Ryan Allen – Tokens

By: Spring Marie Cullen

Q) What made you want to be a part of the series Tokens?

A) The thing that first attracted me to the project was the feeling I had after reading the scene where DeMar has to use a French accent and teach a group of young girls ballet. I thought the premise was just hilarious and I knew at that point it was very much something I wanted to be a part of.

Q) How was your character DeMar originally described to you? 

A) Black, well-built, tattooed stunt coordinator who finds his softer side after joining On Call Casting.

Q) Did you add anything to the role? 

A) I tried to add a sense of humor to DeMar whenever I could. He was so often in awkward situations he’d need a good sense of humor to get through them.

Q) As an actor and performer, what aspects of the series could you relate to most?

A) In the ballet scene with DeMar, he struggles at first because he is doing what he thinks is “expected” of him. It isn’t until he allows himself to honestly “be himself” that he is able to make the scene work. I can relate to this because I consistently find that my best and most truthful performances are when I’m able to bring something unique about myself to the character, rather than just doing an impersonation of what I think is expected.

Q) Tokens is very tongue-in-cheek, but comedically touches base on some important aspects of the entertainment world. How did it feel to play a role in telling this story?

A) It felt great to be a part of a project that deals with something very niche, in the sense that people in the industry totally understand the cultural climate, but yet was universal enough to entertaining people not in the industry.

Q) What do you hope viewers take away from watching Tokens?

A) I hope people watching this LAUGH. I also hope they are forced to reconsider what preconceived notions they have about certain stereo-types and what are the contributing factors to those stereo-types.