We couldn't pass on the opportunity to chat to actor/heartthrob Gregg Sulkin about his new show Faking It. Find out what he had to say about the series, his past work and kicking off his career in acting in our new and exclusive interview, below.
You got into the industry at a young age, when did you realise acting was something you wanted to do as a career?
Well I was lucky enough to get into the industry when I was 13. I went for a random audition and got the lead role and I think ever since that experience on Sixty Six working with people like Helena Bonham Carter and Catherine Tate, I just feel in love with it. I was good at sports as a kid and I love team work. The fact that 50-60 people come together to create the best movie they can - I love that. I like being around creative people and it was one of those industries that I thought, yeah I can do this. I think when you’re 13, you’re more worried about your friends at the weekend than responsibilities. You’ve just started your teen years and you don’t have a care in the world, so for me I didn’t even have any idea who Helena Bonham Carter was. I just remember her saying “Oh hi. I’m Helena, I’m going to be playing your mum”. Then after the movie they kept talking about this woman and then obviously my parents told me she was a pretty big deal. So I wasn’t intimidated by them, it was more a youthful naivety and I just loved it and was really lucky to fall into it.
What pressures come with being an actor from such a young age?
I think for example now I’m 22 years old and I have a mortgage to pay, it suddenly becomes a real job and I have real responsibilities and even though it’s your passion, it’s also a business. So I think in the past couple of years since moving over to the states I’ve realised there is a lot of pressure. But when I was a kid I always played sports and I was always under pressure with that. My sport was football, I used to play professionally for West Ham, but I had an injury and that’s how I fell into the acting industry. But it was one of those things where playing sports helped with discipline and with learning how to cope under pressure.
How was the experience of being involved in Disney shows such as Wizards of Waverly Place?
It was amazing! It was probably the biggest blessing of my life. I was very fortunate to have my first American gig on such a worldwide success. I mean the show, each episode was being viewed by 6/7 million people and you don’t realise the magnitude of the show you’re working on, you just do your job and go home, then 3 months later 7 million people are talking about it. It was amazing; the crew were like my second family because my family were back in London. David Henry is still my best friend who played the older brother on the show. I was lucky in regards to the people I’ve worked with. I tried to go to Disney Land and I got an email saying “we think its best that you go through the back entrance” then I realised how popular Wizards of Waverly Place was. So they took me backstage and I saw Mickey Mouse with his head off and that traumatised me! Then there have been times where I’ve been out with a couple of my best friends and I can’t move! Girls they scream and cause so much attention! It’s nice in England; it’s not as crazy as America. I was working in East London and Westfield was right where I was staying and it wasn’t as crazy, a few people asked for pictures but that was alright.
You came into Pretty Little Liars as Ezra's younger brother Wesley for a few episodes - who do you think will be unmasked as '-A' when it all comes to an end?
Obviously that’s the question that everyone wants to know! Basically the premise of the show is five best friends and one of their friends goes into the woods and dies and no one knows who the killer is and this ‘-A’ keeps haunting the four girls who are there. I have an idea of who it is - I’m not even sure the writers know.
You're now playing Liam Booker in Faking It - what drew you to this role?
Well the project itself really attracted me. Liam has a best friend called Shane, who is a gay guy and obviously my characters straight and to me I thought that was great as it’s not seen on TV much. I think it’s important in today’s society. The show reflects and promotes not being judgemental about race or sexual orientation, which I think is an important message to send out to the younger generation, to not be ignorant; to realise they may be a gay person but I promise you they’re really cool.
What should people in the UK expect from this series?
A lot of laughs! I think they’re going to fall in love with the characters. It’s set in high school so there are high school issues that are relatable that the audience have been through or are going to go through. The show is a romantic comedy about two best friends who are mistaken as lesbians and my character is very intrigued by it, at first because she’s a lesbian and she’s pretty which is a normal thing for a straight guy to be into; but it’s nice because then the heart of the show kicks in and everyone I guess in high school is faking something, like I was faking confidence for instance trying to be the cool kid of the school, so I think the title of the show is perfect because you do have to fake things in life.
How was the chemistry on the set of Faking It?
Honestly, there are 5 leads and not one of us thinks that they’re better or worse than any of the others which can be the case on TV shows. They all live 5 minutes away from me so we hang out on set and they all come from amazing families. Katie Stevens is Portuguese so she cooks for everyone all the time! Rita Volk is from Uzbekistan and wanted to be a doctor so she’s one of the smartest girls ever. Michael Willett is just a guy you can completely hang out with; he’s a warm and a nice guy. As actors I think it’s very important that you set a certain tone on set, so it’s our role as an actor not only to perform but to create a nice environment on set and it translates on screen which is nice.
How did it feel to get such a positive response for the first season in America and a renewal for a second season?
It’s great! The positive response is fantastic because you work so hard on a show and you want people to like it so I’m very grateful to all the fans that turned in and spread the word. I’m even more excited for the second season because there are so many more journeys and twists and turns that the characters can go on. I’m so excited for season 2 because I’ve spoken with the show runner and we can collaborate with him and say where we would like our characters to go based on certain things that have happened in my life.
Can you tell us a little about some of your favourite scenes you've filmed in your career so far?
There’s a scene where Shane and I go out to a gay bar together and obviously Shane’s there to find a boyfriend and I’m looking for hot girls, so that’s a very funny episode. The finale of season 1 is amazing because what happens at the end is very unexpected and the love triangles have shifted slightly by that point.
Finally do you have any other projects you could share some details about?
I have a movie coming out in America called Affluenza where I play a young great Gatsby character. Then I have another film coming out for Fox called Another Me with Sophie Turner from Game of Thrones and I couldn’t speak more highly of her, she is the sweetest girl. That comes out in Spain first and then in the UK. Then I have to go back and shoot the second season of Faking it! I’ve just done a horror film called Don’t Hang Up, that won’t be out until next year because of all the special effects. That’s about two best friends who are making prank calls and my character is down because my relationship is complicated so my best friend comes over to cheer me up and one of the prank calls goes terribly wrong.
Catch Faking It on Weds 24 September at 9pm on MTV