Pop Culturalist Chats with Dan Jeannotte

Dan Jeannotte is one of the stars of Freeform’s hit new series, The Bold Type. The must-see show follows three ambitious millennial women who empower each other as they climb the corporate ladder of a Cosmo-like magazine. Dan plays Ryan, a rival writer, and the potential love interest of Jane, one of the show’s leading ladies. His charismatic and commanding presence has quickly made him a fan-favorite. Pop Culturalist spoke with him about the show, why he believes television needs more female-driven shows, and the importance of finding your place in the world.

PC: What about The Bold Type and the character jumped out to you when you signed on to be part of this project?
Dan: When I first got the chance to audition for it, I read a couple of scenes that involved Jane and I thought, ‘This is a really fun, fast, sexy kind of thing, in terms of old school comedic banter that I felt between the two when we’re teasing and prodding each other, but it’s covering up some real sparks. It seemed like a really fun relationship to play, but then I actually got the chance to read the rest of the script, and I understood the world it existed in; that’s when I was really, really impressed. That’s when I thought I had to be a part of the show because it tackles so many things at once yet it does it in a really easy and fun way. It felt like a special kind of project to be a part of.

PC: Ryan adds a different perspective on the show and it’s often challenged by Jane. How does that relationship help them grow throughout the series?
Dan: What’s great about their story is that they start off with an impression of who the other one is and they are proven wrong. They basically think at the beginning that they can define each other by the publication the other works for, by the headlines of the articles they write, and so Jane has this impression of Ryan as being kind of a gross douche who has some pretty classically centric—not backwards—opinions about how the world works, but that’s really based on her briefly looking at his articles. He thinks she’s kind of lightweight because she writes for this fashion magazine. It’s cool because they think they know each other, but then when they open up a little bit they realize, ‘Okay, there’s actually a lot more going on in this person than I first realized.’

PC: How did you and Katie go about building that bond because there’s obviously chemistry between Ryan and Jane?
Dan: You never know what you’re getting yourself into when you sign on for a project when you know you’re going to be doing intimate scenes, romantic scenes, [and] vulnerable scenes with another actor. There are all kinds of people out there. You don’t necessarily want to be intimate and vulnerable with all of them. We really lucked out. Actually, I really lucked out because Katie Stevens is a wonderful person and so down to earth. She’s got a really good heart, and we got along pretty much right away. The first time we met was at a chemistry read. They wanted me to audition with her to see if we connected and that was my first time meeting her. We felt pretty comfortable with each other from the get-go—it was really nice—but, then, because we were going to be doing scenes together where we have to be intimate, we wanted to make sure we were on the same page. So, we made sure before we started filming to spend a little bit of time together. She was really sweet. She went out of her way to make sure that we got some time to get to know each other, and I think as the relationship developed we [got] to trust each other more and more. It’s an awkward thing to film sex scenes. It’s weird. That was a little bit of a trial by fire for us. Luckily, with trust and a bit of humor, we managed to get through the more awkward scenes.

PC: As the series progresses, are going to see Ryan interacting with the other characters on the show, and will we learn a little bit about his back-story?
Dan: That’s a good question. I wondered the same thing when I was reading the first two episodes like, ‘When am I going to get to play with somebody else?’ I do get to interact with more characters a few episodes from now. There’s a really fun episode where a bunch of characters get stuck in an office together and can’t get out, and so we just kind of have to camp out there for a little while. I got the chance to work with Jacqueline, Sutton, and Matt Ward (who plays Alex), and that was really fun to shoot. Before then, all my scenes had been with Katie who’s awesome to work with, but it’s fun to get to play with the other people too. They’re great, funny, sweet people. I’m looking forward to watching that episode because it was a ton of fun to shoot—lots of late nights on set shooting till four in the morning, losing our minds a little bit, but in a good way, cracking up a lot on set. Hopefully—fingers crossed—the show keeps going, and there’s another season. Plus, maybe I’d get to spend more time with the other actors. They’re amazing. I’d love to see how Ryan gets along with Jane’s friends and coworkers.

PC: We heard that the cast had a lot of freedom to improv, and you have a background in comedy. How has that helped you with the show? What was your favorite off-the-cuff scene or line?
Dan: It’s interesting because I do have a background in improv comedy. I’ve been improvising for 16 to 20 years, and that’s how I got started in acting—in improv comedy and also [in] dramatic theatre. It’s always been a part of my life and my creative output, but I haven’t actually gotten the chance to improvise in a TV series. The shows that I’ve been on before have just been a bit more specific with their scripts and a bit more controlled, but [with] this show the producers specifically wanted something that sounded real and felt real. So they encouraged the actors to ad-lib, not just to read certain lines, but also to rephrase things so that they sounded more natural coming out of our mouths. One of my favorite bits that I know was ad-libbed came from Katie in the scene in the first or second episode where they were removing the yoni egg from her. Someone says, ‘Just relax, be chill. There’s always puppies,’ and Katie goes, ‘Don’t ruin puppies for me.’ That was a line that she just said in the moment, and when I saw it I just burst out laughing.

