Speaker 1: Hey guys, welcome to I've never said this before with
Speaker 1: me Tommy Didario. Today's guest is the super talented Edvn
Speaker 1: Riding Now. Edvn is one of the biggest breakout stars
Speaker 1: on Netflix, starring in Young Royals, which is a Swedish
Speaker 1: teen drama romance set at a fictional elite boarding school.
Speaker 1: Now the show primarily follows Edvin, who plays Prince Wilhelm
Speaker 1: of Sweden and his romance with fellow male student Simon
Speaker 1: Erickson and all the drama which results, and let me
Speaker 1: tell you, there is a lot of it. Van grew
Speaker 1: up in Stockholm, Sweden, and started acting at five years
Speaker 1: old and a humble brag on his behalf. He became
Speaker 1: a Forbes thirty Under thirty lister in twenty twenty two,
Speaker 1: which is not an easy title to obtain, and he
Speaker 1: managed to graduate high school during his rise to superstardom.
Speaker 1: He is now working on several different projects, including a
Speaker 1: third and final season of Young Royals. I know, I know,
Speaker 1: what are we going to do without the show? Edvn
Speaker 1: is such a deep and soulful guy, and I know
Speaker 1: you are going to really enjoy hearing a different side
Speaker 1: to him. Throughout this conversation. So let's see if today
Speaker 1: we can get Edvan to say something that he's never
Speaker 1: said before. Van, my friend, it is so good to
Speaker 1: be hanging out with you. How are you today?
Speaker 2: Likewise? I'm good. I'm good. It's been a beautiful day
Speaker 2: here in Stockholm. I'm happy spring is coming.
Speaker 1: Oh, I love that. I'm great, man, I'm great. I'm
Speaker 1: I mean, I should be kind of fanning myself because
Speaker 1: am I talking to who BuzzFeed said is the next
Speaker 1: Meryl Street, Viola Davis and Denzel Washington.
Speaker 2: I don't know about that. We'll see.
Speaker 1: It's up to me, you know, Yeah, yeah, it's up
Speaker 1: to you. But what an honor? I read that article
Speaker 1: not too long ago, and it was like, that's my man,
Speaker 1: Good for you, Good for you. That must feel good.
Speaker 2: Huh yeah, it's been. Uh, it's always like it's a
Speaker 2: big honor. Obviously, you you get a little frightened at first,
Speaker 2: but then you like take a breather and then you
Speaker 2: realize it's truly is like a huge honor and it's
Speaker 2: something great to build from, you know.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, well, well deserved. You are somebody who means
Speaker 1: so much to so many and and it's largely due
Speaker 1: to the show Young Royals, which came out and we're
Speaker 1: in two seasons now. This show has taken the world
Speaker 1: by storm. It is one of the hottest shows on Netflix.
Speaker 1: People just love it to death so much. I want
Speaker 1: to bring it back for a minute. What was it
Speaker 1: that made you say when you read that initial script
Speaker 1: that pilot man, I have to be a part of
Speaker 1: this series.
Speaker 2: Well, you know, it's it's It was actually quite funny
Speaker 2: because I was in like a weird period in my
Speaker 2: life where, you know, COVID had just hit the world
Speaker 2: a couple of months earlier, and I was like at
Speaker 2: a stalemate, you know. I mean, it's weird for me
Speaker 2: as twenty year old to say that, but you know
Speaker 2: it was. I was feeling pretty like restless, and then
Speaker 2: I got this call for this this audition, and and
Speaker 2: it just it felt great, Like it was truly just intuition.
Speaker 2: I think, if we're going to break it down, I
Speaker 2: read the script and I was like, yeah, this is sure,
Speaker 2: it's yeah. You know, it was fun because you know,
Speaker 2: I've heard my my coworker Omar talk about it, and
Speaker 2: he was like, yeah, this is this is going to
Speaker 2: be a hit, you know, and I read it and
Speaker 2: was like, yeah, we can, we can do something out
Speaker 2: of this. I really think with the teamwork that we
Speaker 2: had during season one and season two, I think that's
Speaker 2: like the major, major thing that made it what it was.
Speaker 2: And I think also that's like what made me want
Speaker 2: to do it.
Speaker 1: I love that it's a queer love story, man. I
Speaker 1: mean I grew up, I'm a millennial and I never
Speaker 1: had anything like this to watch. I mean, we had
Speaker 1: Will and Grace, but it was a very different type
Speaker 1: of show and it was great yea, And I love
Speaker 1: the representation there, but it wasn't this this love story.
