BTSCELEBS

The second half of BTSCelebs’ interview with Tyler starts now….

BTSCelebs: You play J.P. in Disney Channel Europe’s “The Avatars”. Tell us about the audition process and how you landed your big role.

Tyler Young: I auditioned for the role via tape from my agency, Gray Talent Group, who have been my hardworking agents for the past two years. About a month after my tape was sent in and I had nearly forgotten about the project, I received a callback for the series, which I attended a few days later in New York City. I went straight from my flight to the audition where I was greeted by all the other hopefuls. One by one they called us in to read with other actors and slowly asked people to leave or stay after their audition (beyond nerve racking!!!). I was asked to stay after reading the same scene with about 10 different girls until finally, they asked that I come back the following day for an extensive callback session. At the second day of callbacks, they had me read with a handful of different guys who would be playing my co-stars on the show, and finally it was narrowed down to about 9 of us for 5 principal roles. They told us they would let us know the following Monday, however, that night as I was out with friends and some of my future cast mates, I got a call from my agent in Chicago telling me that I booked the show! I was beyond overwhelmed to learn that they needed me in europe in just 3 short weeks… but when duty calls…

What is it like filming in Spain? Do you have any memorable moments?

It. Was. Crazy. Shooting in a studio in Madrid while the series “took place”, and often referenced New York City, was an odd but hilarious circumstance. I also don’t speak Spanish (I took french in school), so the language barrier was certainly a struggle at times. We all had to learn how to use non-verbal communication very well in order to work with the Spanish director and crew, though we somehow managed to get by in our own weird little ways. Of course, the Spanish team spoke decent English, but it was a give and take of us actors learning some Spanish and them learning some more English. I probably learned more Spanish curse words and phrases on that set than I could have ever learned from taking a Spanish class… 😉

You filmed some commercials in the USA, what was your favorite commercial? Why was this particular one so special to you?

I did a live, filmed project for American Greeting’s Just Wink greeting cards at Summerfest in Milwaukee, Wisconsin a few summers back. I played a “mustache man”. I literally danced around and interacted with festival goers while decked out in 1930’s barber apparel adorned with a giant mustache head (yes, you read that correctly). There was also a giant cat, a lemonade girl, a purple unicorn and a ninja. The costumes and characters were outlandish representations of the characters on the cards and we jumped out and surprised people when they looked at a card pertaining to our character. It was certainly one of the weirder things I’ve ever done, but I had a blast.

How do you unwind after a busy week?

I love to keep my head clear by running, and I also try to keep a regular sleep schedule to maintain sanity.

What projects should we expect to see you in the near future?

I recently shot a short film called The Last Hour by an upcoming Chicago filmmaker, Philip Giancola, where I played a teenage runaway living on the streets. I also just wrapped a short film called The Ballad of Ronnie and Clive as part of Acting Studio Chicago’s cinema lab with director Stephen Cone. Both projects should hopefully be available for viewing in the near future.

*A Special Thanks to Tyler Young and Gray Talent Group for the interview and photo.*