the quad — TV & MOVIES — Unclear Magazine

INTRO BY TAMARA CHAPMAN

INTERVIEW BY CAMI LIBERTY

Currently starring as “Madison Kelly” on the HIT TV Series The Quad is Michelle DeFraites, a young actress who has the drive and ambition to call the studio her home since she was just 12 years old. Keep on reading this interview to learn about what’s to come and what it’s like to be involved in this top-notch industry!

When did you first realize that acting was what you wanted to do?

MICHELLE: "I have been doing community theater with my family since I was very young but I remember realizing at about 12 or 13 that acting could be a real job. I was watching a show with my dad and I just remember saying 'I wanna do this!' Literally within the month we were trying to figure out how to go to LA to give it a shot."

Do you remember anything from your first audition? How did it go?

MICHELLE: "I remember my first big audition was for a pilot on Disney Channel and it was 9 pages and I was terrified! I actually did a good job and that proved to me that I was cut out for this career."

You currently star as Madison Kelly in BET’s The Quad. The show just returned at the end of January for its second season – what can you tell us about this season?

MICHELLE: "This season is a season of growth for my character in particular. She is definitely taking a few more risks personally and in her school career. There is a large activism storyline, inspired by what’s going on in the world around us, this season that is really great and I’m honored that Madison was allowed to be a part of it."

Do you find that you relate to Madison in any way? If so, how?

MICHELLE: "I feel like her development throughout the two seasons has mirrored by life while playing her. I love that she was a little more reserved first season because that’s exactly how I felt during filming. This season she is spreading her wings and I feel that has inspired and allowed me to do the same as well!"

Of all the projects you’ve done, which would you say has had the biggest impact on you?

MICHELLE: "My role on House was a big turning point in my career. It was the first time I had the opportunity to pay a dramatic role and I wasn’t convinced I could pull it off because all I had done up until that point was Disney. After experiencing that set and being proud of my work, that was the moment I fell in love with drama and was confident enough to try to tackle more roles like that."

Do you have a certain process that you do to get into character?

MICHELLE: "When I first get a script and a new character my favorite thing to do is to question everything. I feel like it helps me get into the head of the character so that when I play them for a long time I know them inside and out and then it becomes second nature. I’ll ask 'Why did she say that' or 'Why did she make that decision or choice'. There’s a reason for everything that someone does or says and finding out why is so important for character development."

You also will be starring in the upcoming film Crazy For The Boys. Can you tell us a little about this?

MICHELLE: "Crazy For The Boys is a super fun movie musical that tackles the bullying issue that is rampant in schools today. I love that we can tackle such an important subject while still making a great movie with catchy songs that will be stuck in your head forever! I literally had the best time shooting this and made some incredible lifelong friends and I thin that shows on screen."

Is there anything else we can expect from you in the future?

MICHELLE: "I have another film called All The Creatures Were Stirring, which is a thriller that takes place around Christmas. This was another first for me because I’ve never worked on a scary movie before, but it was so fun and I can’t wait for every to see it!"

FIND MICHELLE ONLINE

TWITTER INSTAGRAM FACEBOOK

BY KAT VISTI

PHOTO BY MARIN HAMATAJ GROOMING BY LAUREN UPTEGROVE REPRESENTED BY MICHELLE Q BEAUTY — PHOTO BY MARIN HAMATAJ
GROOMING BY LAUREN UPTEGROVE REPRESENTED BY MICHELLE Q BEAUTY

Jake Allyn is an up and coming actor who stars in the new series titled The Quad (the season finale airs on March 29th) on BET where he plays BoJohn Folsom. He's also made appearances in multiple other shows such as The Middle and Blood Relatives. We sat down with Jake to hear more about his projects and roles!

You're set to star in a new series entitled The Quad - can you tell us about it?

JAKE: The Quad is a socially conscious drama about a college. Anika Noni Rose, who plays the school’s president, headlines as the newly elected head of the school who is brought in to revamp a struggling historical black college in the deep south. While she tries to juggle her own personal life, she brings in an eclectic freshman class to mix things up on the normally historically conservative school. She brings in a genius computer programmer who’s also a world class musician, a young rapper trying to escape the dangerous streets of Chicago, and me, a small town quarterback recruit who’s dealing with a world of emotional issues from a childhood of domestic abuse. While the freshman class sparks the college back into the spotlight, we also bring along a few problems for the school, and Anika, to tend with!

You've also made a name for yourself starring in television shows such as The Middle, Blood Relatives, and Killer Kids – what was your favorite one to be apart of?