Speaker 1: I mean, do you feel ever that responsibility of being
Speaker 1: in a show that that means so much to so
Speaker 1: many Uh?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm not gonna lie, like it's it's it's definitely
Speaker 2: like it's it's huge for me, and it is a
Speaker 2: big responsibility. Like all these people writing and saying like
Speaker 2: they feel seen by this show and by by our
Speaker 2: portrayal of these characters. It's it's massive, you know, and
Speaker 2: I like I feel seen by them as well. Like
Speaker 2: it's a very I haven't spoken about it too much,
Speaker 2: I think, or maybe I've just been been bad at
Speaker 2: articulating it, but it truly is like a give and
Speaker 2: take situation with with us in the cast and our audience,
Speaker 2: like we they make us feel seen, and apparently we
Speaker 2: make them feel seen. And it's like, I think it's
Speaker 2: a big responsibility for us because we're like in the
Speaker 2: spotlight and we want to take care of these people
Speaker 2: as much as possible, and it's a movement and that
Speaker 2: comes with the responsibility, you.
Speaker 1: Know, one hundred percent. I think that's such an interesting
Speaker 1: way to look at it. You know, yes, the audience
Speaker 1: feels seen through your work, but you feel seen through them.
Speaker 1: Talk to me more about that. That's such an interesting,
Speaker 1: interesting way to put it that I really haven't heard before.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, well, I've been thinking about it these
Speaker 2: last few weeks, Like we're in early early early prep
Speaker 2: for season three right now, and I'm starting to like
Speaker 2: slowly growing into Wilhelm again, and I've been thinking about it,
Speaker 2: like it's we have such an intelligent audience. They're like
Speaker 2: they're like on a high level intelligent people, Like they
Speaker 2: can analyze the show, and they can analyze not just
Speaker 2: our story, like I see them interacting with other shows
Speaker 2: as well, like art stopper Wednesday, and the way they're
Speaker 2: like dissecting these stories and finding like symbolism, it's it's beautiful.
Speaker 2: And some of these things are like just things that
Speaker 2: we as actors are maybe you know, I can only
Speaker 2: speak for myself, but the things that we like come
Speaker 2: we figure it out in the moment. We just do
Speaker 2: something and we feel like, yeah, yeah, that's that's that
Speaker 2: makes sense because Willielm's this person and he would do that,
Speaker 2: and then you just do it and and they really
Speaker 2: they pick up on that and it's beautiful. Like they
Speaker 2: they I think they see our craftsmanship and that's huge
Speaker 2: for me as an actor. You know.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, that's a really special relationship to have with
Speaker 1: the viewers of a show that you're creating and you're
Speaker 1: bringing to life. I think that's super super cool. And
Speaker 1: obviously everybody knows that you and Omar are thickest thieves,
Speaker 1: super tight. He of course plays Simon in the show.
Speaker 1: Why was he the right guy to play opposite you?
Speaker 2: Like?
Speaker 1: What made him that guy?
Speaker 2: He's many things, but mainly is a very brave person.
Speaker 2: And he is brave and like almost every aspect of
Speaker 2: his life like he's very he's daring. He wants to
Speaker 2: do stuff and he wants to try them and and
Speaker 2: that's like very fundamental for an actor to be able
Speaker 2: to be brave, you know. And I felt like I
Speaker 2: saw that the first audition we did together, because I
Speaker 2: was it was like his first, but it was my
Speaker 2: Maybe it wasn't his first, maybe it was his second
Speaker 2: or something. I had done a few at least, you know,
Speaker 2: And and I was like, in the moment, I was
Speaker 2: trying this improvising stuff, and he just followed, and he
Speaker 2: like he pushed it in another direction, like we were
Speaker 2: just playing with each other, playing with these emotions, and
Speaker 2: it's not easy to do that if you've never like
Speaker 2: properly acted before. And yeah, I really really admire that
Speaker 2: about him.
Speaker 1: And you didn't know him during those early auditions, right, No.
Speaker 2: No, I knew who he was. He was. He's like
Speaker 2: he's been a celebrity in swite him for a few years.
Speaker 2: And I went to see him. It's ten years ago, now,
Speaker 2: that's crazy. Yeah, I went to see him when he
Speaker 2: opened for Justin Bieber in Stockholm twenty thirteen, and his
Speaker 2: like musical career was huge from there, you know, up
Speaker 2: until Royals and it's only been growing. So I knew
Speaker 2: who he was, but I didn't know him personally, you know.
Speaker 1: So how did you establish such an insane bond and
Speaker 1: develop that chemistry on screen? Because you guys together, I mean,
Speaker 1: it's so believable. We as an audience believe you are
Speaker 1: truly in love, and that's not always easy to achieve,
Speaker 1: as in my opinion as a viewer, when I watch
Speaker 1: certain shows, it's you know, kind of like, Okay, yeah,
Speaker 1: they're they're doing the job of having to be in love.
