Exclusive Interview: Pop Culturalist Chats with Stargirl’s Trae Romano

Trae Romano is making waves this year for his breakout performance in Stargirl on the CW. Based on the beloved character from DC Comics, Stargirl follows the adventures of Courtney Whitmore, a young girl who moves from the big city to a small town in Nebraska with her newly-formed blended family and discovers her true calling as a superhero.

Trae plays Mike Dugan, Courtney’s step-brother, who at first glance appears to be the comedic relief in the story. As the season progresses, though, we start to see the different layers to him unravel. And Trae has done a brilliant job bringing that to life.

Pop Culturalist caught up with Trae to chat about Stargirl, his character, and building the father-son bond with actor Luke Wilson.

Career

PC: How did you discover your passion for acting?
Trae: That’s a deep question, man. We had a family friend who lives down in Atlanta. They were filming a Farrelly brothers movie. I visited the set when I was five or six. It was cool seeing all the actors coexist, work, and do their thing. It was cool for me to see that overall creativeness. That was probably one of the things. Also, getting a new script is always fun. You don’t know what it’s going to be. It’s like Russian roulette.

PC: Who or what has had the biggest influence on your career?
Trae: Luke Wilson has had a huge influence on my acting career. I’ve picked up a lot from watching him work. He’s given me a lot of great tips. Also my father. He’s influenced my daily life, my interactions, and who I am.

Stargirl

PC: Tell us about Stargirl and your character.
Trae: Stargirl follows Courtney Whitmore. She moves to Nebraska with her mom and her new step-family, which includes Luke Wilson’s character and mine. I play Mike. I wouldn’t say he’s the comedic relief because in the last few episodes, he’s taken on a different persona and role. That’s what I love about Mike. He’s a multifaceted character. He’s thrown into the mix and he has to deal with it the best way he can. He doesn’t really know what’s going on. He just rolls with it. You’ll get to see a lot of Mike because of the situation he’s placed in because there’s a lot of stuff going on around him. His role is to react to what’s happening around him. Later on, once he finds his footing, he has a special moment.

PC: What attracted you to this project and role?
Trae: When I originally read the script, it looked like a comedy, but the second scene I had for the audition was really dramatic. I love dramedies. Dramedy is great. I love the crossing between the two genres. If you do it well, it’s going to be so good. So I was excited about that.

I actually did some improv for my first scene for a good minute. When I later got the role, Geoff [Johns] said, “The improv got you the role. That’s what set you apart. Luke Wilson was very excited because he thought you did a great job. He thought you guys could play around with your scenes.” That was really cool.

It looked really promising. The other cast who read it thought the same thing. When you get a script like that, you don’t have to put too much thought into it. It’s a fun show that everyone can sit and enjoy.

PC: You’ve said in previous interviews that you and Mike are very similar. Does that bring an added boost of confidence as you’re approaching and playing this character?
Trae: Yeah! We have a lot of similarities. Later on in the season, what I realized is I just need to bring out what was in me because later in the season, Mike stops being such a wise-ass, cracking jokes all the time. That’s when I dial in as myself. We were already very similar because I am also quick-witted and have that humor. But later on in the season when things are getting more serious and Mike starts getting more serious, there was definitely a tie-in with me and Mike. Geoff Johns, our showrunner and creator, has told me many times, “It’s easy to write for your character because I just write what you would say.” I was like, “Oh, that’s funny!”

PC: Mike and Courtney don’t have the best relationship when the show starts. But over the course of the season, we get to see that develop. How did you and Brec [Bassinger] approach that dynamic?
Trae: The defining scene in their relationship happens in Episode 8. It’s this really cool scene where Mike finally realizes that she’s not such a bad person. It seems like there’s a lot of stuff going on that he doesn’t know. He recognizes that. He’s like, “Listen. I’m sorry.” Brec and I talked a lot about that scene and the circumstances and events that led Mike and Courtney up to that point.

After that, we jumped right into it. As an actor, I don’t like to rehearse things too much. I think I got that from Luke! He’s always like, “I’m all for just going in fresh and seeing where the scene goes. After that, you can start thinking about what you’re going to do.” I’ve taken that to every scene.

PC: One of Mike’s most important relationships is with his father. How did you and Luke build that bond?
Trae: We would go out and get lunch and dinner together. We just hung out. At this point in the season, Pat is focused on the new JSA [Justice Society of America] team. He’s not focused on his son. That’s why Mike starts to get emotional and sad. He feels left behind. What’s interesting is that Luke and I hung out more when I wasn’t filming than when we were. We hung out a lot off screen. When we didn’t have scenes together, we were like, “We need to hang out!”

When Luke was off and I was off, we’d go get lunch and play tennis a lot. We would talk about movies. He’s a huge movie buff and I love movies. He’s also a foodie, so we had a lot in common. I still talk to Luke all the time. It’s safe to say that we built a great bond and friendship. Every time I go out to LA, we always meet up, and we always hang out.

We have a great relationship on and off screen. That definitely translates to the screen. Geoff was really happy about that. When we were filming Episode 11 or 12, we went out for dinner before filming. Luke was like, “I have this idea for a scene.” I was like, “That’s hilarious. Well, what if Mike says this?” He was like, “Oh, yeah. What if Pat says this?” We wrote this scene at dinner, and we showed it to Geoff. I’m not sure if it makes the cut, but Geoff was like, “I love this. This is great. We have to film it.” So we’ve been able to add our own little spice to the show.

We know each other so well now. The same with me, Brec, and the whole family. Luke and I can run some scenes for twenty minutes. We’ll keep going. The family relationship we have between Luke, Brec, Amy [Smart], and I is very genuine and very real. I think that Geoff is going to continue to build on that.

PC: The CW and Warner Bros. have had a lot of success with the DC franchise. Where would you like to see Mike’s storyline head in future seasons?
Trae: I think that Mike wants to become a part of the JSA at some point. I don’t think he wants to be an active hero. I think he’d be more involved in the tech side. He likes video games and stuff like that. He’d probably help Pat out in the garage. He’d probably mod S.T.R.I.P.E. out or something like that.

I also think there’s a dark side to Mike where you don’t know what could happen with him and his affiliation. There are some scenes later in the season where you see a glimpse into him and that he’s not just a kid. He knows how to take on responsibility. He knows how to do X, Y, Z. He expects to be absorbed into JSA.

PC: This is a breakout TV role for you. What’s been the biggest takeaway?
Trae: I’m a really social person. I’m always talking with my castmates. I think it’s great to get the vibe going on set. But I realized later on in the season, I need to rest. I need to take a second and not talk to anyone. That really helped my mentality as an actor because when I was filming, my mind was in too many places.

I was busting Luke’s chops one day. I was like, “You read all the time. You never talk. Why aren’t you talking? I feel left out.” He was like, “Whenever I’m on set, reading is the best thing to do. That’s what I always do. I don’t read science fiction or any of that. I read nonfiction, autobiographical books.” I was like, “Wow. That’s really cool. It gets the mind in motion.”

The day after our wrap party, Luke and I were going to go play tennis. We went to lunch and while we were driving to the tennis courts, we stopped at Barnes & Noble. He was looking around and he was like, “Michael Caine!” He pointed out the autobiography of Michael Caine. He was like, “I want you to have this. I’ll buy this for you. Just read it.” I was like, “Oh, that’s great.” I can’t say that I finished it yet, but it was just the thought that Luke is always there to help me out. It was a cool memento to how much I learned on set. I learned so much that I can’t even wrap it up into words.

Pop Culturalist Speed Round

PC: Guilty pleasure TV show?
Trae: Whenever I have nothing to watch, I’ll turn on The Sopranos. It’s such a good show. The characters are so great. I come from an Italian American family. There’s a lot on that show that’s relatable. That’s the show that I always gravitate towards.

Also, 30 Rock. I love satirical shows. 30 Rock is genius.

PC: Guilty pleasure movie?
Trae: That’s a tough one. This might be out there, but I think Moonrise Kingdom by Wes Anderson. I was raised on that movie. My father, he really exposed me to a lot of directors like that. He was the one who introduced me to creativeness and art on screen. It’s not even my favorite Wes Anderson movie. I think that one is probably The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, in terms of pure enjoyment. All Wes Anderson movies are eye candy. I love that movie because Bill Murray’s character is hysterical. I love his character. He plays a deadbeat dad.

PC: Favorite book?
Trae: Star Wars: Aftermath. It ties everything together. It has so many facets.

PC: Favorite play or musical?
Trae: Elephant Man. Bradley Cooper did a great job. I saw him on Broadway. It was when I was a lot younger. I was like, “This guy is so freaking talented.” He really morphed into that character in real life. At the beginning, you’re like, “That’s Bradley Cooper. How am I going to see him as Elephant Man?” But by the end, he is Elephant Man! It was brilliant.

PC: A band or artist that fans would be surprised to learn is on your playlist?
Trae: The Kinks. They always have great lyrics. My sister is a lyricist. She’s always like, “You got to listen to the good lyrics, man.” I’m like, “Yeah, yeah.” But the Kinks have great songs and lyrics. All their songs have great meanings. When I’m writing scripts, I usually always listen to some of the Kinks’ songs because they’re out there and creative.

To keep up with Trae, follow him on Instagram. Catch new episodes of Stargirl every Tuesday at 8/7c on the CW.