British actor Gregg Sulkin is making waves in the US thanks to his role in MTV’s hit teen comedy/drama Faking It.
The 22-year-old rose to fame in the hugely popular Wizards of Waverly Place and has starred in sitcom Melissa & Joey and Pretty Little Liars. Faking It, which has already been renewed for a second season, is his latest role and it arrives in the UK this week.
We caught up with Gregg recently to find out more about the show, talk about his character Liam and to find out if he’d ever be tempted back to Rosewood.
Hi Gregg. How are you doing today?
I’m doing fabulous thank you!
Your new show Faking It is coming to the UK soon. Tell us what the show’s all about.
The show is a romantic comedy about two best friends, Karma and Amy, whose unpopularity at school changes when they’re mistakenly identified as lesbians, which launches them to celebrity status at high school. So they’re left with the dilemma, are they truthful and say they’re not lesbians or do they fake it and be lesbians to be popular. But one of the girls may have stronger feelings for the other than first expected.
You play Liam Booker in the show. Give us an insight into the character and what his role in the show is.
Basically Liam has been a bit of player in his past with the girls. He is an artist and a bit of a lone wolf and an outsider. He is trying to have a secret affair with Karma who is one of the lesbians. I don’t want to give too much away but the love could blossom and create love triangles.
What attracted you to Faking It and how did you get involved in the project?
The message of the show attracted me, to be accepting and be tolerant of people. I liked the material and I thought the show runner was very talented and funny. He has a very youthful energy which I think translates onto the page. I had another offer on another project which was actually shot in England and it was to play the prince of England, which was a very hard role to turn down to be honest. But I was left with a big choice and one was to move my life back to London or to stay in LA as I’d just bought a place there. So the message and convenience of the show is why I chose that one over the English one.
The show features a really talented young cast. What’s the dynamic like between you all when the camera’s stop rolling?
Amazing! They’re so cool, very talented and bubbly and fun. Everyone’s very different but somehow we all click. We all have a blast!
If you weren’t playing Liam on the show, which other character would you like the chance to play and why?
I wouldn’t like to play Shane, not because he’s gay, because I’ve played gay characters before so I wouldn’t chose to do it again so soon. Then there’s 3 girls and I can’t chose to be a girl, so I guess I’m really happy with my role.
Faking It has already been renewed for a second season. How does that feel?
I love it! I mean we love the show, we love the characters and we love working together so it’s ideal. We’re all looking forward to a second series.
Why should UK fans tune into Faking It? Sell it to us…
It’s a very fresh new look at a high school comedy. I think it’s ground breaking and I think the writing is very quick, witty and sharp. Each episode is jam packed with action and emotion so you have a lot to look forward to!
You had a recurring role on Pretty Little Liars back in 2012 as Fitz’s little brother. Is there any chance you might be returning to Rosewood in the future?
I hope so! I’d definitely like to go back if we can figure it out!
What else do you have coming up this year that you can tell us about?
I have a movie called ‘Affluenza’ which comes out in the US on July 11 which is like a younger great Gatsby, so I play a young J. Gatsby. Then I have a movie for Fox coming out called ‘Another Me’ with Sophie Turner who’s a darling, who I adore, from Game of Thrones and Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Rhys Ifans. Then I am back to LA to shoot the second season of Faking It. Then another movie at the end of this year called anti-social, so it’s a very busy year!
Faking It begins Wednesday 24th September at 9pm on MTV. Check out the trailer for the show below:
