Pop-Culturalist.com

Dylan Sprayberry became an actor to create art through storytelling. He sees each new project as an opportunity to learn and grow, so, when he landed his big break as Liam Dunbar on MTV’s Teen Wolf, he sunk his teeth into the experience and gained valuable knowledge that he’s brought to each project since, including his newest role as Henry Richmond on the AwesomenessTV/Hulu collaboration, Light as a Feather. On the show, Dylan’s character has just returned from college where he’s struggling with being a small fish in a big pond, but things go from bad to worse when his sister and her friends are involved in an eerie game of “Light as a Feather, Stiff as a Board”, which turns deadly. Pop Culturalist spoke with Dylan ahead of the premiere of Light as a Feather!

PC: Tell us about Light as a Feather, your character, and what drew you to this project.
Dylan: Light as a Feather is a grounded, teen suspense-supernatural-thriller. It’s grounded in terms of the script that the writers had given us and the realistic emotions that are displayed by the actors. Basically, it’s a believable story, even though it’s so fantastical.

It’s about a group of friends who experiment with a game called “Light as a Feather, Stiff as a Board”. They all sit in a circle with one friend in the middle. They make a death prediction and chant, “light as a feather,” and try to get their friend to levitate. The legend is that if you get your friend to levitate, the prediction will come true. Sadly and terrifying, all the girls who play the game end up levitating and it becomes a crazy fight for survival. The girls need to figure out what’s going on, where this game came from, and what this means for their future and friendships.

My character is Henry Richmond. He’s an interesting guy. He’s the older brother of Olivia, who is played by Peyton List. She’s a wonderful actress. This part isn’t told too much, but it’s something that I implemented for myself as an actor and it helped me get into the character and make more distinctive decisions on who I wanted this character to be. I made the choice, in the back of my mind, that in high school Henry was the popular kid who had succumb to the popularity and the limelight. He fell into it and didn’t realize that he was being rude or a jerk to certain people. In high school, I don’t think Henry was a terrible guy, but I also don’t think he was the nicest. I think he was one of those jocks who loved being around girls and loved going to parties. He loved being the center of attention and got addicted to it. He’s the All-Conference tennis player in high school and gets a scholarship to USC. He gets to USC and realizes that he’s way smaller and less significant to this world than he thought he was. When you’re in high school, that’s your whole world—if you’re at the top of the totem pole, you feel like you’re the king of the world. Then, you go somewhere else and you become a little fish in a big pond. That’s what he felt when he went to USC. So, when he comes back home, he’s different. I think that’s what allows Liana’s character, McKenna, to fall in love with him so quickly. He’s a lot more mature, in a way, and a little more insecure, but he’s more grounded in himself and understands that he’s not the most important thing in the world.

PC: Henry deals with a lot during the course of the series. What was your favorite part of him to explore and why?
Dylan: My character goes through a change from high school to college. While he’s not directly affected by the game, he’s indirectly affected by it in a traumatic way. I can’t say too much about that, but there’s an event that completely changes Henry. It ruins him. It breaks him down. What happens to Henry is terrible, but as an actor, it was a lot of fun to tap into that and play something that’s so heartbreaking and life-changing. I had a blast exploring how Henry is able to build himself back up, which you’ll see throughout the season. You’ll see how he becomes a whole person again. I had a lot of fun doing that. I haven’t really had the opportunity to play a character who’s gone through such a traumatic experience.

PC: If your character took part in the game, what do you think his reaction would be?
Dylan: Henry is a skeptical person. He’s not quick to believe anybody, but he definitely trusts McKenna. In our plotline, he has an easier time believing her. If he were involved in this game, he wouldn’t believe it at first. He’s been removed from this situation, having gone to college. He doesn’t really know them that well. They’re not best friends; he grew up with them but he doesn’t really know them. I feel like he would think they were all playing a prank on him. I think that’s how he would react. He’s the type of guy who needs to see physical proof, which honestly, most people would.

PC: Do you and your friends have any similar traditions like the girls on this show?
Dylan: [laughs] I think my friends and I played “Bloody Mary” a couple of times when we were kids. We also played with a Ouija board—they’re scary! I remember when I was young, I think one of my friends moved the piece but pretended he didn’t. I ended up ripping up the board, then I stapled it shut, and threw it away. I was like, “We’re never doing this again!” That’s probably it. Obviously, we’re in the age of technology, so we also used to go on YouTube and show each other these creepy and scary videos.

PC: You’re best known for your role as Liam Dunbar on Teen Wolf. What are some of the similarities or differences between Liam and Henry?
Dylan: One of the biggest differences is that my character on Teen Wolf had a chemical imbalance, which gave him anger management issues called intermittent explosive disorder. That was a big part of his life and that made up a lot of his struggles and a lot of his insecurities as a human. He didn’t want to be angry all the time, but because of how his mind worked and how he grew up, it was a constant struggle. He had to figure out how to express himself without being angry, so that was always at the front of my mind when I played Liam. In terms of similarities, Liam and Henry are both very skeptical. They’re not quick to believe things. They both aren’t quick to trust, especially Liam because of his past. Henry is a little more trusting because he had a good childhood growing up, but Liam had to deal with so much more because of his issues, which caused a lot of problems at home and at a school. Henry didn’t have to deal with that because he was the All-American tennis player who everyone loved. Neither of them would believe in werewolves or that these predictions from the game were actually becoming true.

Also, they’re both very loyal though. Once they do believe you, once they trust you, they’ll always be there for you. They will always do what’s right and stand up for those that they love and care about.

I think there’s also a similar tone that Henry carries towards the end of the season because of what happened. Henry becomes more serious because of it. Those are the biggest similarities.

Photo Credit: Rachael Thompson/Hulu

PC: Did you take any lessons that you learned from Teen Wolf to Light as a Feather?
Dylan: I will always say this for every project: I booked Teen Wolf when I was fifteen. I spent three and a half years on that set every day from ages fifteen to eighteen. I learned the ins and outs of being on a set. The biggest thing that I learned, though, was how to handle myself. At the end of the day, I’m an actor, this is my job, and this is what I do. There are often two connotations with being an actor: one that’s positive and one that’s negative. I never want to be the second. I always want to be the guy that respects everyone, no matter what their job position is. We’re all just trying to make art. We want to make something special for people to watch. It’s something that we all have fun doing, so why would I try and make anyone’s job less fun for them? This is supposed to be a fun job. That’s probably the biggest thing.

I’ve learned how to find my light, how to angle myself more towards the camera. I’ve learned all the little things that make the director’s job easier, that make a VP’s job easier. I don’t want anyone to have to come up to me and tell me that I need to turn more like this or that. I want the adjustments to be for my acting. I don’t want to make anyone feel like I’m a burden. I want to be on my game all the time.

I learned the social cues of when it’s time to be serious and when it’s time to laugh and have fun. Obviously, I got practice in my craft as an actor, but even more than that, as a professional, working actor, I learned so much technicality and set etiquette. It’s something that I not only took to Light as a Feather, but it’s also something I’ll take with me to any project that I do in the future. I’ll always be in debt to Teen Wolf for that. Everyone was so kind to me. They treated me like family. I felt like a student; everyone would take their time to explain things to me.

PC: With the series coming out, what are you most excited for fans to see? What do you hope they take away?
Dylan: I’m excited for a couple of different things. I don’t let other people’s opinions affect how I do something or how I’m going to prepare for my next role—that’s never going to happen—but I do like hearing people’s opinion on the character. I like to see if my perspective was spot on or if I was trying to do something and it came off in a different way. Once again, this is all art. Art is abstract and it’s all about perspectives; one person might see it a different way. I think that’s the most amazing thing. I get excited by hearing the different opinions on what the character was like for them or how the character made someone feel.

It gets repetitive, but this is all art for me. It’s about being creative and having a product by a group of people who are like-minded and have a desire to make something fun. It’s amazing to say at the end, “We made this.” We all put in the work and we gave it our all and it turned out well. That’s the most important thing for me. It’s all love. I had so much fun making this. I’m so lucky that I get to call this a job. I get to have my makeup done and then pretend to be a pirate or a werewolf. Not many people get to do this and I’m very lucky. I’m excited for all the doors that will open as my career goes on, the people that I’ll get to meet, and the experiences that I’ll get to have. Hopefully, I’ll inspire others, not because of my talent, but because of all the hard work we’ve all put in. If you love something and you want it bad enough, you can always do it as long as you put in the work. It’s something that I feel really strongly about: you should always chase after your dreams. Do it in your own way and make a name for yourself in something that you believe in and that makes a positive impact on those around you.

Pop Culturalist Speed Round

PC: Guilty pleasure TV show?
Dylan: SpongeBob SquarePants and Big Brother

PC: Guilty pleasure movie?
Dylan: I want to say The Notebook, but I don’t think it’s a guilty pleasure because it’s such a good movie. I was also just watching Pride and Prejudice. I need to finish it, but I’m in love with that movie. Again, I don’t think I would consider that a guilty pleasure since it’s just really good.

PC: Favorite book?
Dylan: I’ll be honest. I’m all about being real. I’m not the best reader and I read scripts a lot. Growing up, I really loved Catcher and the Rye. It’s a book that really influenced me on storytelling in general. It inspired me to want to be as a writer one day. That book really gave me a clear vision of what the writer was trying to say. It’s a book that I really related to.

PC: Favorite play or musical?
Dylan: I saw Book of Mormon, which was hilarious, but it’s not my favorite. I really loved Wicked because of the set and the vibrancy of the characters. They embodied the characters 120% and put so much effort into developing these characters that you just believe it, even though they’re playing flying monkeys.

PC: A band or artist that fans would be surprised by your playlist?
Dylan: I love Ashanti. She has a voice of an angel and she makes me cry every time I listen to her. [laughs]. I also listen to a lot of New Orleans’ rap music.

PC: Last show you binge-watched?
Dylan: Skins; seasons one through three.

PC: Hidden talent?
Dylan: It’s not really a hidden talent but I play guitar and I’m really into martial arts.

Make sure to follow Dylan on Twitter and Instagram, and watch all ten episodes of Light as a Feather on Hulu today.

Photo Credit: Victoria Will/Hulu