JAKE: I learned a lot from my first few professional sets like Killer Kids and Blood Relatives, but working on a network sitcom like The Middle was definitely when I entered the big leagues. There’s just a level of professionalism and talent on those network shows that can’t be beat, and as a young actor, you want to be a part of it. It makes for great shows and no one wants to be the actor who comes in for a guest star and isn’t prepared. The Middle really taught me to always bring my A game. Because even the series regular who’d been on the show for years never took a scene off, they never mailed it in, they always gave it their best and that’s what professionals do.

You're writing and starring in two new thriller films entitled Wicked Love and Ex-Patriot - what was your inspiration for writing these?

JAKE: I’ve always wanted to revamp a Shakespeare play to modern times and Macbeth is a play that has themes that always stuff with me. So Conor (my older brother) and I revamped Macbeth to be set in modern day in a rural America town. Our Macbeth is the high school quarterback, his father Duncan is a local king as the high school football coach, and lady Macbeth is the girl from the wrong side of the tracks that Macbeth falls in the love with. It made for a gritty love story with plenty of blood! Ex-Patriot started with my brother. He’d been really inspired by the Edward Snowden CIA scandal a few years back. So we just started brainstorming on “what if's” from that case. What we kept coming back to was “what if Snowden had blown the whistle and the CIA was right all along. What if the people they were illegally watching really were terrorists”… From there we were off and running to make a great thriller!

You've been apart of a lot of horror/thriller types of shows and movies like Zoe Gone, Pocket Listing, and more. Was horror and thriller something that always interested you?

JAKE: When I was first acting in LA, any genre that would pay me money to act was something I was interested in! Though I can’t say I prefer horror/thriller to other genres like dramas for instance, I do think that because I had a background in writing thrillers and dark stories, I think I had a little easier time jumping into those roles when it came time to audition so those were the type of roles that I book. I find now that I’m writing more dramas and personal stories, I end up booking a show like The Quad that’s solely based on personal stories and very complicated relationships. I’m glad I can go into multiple genres, I think even as fun as doing a horror movie is, I’d get bored if all I ever made was horror movies.

How do you prepare yourself for roles? Do you have a certain routine?

JAKE: The first thing I do is figure out my character’s history, his goals, and the important relationships in his life. If you know those things, you’re able to handle whatever the writers or producers bring to you during a season run like we just had on The Quad. Viggo Mortensen brings his research down to one simple sentence, “I figure out what’s happened to this character from his birth until page one of the script”. I try and do the same (and let’s face it, Viggo is a pretty damn good actor to copy from!)

You're an actor, writer, and producer, therefore very involved in the industry - what's your favorite aspect to be apart of and why?

JAKE: Acting. I grew up playing sports. In baseball, I was a pitcher. In football, I was a receiver. And now in the film business, I’m an actor. While they may all seem different, what those three have in common is that all those positions want the pressure. When it comes down to a big moment in the game or on set, they all want the ball. When it’s the ninth inning and the game is tied, I want to be on the mound throwing that pitch. When it’s 3AM and the production crew is losing the overhead light to shoot in this huge field in the middle of nowhere Oklahoma, I want to be the one they count on to perform that scene in the clutch (that really happened to me by the way). Anyway, that’s the best way I can explain it so hopefully at least one sports fan out there will understand that, haha.

What got you into acting?

JAKE: To continue the sports train, after my college football career was coming to an end, I was looking for something to fill the soon to be hole in my life. I’d always loved movies and seemed to be more interested in the great acting rather than a big stunt or fantastic directing, so I started taking acting classes and fell in love. The butterflies in my stomach I get just before a big scene are the same ones I used to get in the tunnel before running onto the field on Saturday afternoons. I hope I never lose those butterflies.

What advice would you give to someone who is trying to go into acting, writing, and producing?

JAKE: Go get really good at acting! Don’t rush your training to start auditioning or in hopes of becoming famous. There’s plenty of time for all that. My best friend growing up, Chris Robbs, is currently in med school to become a doctor. He’s 26 years old and still about 2 years away from legally being able to call himself a doctor. Actors are lucky because we don’t have to do all that to call ourselves actors. Hey, the day I loaded up my truck and moved into my brother’s couch in Venice, I called myself an actor. And that’s okay, it’s one of the beauty’s of our job, that’s why there’s so many interesting stories about actors and how they came to be in this industry. But I know for a fact if you treat acting like you're training to become a doctor and put as much time into the craft of acting as a doctor does in earning a PHD, good things will happen. You won’t need luck, social media followers, or an introduction to some famous producer, you’ll have a real craft you can rely on. And that will always be respected in this industry.

FIND JAKE ONLINE

TWITTER INSTAGRAM