Speaker 1: But I watch the two of you, and I say, no,
Speaker 1: these these guys look like they are in love. So
Speaker 1: how did you form that bond? Was it a pretty
Speaker 1: easy thing to do?
Speaker 2: Firstly, thank you, that's very kind of words. It was.
Speaker 2: It wasn't easy, you know. I mean it's never easy
Speaker 2: to or sometimes it is, you know. With Omer, I
Speaker 2: think it was actually because like I said, he's brave.
Speaker 2: I'd like to consider myself as a brave person's file
Speaker 2: and we kind of had to. Like it was, it
Speaker 2: was like a force of nature in some way because
Speaker 2: he's he's very open and brave, and I'm I'm I'm
Speaker 2: very like intrigued by those types of people, and we
Speaker 2: were working all of these long hours and day in
Speaker 2: and day out, and we were doing these beautiful scenes,
Speaker 2: and we had our director who is like our directors
Speaker 2: they were they were really like helping us out with
Speaker 2: understanding these scenes in this relationship, and that I think
Speaker 2: that created like a trust between me and Omar. And
Speaker 2: trust is like I usually say, like the two most
Speaker 2: important things when it comes to working in the film industry,
Speaker 2: or maybe three things. It's like it's trust, it's communication,
Speaker 2: and its respect. And I think me and Omar found
Speaker 2: out with each other pretty quickly.
Speaker 1: I love the development of your character in the two seasons.
Speaker 1: I imagine for you it must be a super fun
Speaker 1: role to play. What you love about playing the Prince?
Speaker 2: Wow? Uh? I love It's very challenging, honestly. I mean, uh,
Speaker 2: he's he's grown a lot since the first episode of
Speaker 2: season one. Uh. And he's it's been like a rollercoaster
Speaker 2: so far. Uh. And that's very challenging. And I think
Speaker 2: mainly that's like the funniest, the most fun part of it.
Speaker 2: But he's like he's so sensitive and it's always like
Speaker 2: I you feel like it's rewarding for you as a person.
Speaker 2: I feel like it's rewarding for me, like as a
Speaker 2: person to portray Willham, because like he's so sensitive and
Speaker 2: emotional in a very uh in a very good way.
Speaker 2: Like it's not it's very anti macho thing, and I
Speaker 2: think that's important to portray as well, and and for
Speaker 2: me as an actor to be able to like go
Speaker 2: into those that kind of lifestyle and and places. It's
Speaker 2: rewarding for me as a person. You know, I learn
Speaker 2: a lot by working with young royals, and that's great, Like,
Speaker 2: that's not it's not usually like that, I think.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think, well, I think it takes a special
Speaker 1: kind of person too to be aware with the environment
Speaker 1: and the work that they're doing to actually learn something
Speaker 1: from it. Right, It's not like you go to work,
Speaker 1: you put on this character and you leave and you're
Speaker 1: kind of like that's it. Like you want to grow,
Speaker 1: you want to learn, you want to be somebody who's
Speaker 1: continually improving yourself. At least that's what I gather from
Speaker 1: our conversations, which I think is a really unique trait
Speaker 1: and quality to have in this industry. I know that
Speaker 1: season two, this character he goes through some things, and
Speaker 1: I know you've commented on how you've kind of grappled
Speaker 1: with how you view your character in season two. Talk
Speaker 1: to me more about that.
Speaker 2: Well, this created kind of created quite a stir on
Speaker 2: the social media when I said this, at least with
Speaker 2: our audience, because they defend Wilhelm really, you know, really
Speaker 2: really much. And what I've been like when I say
Speaker 2: I I had a hard time understanding, Well, it was
Speaker 2: like on a very like fundamental, but also it was
Speaker 2: kind of abstract because I thought he was very selfish
Speaker 2: a lot of the time in season two. He was
Speaker 2: mainly thinking about himself and his own problems. He wasn't
Speaker 2: thinking about h Simon and his problems, and and that's
Speaker 2: you know, it's frustrating reading that, you know, seeing that
Speaker 2: character in front of you is like, I wouldn't want
Speaker 2: to be friends with that kind of person. I think
Speaker 2: people can change, you know, but it's a very it's
Speaker 2: a very pessimistic way of life, I think. And that
Speaker 2: was a hard time like understanding, but then I had
Speaker 2: long conversations with our writers and directors and eventually I
Speaker 2: figured it out. I think I don't know if our
Speaker 2: audience know what I mean yet, but they will one day.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Yeah, I think that's cool that you get to
Speaker 1: explore different sides to this character, right, Like that must
Speaker 1: be fun for you.