In one of our scenes together, Jane and I are having a date at Ryan’s apartment, and she gets a phone call about a story that she’s chasing. There’s a text from her friend/informant, Ramon, and she looks at the phone—we’re in the middle of a moment—she goes, “Ramon!” and I said, “It’s actually pronounced Ryan.” That was something I just said, and they kept it, so I was pleased by that because it’s fun when you know that you get to have a creative say…you have a bit of input in the show. It’s exciting for an actor.

PC: You were also part of Reign—another show about strong females. Who are some of the women you looked up to growing up and has that influenced the projects that you’re drawn to?
Dan: That’s a great question. My mother has a big family. She’s from a family of eight. She has three sisters and four brothers, and my mom was one of the oldest so she ended up taking care of lots of her younger siblings, helping raise them when she was still quite young herself. I think that gave her this real sense of duty. She has a really great work ethic; she does so much. She’s such an amazing, capable woman, and she takes on the weight of the world. She doesn’t complain about it, and that was always impressive to me—and impressed me as I got older. I think when you’re young, you hardly see your parents for who they are, but, especially as I got older, I realized how lucky I was to have her as a mother and to have her sisters as well. My aunts were really strong, smart women growing up without much and making wonderful lives for themselves. I think without necessarily even realizing, as a young person, my mother was showing me how amazing women are just by the sheer fact that they are the ones who bring life into the world, the ones who sustain life into the world, and tend to be the nurturers. Since I’ve been working in television, I think I’ve been in a few shows now that have been really centered around strong women—Reign for sure. Before that, I was on a show called Good Witch which is also really centered on female relationships and strong women. I am just so happy to be a part of those story lines because we need more of them on TV. We don’t have enough of those kinds of stories so it feels great to be a part of shows that are exciting, unique, funny, [and] dramatic in their own ways, but that have a common thread of celebrating women and how amazing they are.

Now I’m married, and I have a son who’s almost two, and daily my wife blows me away with how worldly and amazing she is. I always think of her as being the kind of person that I would be happy getting stranded on a deserted island with because I love her, and she makes me laugh, but also she’s so capable. She could hunt the animals that we need, she could build the structures that we need, find running water, and build ourselves a boat to get to the main land. It feels right and good to be in these kinds of shows that are putting forward just amazing depictions of strong women.

PC: Great answer! Like you said earlier, the show teaches several important life lessons. Which one has resonated with you the most and why?
Dan: It’s a good question because even in the episodes that have aired, there have been so many topics, issues, and glances into the complexity of being a young person finding your way into the world. First of all, I love that the show doesn’t put the main focus on relationships, but it’s definitely there. There are lots of relationships in the show, and people are trying to find a romantic connection, but it’s not the most important thing. Their careers are hugely important as well, and I think that’s a really important message to put out there. People are not going to be completed and fully validated and entirely happy just because of one other person. You need to have something in your life of your own—your work, your passion, your element. The characters in the show are dealing with that in different ways. I really appreciated the story line of Sutton, trying to get out of her assistant position and the juggling of, ‘Should I take this finance job that pays well even though it’s not necessarily my passion?’ She gives this real thought. Sometimes, you have to make those decisions. You have to take security over your passion, but, then, in the end, she kind of gets a chance to go for something that’s more exciting and more unknown for her; she’s like, ‘I don’t really know what I’m doing. I’m going to do it anyway.’ When she says that thing about Oliver thinking that she’s graduated a fashion school [but she hasn’t], she ends up saying, ‘You know what? I am not going to fake it. I’m going to tell him who I really am, and then he’s either going to pick me or not.’ As an actor, we are constantly putting ourselves out there and rejection is part of our job, but it is a stronger thing. It’s more important that you’re putting yourself out there than trying to be who you think other people want you to be. I think out of the many topics they’ve touched on, that really resonated with me.

Pop Culturalist Speed Round

PC: Guilty pleasure TV show?
Dan: I don’t know if this one is still on, but America’s Best Dance Crew. It’s been a couple of years. I love that show. I love dance crews. I don’t even know if that’s a guilty pleasure.

PC: Guilty pleasure movie?
Dan: What would my guilty pleasure movie be? When we’re trying to pick a movie on Netflix, my wife likes to joke because I only want to watch movies like Step Up.

PC: Favorite book?
Dan: Skinny Legs and All by Tom Robbins

PC: Favorite play or musical?
Dan: The first musical that I ever listened to and listened to when my aunt gave me the tape—I’d never seen it—was Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. I listened to that tape over and over again. I learned all the music, and. eventually, I got to see it as a young teenager. I just cried because I was seeing this thing that had only existed for me on my headphones, and it was happening in real life in front of me. That was pretty amazing.

PC: A band or artist that fans would be surprised to learn is on your playlist?
Dan: Lots of Sean Paul

PC: Favorite social media platform?
Dan: Instagram. I don’t spend too much time on the other ones.

PC: Go-to karaoke song?
Dan: It used to be “Bust a Move” by Young MC, but lately I’ve been thinking, although I never sang it, I’d really like to sing “Work from Home” by Fifth Harmony.

Make sure to follow Dan on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, and catch The Bold Type every Tuesday at 9/8 EST on Freeform.

Photo Credit: Kourosh Keshiri