Hightown is about to be your new obsession.
The brand new Starz drama lastly will get underway this weekend, and we chatted with Riley Voelkel and Amaury Nolasco about what folks can anticipate from the present.
They talk about what drew them to the present, what was probably the most difficult about their roles, and a lot extra.
TV Fanatic: What drew you each to Hightown?
Riley: I feel we each have been saying the writing is what initially introduced us in. As quickly as I learn the script, I knew I needed to be part of this venture. I got here from plenty of world fantasy worlds with my earlier characters.
And so I feel I used to be craving as an actor to play an actual particular person in an actual world with actual issues.
I instantly was drawn to the character and the script.
Amaury: I’ve to agree with Riley. If you discover writing like this, you can’t simply let it go. That is like catching lightning in a bottle.
The writing is phenomenal. It is a page-turner and, pay attention, I hate studying, and I should not say this, however I hate to learn. However whenever you’re giving me wonderful writing like this, and I haven’t got to take a look at what number of pages I’ve left.
That is after I know I’ve one thing wonderful. As actors, we like to play roles like this. You recognize, they’re flawed characters.
They’re people, and so they have these layers and layers of who they’re. This chance, you already know, what can I say? It is a reward.
Each Renee and Frankie glorious characters. What did you want most about your characters?
Riley: There’s plenty of issues I like about Renee, like the truth that she’s a survivor and she or he’s extremely robust and rising and was an ex-addict, who was capable of get up in the future and say, that is not going to be me.
I feel that is unimaginable that she was in a position to do this. However I might say my favourite half about her is that she’s a mom and that her son is her world.
And regardless that she’s working on the membership and is in the end a single mom, she’s doing what she is aware of and what she will to attempt to give her son a greater life that she did not have.
That is in all probability my favourite factor about her.
Amaury: You recognize what I like about Frankie? He is calm. There’s one thing about him that, you already know, he is in management.
He is the one shifting the items, nothing can rattle him. Even once they attempt to get him rattled, he is all the time in management.
And that is what I want I may very well be like typically. Generally I may need an issue come up in life, and I get rattled.
He simply takes every part in, and he acts accordingly. In order that’s one in every of my favourite qualities about him.
What did you each discover probably the most difficult about enjoying these roles in comparison with a few of your earlier roles?
Riley: It was positively opening myself as much as this world that I did not know properly, enjoying an ex-addict, a mom, and likewise a dancer.
I had no dance coaching. I might barely contact my toes, and I bought this position, and so I went straight into teaching.
And it was this actually unimaginable expertise as a result of regardless that I used to be terrified, I had these wonderful coaches, and the opposite dancers on the present had been so supportive and actually taught me how you can carry that confidence to stage as this alter ego of sweet.
It ended up being actually fairly empowering and a very wonderful expertise. No, it didn’t come naturally to me.
Amaury: I’ve to say probably the most difficult factor about enjoying Frankie was that I did not wish to play the cliche villain. He is dangerous.
He is evil. I needed to play a job like that. He is a person that is very human. He might be your greatest pal for all times. He simply occurs to be ruthless.
He loves his woman. He loves his child. And so long as you do not cross the man, he is superb. I actually did not wish to fall into the lure of enjoying that villain. Hear, I have already got a face after I’m critical that you just folks run away.
I am already in jail. If I smile, I really feel like I am a captivating man.
I needed to play a man who you’ll like to hate, however you’ll hate to like, and that was probably the most difficult factor to do.
You already performed a prisoner on Jail Break. Whereas Fernando Sucre was good, Frank is sweet, to an extent, as long as you do not cross him. How would you evaluate the 2 characters?
Amaury: Fully totally different man. Like I mentioned earlier, the one factor they’ve in frequent is their names. They each begin with F. Frankie and Fernando.
Fernando Sucre was the loyal man, the lovable man to everybody, and he was like a teddy bear. He was the perfect pal of Michael. He was so in love together with his spouse or his spouse to be, he was all about him and his child woman that was about to be born.
He was simply the man that we wish him as a pal. Frankie is totally the alternative, however on the similar time, it comes again to your final query. I did not wish to play the man that you could inform he is a villain, you already know?
Okay. He is terrible. I would like him to play a man that you just would possibly assume may very well be Sucre. He may very well be Fernando, however he isn’t. And that is how I relate these two guys. They’re utterly reverse.
They may very well be twins. They’re each in jail. One in all them was, I assume, extra crushed than the opposite one. However yeah, they’re each totally different. They each have a bit of little bit of me, however, uh, however clearly opposites.
So, Riley, Renee is making an attempt to make ends meet for her son, whereas Frankie is imprisoned. How do you’re feeling that impacts their relationship?
Riley: I feel earlier than Frankie was in jail, Renee, she was in all probability pretty properly taken care of. And he or she type of had what might have appeared like a home regular household to some extent.
Now the daddy of her child is in jail, he is utilizing her to do his soiled work. She is simply making an attempt to outlive and I feel it type of makes her see issues in a different way of like, look, you are doing nothing for me anymore.
I am doing this by myself. And it in some methods strengthens her as a result of she will see what she’s able to as a single mom.
And in some methods, it pushes them aside a bit of bit as a result of I feel there’s a bit of little bit of resentment there for the truth that he is doing nothing for them whereas he is in jail.
That being mentioned, I feel there’s nonetheless all the time going to be some love there and, he is promising her that he’ll get out and issues are going to be totally different and so they have a son to consider.
Hightown premieres Sunday, Could 17 on Starz.
We can have extra unique interviews within the lead as much as the premiere. Scroll down for our interview with Monica Raymund.
Paul Dailly is the Affiliate Editor for TV Fanatic. Comply with him on Twitter.