Speaker 2: It is, you know, it's always funnier. Like you know,
Speaker 2: people are so like complex. You know, we have different
Speaker 2: different ways of talking when we're with different people, we
Speaker 2: have different ways of moving, we laugh different with different people,
Speaker 2: and just you know, that's like the outer layer, imagine
Speaker 2: like the inner layer. It's way more complex, and that's
Speaker 2: like reality. So portraying that is speaking of like rewarding
Speaker 2: for me as a person. That's also like I learn
Speaker 2: a lot by doing that because that's what it is
Speaker 2: in real life, Like how does Wilhelm control these feelings?
Speaker 2: Pretty badly? Sometimes maybe I should do that, you know,
Speaker 2: do you know what I mean?
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, no, that's right on. I think it's an
Speaker 1: interesting study on human behavior when you kind of drive
Speaker 1: into a character like that, right.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean it is, it is. I find that
Speaker 2: so interesting, Like the human mind, it's powerful and scary,
Speaker 2: but it's beautiful at the same time. So I tried
Speaker 2: to everything I know about psychology and behavioral science. I
Speaker 2: try to put into my character work.
Speaker 1: So if you can look back at your work over
Speaker 1: the last two seasons. Is there a scene or a
Speaker 1: moment that was so meaningful for you wish you could
Speaker 1: relive it and and do it all over again because
Speaker 1: you so enjoyed doing it. And on the flip side,
Speaker 1: is there a scene that you wish Hm, I wish
Speaker 1: I had another shot at that. I feel like I
Speaker 1: could trade a little differently.
Speaker 2: Like I enjoyed most of my time. I'm thinking about
Speaker 2: which scene I like the most, not which one I
Speaker 2: hate the most. No, but I think the football field
Speaker 2: scene or soccer sorry.
Speaker 1: Yeah, depending on where you live.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that scene in season one for me as an
Speaker 2: actor was very fun to do. We were improvising a lot,
Speaker 2: and I had a really nice collaboration with our director
Speaker 2: for that episode and with Omar, and I think, I, yeah,
Speaker 2: that was really that was fun. I don't think I
Speaker 2: want to do it again. I want to like be
Speaker 2: in that moment watching myself doing it, do you know
Speaker 2: what I mean? I don't think I could do that
Speaker 2: exact same thing again because it's so it was so
Speaker 2: like intuitive, But it was fun to do. And if
Speaker 2: I get another shot at one scene, probably some scenes
Speaker 2: in like the early early stages of season one, it
Speaker 2: was a weird time coming into the first season, and
Speaker 2: some of those scenes were pretty difficult to grasp Aron
Speaker 2: and we had like issues with postponing these scenes because
Speaker 2: of COVID and stuff. So if I have to say one,
Speaker 2: maybe the scene in episode one of season one, there's
Speaker 2: the scene in the car where Wilhelm he finds out
Speaker 2: that he's going to start at Hemascat at the school
Speaker 2: and he's really pissed at this Royal Family staff member.
Speaker 2: If I have to pick one scene, I'd picked that one.
Speaker 1: Very cool. I always find it so fascinating the inner
Speaker 1: workings of artists brains and how they view their work.
Speaker 1: So thank you for sharing that. I think it's so
Speaker 1: cool that you started as the Swedish actor and then
Speaker 1: you hit this international level of fame with the show,
Speaker 1: even appearing on Jimmy Kimmel here in New York City,
Speaker 1: which is just so cool. So what are you the
Speaker 1: most proud of with your work on this show.
Speaker 2: I think I'm the most proud of like the way
Speaker 2: we've we've reached out to the audience, Like the way
Speaker 2: we've connected with our audience. I've been saying this now
Speaker 2: for two years soon, but it's so majestic, it's monumental.
Speaker 2: It's like for me, it's like it's such a feeling
Speaker 2: of comfort in my chest. Like the relationship that this
Speaker 2: story has with its audience is it's so beautiful and
Speaker 2: it's so like it's it's real, you know, it's a
Speaker 2: movement and you can dissect the whole period down to
Speaker 2: different Obviously, I'm super, super proud to have been on FOUL.
