Exclusive Interview: Pop Culturalist Chats with Dwight in Shining Armor’s Sloane Morgan Siegel

Award-winning actor Sloane Morgan Siegel is no stranger to being number one on the call sheet. He got his first taste at leading a cast playing the title character in Gortimer Gibbon’s Life on Normal Street. That experience helped prepare him for his latest project, Dwight in Shining Armor, airing exclusively on BYUtv. Now in its third season, the family-friendly series follows the adventures of everyday teenager Dwight whose life is transformed after falling into an underground chamber and must figure out how to be the champion that warrior princess Gretta needs. Pop Culturalist caught up with the charismatic and inquisitive young actor to chat about his career, love for writing, and Dwight in Shining Armor.

Career

PC: You’re an actor and writer. How did you develop your love for the arts? Is there one that you naturally gravitate towards?
Sloane: I’ve always been a very loud kid. [laughs] When I was little, my dad would introduce me as “Sloane Morgan Siegel: Action Hero”. As a kid, I would always get up in front of a crowd and tell stories that I made up. I told jokes that my dad would tell, even the ones that I probably shouldn’t have. [laughs] I always loved having an audience. I loved making people laugh and smile. I loved seeing the joy in their eyes when they saw me do something.

I also love writing. I remember the very first time that I wrote something: I was in kindergarten. The assignment was to write a little book with crayons and paper. I chose purple because it’s my favorite color and I wrote the most ridiculous story, but there was something about showing people a story that I wrote—I really loved it. I love writing. I write short stories all the time. Actually, I just finished my first novel; I’m in the revision process. I finished the “vomit draft” as I like to call it.

Yeah, I’ve always loved the arts. They’ve always been a big part of my life. Movies have also been a big part of my life. My dad raised me on Mel Brooks and Monty Python movies. My mom raised me on Star Trek: Next Generation.

PC: Who or what has had the biggest influence on your career?
Sloane: Oh, wow! That’s really tough. You meet so many amazing people throughout your life. My parents have been the biggest influence in my life, though. They’ve been there since the start, quite literally. [laughs] My dad is the one who took me to California to start acting. He has a very good hardworking mindset. He’d wake me up and tell me phrases like, “Today is another day to excel.” He would drop me off at school and be like, “Be good. Pay attention. Be a leader.” He had a really big influence on me.

As far as actors go, you take a piece of everyone that you’ve worked with and you become more whole as an artist each time. For instance, on Dwight in Shining Armor, Joel McCrary, who plays Baldric, he’s had so many years of experience and worked with so many incredible people, so he’s always giving me advice. Recently, he shared some advice that a director told him: “Always do something in the background whether the camera is on you or not. You never know what they’re going to pick up.” Now, I do that. In every scene that I do, you can see me doing something in the background. I’m really living in that moment and world.

Robyn Lively played my mom for three years on Gortimer Gibbon’s Life on Normal Street. She was a really maternal figure. She taught me how to be number one on the call sheet. She always told me, “You’re the first to walk in. You’re the last to leave. You make sure you know everyone’s name. You make sure you’re kind to everybody.” This is all stuff that my parents taught me, too—I’m never going to be rude to anybody. I’m not going to walk in and be like, “Good morning, jerk!” That’s not me. I always try to make sure everyone’s happy and having a good day. Honestly, everyone that I’ve ever met has influenced me.

PC: Great answer. You got your start in dancing hip-hop. What has the transition been like going from that into acting?
Sloane: You know, I was really little when I did it. I loved it. I still dance all the time. I think it helped with my physicality in a scene. It made me more comfortable with my body and movements. I act like everything is a musical—not in the sense that you’re singing and dancing, but every action is to a beat. Every line is to a beat, especially with comedy. That transition really helped.

Dancing is how I got into acting actually. One of the choreographers was like, “You have a weird look. You can dance. You should try acting,” which is a fun way to say you’re interesting enough to maybe be good at this. [laughs] So, I started doing musical theatre. Everything else is history.

PC: You’ve had a lot of success already in your young career. When you look back, is there a particular moment that stands out?
Sloane: Thank you very much by the way. There have been a lot! I’ve lived so much more life than a person my age usually gets to, and I’m thankful for that every day. That’s another reason why I love this job. One day I can be an astronaut, the next day I’m in a horror film. Actually, I just finished filming a horror movie, which was pretty cool.

