really, really easy.

Q) What would you like to say to everyone who is a fan and supporter of you and your work?

A) I would just say thank you. Thank you for supporting me. I know this day in age there is so much television and lot of good television. I don’t know how anyone finds any shows these days. So, I would just thank everyone for being supportive. For people who do watch the show, they are really, really into it. I find our fanbase is very, very active and emotionally invested – whether it is a romantic storyline or racial or political storyline. So, it’s really cool that people really, really get into it.