Speaker 2: I think we honestly, I think we were the first
Speaker 2: we're the first Sweetist show to be promoted on Jimmy
Speaker 2: Fallon and that's huge, you know. But but there's like
Speaker 2: so much more to it than just like being able
Speaker 2: to travel the world with this show and meeting all
Speaker 2: these people. I think that that relationship with the audience
Speaker 2: is Yeah, it's beautiful.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I agree. I see a lot of the comments
Speaker 1: surrounding the show and how this show has helped so
Speaker 1: many people. You know, I often wonder if I had
Speaker 1: a show like this, I'm thirty, teld them, I'm thirty seven. Now,
Speaker 1: if I had a show like.
Speaker 2: You're Looking Day over twenty five, you don't have.
Speaker 1: To you don't have to lie. I mean, I appreciate that,
Speaker 1: but thank you.
Speaker 2: Yeah, thank you.
Speaker 1: I wondered if I would have maybe come out earlier
Speaker 1: if the show existed. You know, I came out what's
Speaker 1: considered late now. I mean, I know there's no right time,
Speaker 1: but I was in sen year of college, and I
Speaker 1: think it's so great. So many people are coming out
Speaker 1: earlier and earlier and on their own time, and I
Speaker 1: just wonder if I had something like this, would that
Speaker 1: have helped me? And I think it probably does help
Speaker 1: a lot of people. You know, it's powerful.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it is like that's that I've really moved by that. Wow,
Speaker 2: But also like it's this, this is like it's all
Speaker 2: part of like a big process. I really believe that
Speaker 2: at one point there will be no like coming out
Speaker 2: late or coming out early or anything like that, because
Speaker 2: people won't have to come out because it won't matter,
Speaker 2: Like for real, it won't matter who you love or
Speaker 2: what your pronouns are or what you identify as. It's
Speaker 2: I mean, that's what we're working against, and Royals Young
Speaker 2: Roles is evidently it's a part of that process, and
Speaker 2: I'm super proud to be part of that little puzzle piece.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's important, and I think what a refreshing world.
Speaker 1: It will be when we don't have to do any
Speaker 1: of those things you just talked to me. I know
Speaker 1: I'm ready for that time. And in fact, I remember
Speaker 1: seeing a tweet, you know, and I believe your friend
Speaker 1: Kit Connor kind of got publicly, you know, out it
Speaker 1: if you want to call that as as bisexual, and
Speaker 1: he came out and made a steament and you said,
Speaker 1: my heart was out to you, right are you? Along
Speaker 1: those lines? You said your heart you feel for him,
Speaker 1: because no one should be put in that position, right,
Speaker 1: we should all just we shouldn't have to do that.
Speaker 2: No, No, it was that was painful to watch, you know.
Speaker 2: And kid's such a sweet guy too. I mean, no
Speaker 2: one deserves that. But at this age too, I mean
Speaker 2: we're the same age and and and to be like
Speaker 2: forced into two coming out or like proclaiming who you are,
Speaker 2: like you you owe people that. It's it's such a
Speaker 2: weird way of looking at the world and fellow human beings. Yeah, weird,
Speaker 2: you know.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And that's I think showing your support was a
Speaker 1: really amazing thing to do. And I I, of course,
Speaker 1: I think it speaks huge, huge volumes of who you
Speaker 1: are as a person. And I just thought that was cool,
Speaker 1: So I agree with you. I think when there's a
Speaker 1: time where we don't have to do that, it's going
Speaker 1: to be awesome. Speaking of Kit Connor, who of course
Speaker 1: stars in Heart Stopper, there's a lot of buzz and
Speaker 1: shatter around the internet. I don't know if you said
Speaker 1: something in an interview once, oh yeah, but everyone's wanting
Speaker 1: some sort of crossover. So for everyone who's listening, if
Speaker 1: you haven't seen Heart Stopper, it's another amazing queer love
Speaker 1: story on Netflix. Season one was brilliant. I believe season
Speaker 1: two wrapped and that should be coming out hopefully soon,
Speaker 1: and a lot of people want to see, you know,
Speaker 1: Kit and Joe the two actors in the show, and
Speaker 1: and you and Omar do some sort of crossover. Maybe
Speaker 1: it's a double date in one of the shows. I
Speaker 1: don't know, I mean, come on, what's happening? Are we
Speaker 1: doing anything?
Speaker 2: I don't know. You know, we said that in an
Speaker 2: interview a couple of months ago, and it created was
Speaker 2: been mayhem afterwards. I don't think, like I'd love to
Speaker 2: like do something with Kid and Joe and me and Omar.
Speaker 2: I don't know if we should do it in character though,
Speaker 2: but I mean, we share a lot of audience members
Speaker 2: the two shows, and I think we should we should. Yeah,
Speaker 2: I want to, you know, we should do something. I
Speaker 2: don't know if a crossover is the right way to go,
Speaker 2: but you know, it would be fun to give something
Speaker 2: to the to the audience. You know.