A moment that stands out is when I booked my first series regular. It was a huge moment of contentment and excitement. I worked so hard for this thing and it was finally in my hand, which turned into a three-year journey where I learned how to be a part of a show for a long period of time. I learned how to grow with a character. I learned so much more about acting on set than I ever did in a classroom. I have a bunch of others, but that’s the one that comes to mind.

Dwight in Shining Armor

PC: You’re currently starring in Dwight in Shining Armor and the third season is airing now. What can fans expect?
Sloane: For people who are familiar with the series, there’s a character known as Sir Aldred. Sir Aldred is a Tovanar, which is an ancient undead sorcerer that is all powerful and wishes ultimate doom upon Earth and all the people in it. At the end of the first season, there was a cliffhanger. Then, in the beginning of the second season, we reveal that he’s the villain. Sorry, if that’s a spoiler alert! Throughout the episodes in Season 2, he appears here and there. Towards the end, you see him a lot.

In Season 3, we mainly deal with the Tovanars and their threat to the world. Usually, every episode is a battle episode where there’s a completely separate story with a completely separate character and conflict, but the characters and their relationships carry from episode to episode. Most of this season will be a consecutive storyline dealing with the Tovanars.

PC: Speaking of relationships, which of Dwight’s has been your favorite to explore and why? Has it changed from throughout the seasons?
Sloane: I think my favorite relationship is with Chlodwig [Evan Hofer]. When you start a new show, you usually just shoot the pilot. Then, if you’re lucky, you get to come back to the character…it’s kind of weird. It’s like breaking in a new shoe: it doesn’t completely fit yet, but it fits enough for you to wear around. That’s what it was like for me and Evan. We were both figuring out our characters and they eventually become best friends. And that guy, Evan Hofer, is really like a big brother to me. He’s family that I choose. I love that relationship. I love the absurdity that he brings to the character, which gives me a lot to react to in the scene. There are a few more Chlodwig-centric episodes this season and they’re so much fun!

PC: Having been a part of this series since Season 1, what’s been the biggest takeaway leading this cast?
Sloane: The biggest takeaway has been this family that we’ve built. They always say you make a family on set, and it sounds cliché, but I truly mean it. Everybody is there. You see them every day. You know what they’re going to do in a scene before they even do it. We were recently talking about how well we know each other’s facial expressions. If Caitlin [Carmichael] is about to break in a scene, I know the facial expression that she’ll make. If Joel [McCrary] is about to make an improvised joke, he gets this eyebrow twitch right before he makes it. So then, we all prepare for that. [laughs] We also see each other all the time off set, so that’s been the biggest takeaway.

PC: Besides Dwight in Shining Armor, do you have any other upcoming projects that you can chat about?
Sloane: Hopefully, I can get my novel done and published by the end of the year—that’s one of my goals. I really want to break into writing because I love it. I love creating stories, I don’t just like acting in them. I also just finished my horror film, which I can’t say too much about…but, there are a lot of cool actors attached to it. More to come on that, so stay tuned! Dwight in Shining Armor is airing now and it’s the best season so far! It’s my favorite. There are awesome fight scenes and great character development.

PC: If you had to summarize Season 3 in one sentence, what would it be?
Sloane: The fantasy epic you’ve been waiting for. It’s really amazing, man. They take characters that you thought would never appear again, and all I can say is everything matters! There were times when I was reading scripts, and it wasn’t an emotional thing, but they would call back a certain character and moment, and it was so cool that it made me cry. We’re taking this fun family show and giving it a lot of depth.

Pop Culturalist Speed Round

PC: Guilty pleasure TV show?
Sloane: Jerry Springer

PC: Guilty pleasure movie?
Sloane: The Star Wars prequels

PC: Favorite book?
Sloane: Stoneheart

PC: Favorite play or musical?
Sloane: Wicked has a very special play in my heart.

PC: A band or artist that fans would be surprised to learn is on your playlist?
Sloane: Taylor Swift

PC: Who would play you in the story of your life?
Sloane: Christopher Walken

To keep up with Sloane, follow him on Twitter and Instagram. Watch new episodes of Dwight in Shining Armor every Sunday at 8:30/7:30c on BYUtu and online at BYUtv.org.

Photo Credit: Benjo Arwas