Speaker 1: Well, if you do a crossover, I know season three
Speaker 1: is sadly the final season of your show, which is
Speaker 1: breaking hearts across the world. So maybe maybe you and
Speaker 1: Omar are foreign transplant students in their school and then
Speaker 1: you just have to be part of their next season.
Speaker 1: They're done. I'm a writer.
Speaker 2: Well there you have it. Wow, perfect down right now.
Speaker 1: There we go, There we go. I'll call my people,
Speaker 1: will call your people.
Speaker 2: We got this perfect. Yeah, we'll sort it out. Yeah.
Speaker 1: So you said that you're getting ready for season three.
Speaker 1: Is there anything you can share about the season?
Speaker 2: Not story wise, it's but it's it's like it's the
Speaker 2: final season we've we've like, it's it's out there in
Speaker 2: the open. But I gotta say, like, the beautiful part
Speaker 2: of this art form is that we we produce something
Speaker 2: and we portray these characters that amazing people have written
Speaker 2: and were directed by great people, and there's like hundreds
Speaker 2: of people working with this and we we like construct
Speaker 2: this this art piece, and then we give it to
Speaker 2: the audience. So even though like season three is the
Speaker 2: last last season that will produce, like the story, the characters,
Speaker 2: the world that these characters live in, they belong to
Speaker 2: the audience, uh, and they will forever and ever. And
Speaker 2: so hopefully that calms some people down, because I want
Speaker 2: them to know, like, these these characters are them. You know,
Speaker 2: they can they can write these these beautiful I've recently
Speaker 2: gotten a bit into these fan fictions that they've been writing,
Speaker 2: and it's quite interesting the creative ways they they place
Speaker 2: these characters with each other. But that's like, that's the
Speaker 2: future for Young Voice. I think it belongs to the audience.
Speaker 1: One hundred percent. And I know, I know you might know,
Speaker 1: but you can't say anything. But do you hope that
Speaker 1: your character Prince Wilhelm and Simon are endgame? Do you
Speaker 1: hope that they end up together?
Speaker 2: Of course, like I believe in love, but I you know,
Speaker 2: I don't know what happens.
Speaker 1: Okay, all right, well I'm rooting for I'm a huge
Speaker 1: lover of love. I've I've been with my husband now
Speaker 1: for eight years. Congratulations, thank you, thank you. I I
Speaker 1: just I love love So I know they're characters, but
Speaker 1: I am personally rooting for the two of you.
Speaker 2: That's good, that's nice. I think. I think you're not alone.
Speaker 2: I think, but just just a hunch. No, we'll see.
Speaker 2: I mean, I we were still a few months away
Speaker 2: from from shooting, and anything can still happen with the story.
Speaker 2: So so and I think either way, they've gotten so
Speaker 2: much from each other, these two characters, they've learned so much.
Speaker 2: Like I said, like Wilhelm's he's done such a journey
Speaker 2: since season one, episode one, and that journey is continuing
Speaker 2: in the third season. So and the same with with Simon.
Speaker 2: It's they're like developing and learning from each other in
Speaker 2: a very beautiful way. So in a way, they will
Speaker 2: always be endgame, you know, even if they don't end
Speaker 2: up together. Do you know what I mean?
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, I agree with you. I agree. I think
Speaker 1: you're I think you're colely trying to say. You're not
Speaker 1: going to give away any spoilers, but they'll always be
Speaker 1: a part of their life, each other's lives. I don't
Speaker 1: know what happened. I see the game you're playing with me.
Speaker 1: It's all good. I get it.
Speaker 2: The media train, you know, I'm good at this.
Speaker 1: That's right, that's well. We can't wait for the new season.
Speaker 1: I know you're you're going to get to work on it.
Speaker 1: But who knows, maybe even by the end of the year.
Speaker 2: We'll see it, right, we'll see you know. I'm not
Speaker 2: in charge of setting the dates for the premieres at Netflix.
Speaker 2: You have to You'll have to talk to someone else.
Speaker 1: I know we've talked a lot about the show and
Speaker 1: the impact it's had on on the audience, and how
Speaker 1: also you feel so connected to the audience. But you know, edvond,
Speaker 1: I wonder with the show like this, where there's so
Speaker 1: much noise surrounding it. And I don't mean noise negatively.
Speaker 1: I mean it's just as noise. There's a lot of conversation,
Speaker 1: there's a lot of chatter, there's a lot of attention. Right,
Speaker 1: It's a show that people constantly are are talking about.
Speaker 1: Do you, as Edvan ever feel like it's just a
Speaker 1: little too loud? Is it? Is it ever too much
Speaker 1: for you? And how do you deal with that as
Speaker 1: as a human.
Speaker 2: The honest answer is yes, obviously, I mean, it can
Speaker 2: be too much. And I think my my bar is
Speaker 2: pretty low when it comes to dealing with stuff, whether
Speaker 2: it's positive or negative. You know, it affects me in
Speaker 2: different ways. Uh, And I've taken my fair share of
Speaker 2: breaks from social media. I think that's like, right now,
Speaker 2: that's my main, my main way of dealing with it.
Speaker 2: But you know, it's it's it's fun too, Like I'm
Speaker 2: super grateful that I'm in this position and that we
Speaker 2: have this audience. But yeah, it can Yeah, it can
Speaker 2: be too much sometimes.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, I mean that's that's anything that kind of
Speaker 1: gives you this widespread attention can can take take a
Speaker 1: toll on you a bit, right. And I know you've
Speaker 1: talked about how your character explores his journey with his
Speaker 1: anxiety and his mental health, and I know you're a
Speaker 1: big proponent of putting a spotlight on the importance of
Speaker 1: mental health and taking care of yourself. What is your
Speaker 1: journey personally been like with mental health.
Speaker 2: Well, I've I've I've struggled with it at times, and
Speaker 2: I've tried to Like my way of dealing with it
Speaker 2: is through education, like learning about it. I studied behavioral
Speaker 2: science in high school. Partially because I think it's it's
Speaker 2: a great ass to have as an actor, but also
Speaker 2: like as a human being, understanding how our brains and
Speaker 2: our psych works. And I've also realized like therapy is
Speaker 2: like the best thing ever and the good thing about it.
Speaker 2: And I really want to say this because it took
Speaker 2: some time for me to realize it. But the thing
Speaker 2: with therapy is that it's proactive, like you're working to
Speaker 2: prevent future disasters, if you'd like to call them that,
Speaker 2: or like you're learning how to deal with future thoughts
Speaker 2: and future emotions because you get to know yourself and
Speaker 2: you get to know where your boundaries are. And that's great.
Speaker 2: You know, I'm in therapy now and it's the best
Speaker 2: thing ever. I feel better than ever.
Speaker 1: You know, and that's what's important. I think there is
Speaker 1: still a stigma around it. And yeah, I went for
Speaker 1: the first time over the holidays actually and really no, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: I just had to sort through some stuff. And yeah,
Speaker 1: even though I'm such a proponent for mental health, it
Speaker 1: still took me thirty seven years to make it happen.
Speaker 1: And my my therapist, she said, you bathed your body,
Speaker 1: why wouldn't you bathe your mind? And I thought that
Speaker 1: was so cool.
Speaker 2: Wow, that's good. Yeah, you know, that's good.
Speaker 1: Yeah. So I think being good to yourself is so
Speaker 1: important and thank you for opening up about that. The
Speaker 1: more people that I can do that, especially in the spotlight,
Speaker 1: the better. So that's that's truly, truly important. You said
Speaker 1: a quote about the show that I thought was really interesting,
Speaker 1: and I want I want to talk more about this
Speaker 1: quote and that quinto It's not bad, it's it's really
Speaker 1: really cool. Actually, you said sexuality is not the focal
Speaker 1: point of the show, which I think is a very
Speaker 1: important message to tell. Now, maybe somebody who watches a
Speaker 1: show or catches a few, you know, of the episodes,
Speaker 1: or reads about it might think, well, that's not true.
Speaker 1: It's about two men who are in a love romantic
Speaker 1: story and it's about the relationship, so it's very much
Speaker 1: about sexuality. What would you say to that and talk
Speaker 1: to me more about your quote.
Speaker 2: Well, I totally understand that perspective, but I just disagree
Speaker 2: because the thing is, these people were telling a story
Speaker 2: about human beings and human beings interacting with each other,
Speaker 2: and they come from different like, they come from different
Speaker 2: parts of society and different places in the like social hierarchy. Uh,
Speaker 2: and that's the issue that they faced, the the like
Speaker 2: the label of their sexuality or or you know, their
Speaker 2: pronouns or whatever it may be. That's never the issue
Speaker 2: for these characters. It's like where it's the it's the
Speaker 2: social issues around them, you know, and expectations and tradition.
Speaker 2: That's like, that's their problems they're facing, and so therefore
Speaker 2: it's not about sexuality. It's about you know, these it's
Speaker 2: about a friend's coming from very traditional from a very
Speaker 2: traditional background and very like conservative traditions and stuff, and
Speaker 2: how he deals with that while he's in love. You know,
Speaker 2: people fall in love with their young, no matter if
Speaker 2: it's a boy or girl or whatever, you know.
Speaker 1: And I think it's interesting because it kind of goes
Speaker 1: back to your point earlier of one day hoping that
Speaker 1: there's no coming out and there's no focus on pronouns
Speaker 1: and it's just a part of life, right.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, I understand where we're at now as
Speaker 2: a society, and we need to like we need to
Speaker 2: embrace that and do what we can right now, Like
Speaker 2: we need to educate people about pronouns and different different
Speaker 2: types of sexuality and the issues that these people are facing.
Speaker 2: We need to educate more people on that. But I
Speaker 2: think like we're walking towards a future where we don't
Speaker 2: have to label ourselves. I mean, we can label ourselves,
Speaker 2: you know, it's we shouldn't have to do it for
Speaker 2: someone else. That's the thing. Like Wilhelm, he's just in
Speaker 2: love with this boy. He's you know, he's own labeled.
Speaker 2: He doesn't have to he doesn't owe anyone uh to
Speaker 2: say what what his sexuality is. And I think that's
Speaker 2: a very like that's a cool world to live in,
Speaker 2: you know, when you don't have to do that.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, it's a world that I want to be
Speaker 1: a part of. So I think that's that's awesome. Are
Speaker 1: you feeling emotional as you gear up for your last season?
Speaker 1: Is it? Does it hit you yet or you're just kind.
Speaker 2: Of course course, Yeah, it's it's bittersweet, like it really
Speaker 2: really is. I've lived with this, this story in these characters,
Speaker 2: mainly Wilhelm then for three years soon and it's been
Speaker 2: such a like it flipped my life upside down obviously,
Speaker 2: and so it I mean to an end, is it's
Speaker 2: it's emotional.
Speaker 1: Yeah, what are you going to take from your character.
Speaker 1: Is there anything you're gonna try to sneak off set?
Speaker 2: I've already stolen some stuff, you know, I've been Uh yeah,
Speaker 2: I've been taking some stuff.
Speaker 1: Anything else you have your eye on that, you're like,
Speaker 1: I've got to get my hands on.
Speaker 2: I actually I had a discussion with Omar about this.
Speaker 1: I think.
Speaker 2: I feel like there's some stuff I want, and there's
Speaker 2: some stuff like I should take with me, Like I
Speaker 2: should bring the uniform back with me home, you know,
Speaker 2: because I won't use it. It's just it's just a
Speaker 2: part of me, you know what I mean. Yeah, Yeah,
Speaker 2: we'll see, you know, we'll see what I can sneak out.
Speaker 2: Sneak out.
Speaker 1: I think the uniform has to be hung, framed and
Speaker 1: on your wall, right yeah, like that, Yeah, exactly right
Speaker 1: there on that wall. That's right there. Ed, Then, what
Speaker 1: is something you can tell me about that you're working
Speaker 1: on just for yourself.
Speaker 2: I worry a lot about expectations, and that's something like
Speaker 2: I'm truly working on. But if I, if I honestly
Speaker 2: had the ability to just pop that out there and
Speaker 2: give it some love and tell it what it should
Speaker 2: think and feel, I'd be a very happy man. I
Speaker 2: mean it's just hard. You know. Expectations is weird, you know,
Speaker 2: and it grows from from rumors or it grows from
Speaker 2: from just people talking with each other, and you start
Speaker 2: to you start to feel the expectations, and you start
Speaker 2: to imagine expectations, and you're like expecting people's expectations of you.
Speaker 2: You know. It's it's a it's a spider web of negativity,
Speaker 2: and I'm I really want to be out of place
Speaker 2: where I can feel confident enough to know which of
Speaker 2: these expectations I have to care about and not.
Speaker 1: You know, so is it kind of like a fear
Speaker 1: of not living up to people's expectations.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, that's a good way of putting it. My
Speaker 2: my therapist she told me disappointing people is part of
Speaker 2: like the contract of life. Like that's just that's part
Speaker 2: of it.
Speaker 1: Wow.
Speaker 2: People will always be be disappointed in one way or another.
Speaker 2: That's nothing, there's nothing you can do about it. In
Speaker 2: that sense. You have to like make sure that you
Speaker 2: don't disappoint yourself.
Speaker 1: I guess, yeah, putting yourself first.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's something I think a lot of people can
Speaker 1: relate to. And I think, you know, Piggy Backing off
Speaker 1: of that, it's also having the ability in life to
Speaker 1: also say no and to again prioritize your help and
Speaker 1: your well being.
Speaker 2: It's very important to set boundaries and to build that
Speaker 2: like integrity. It really is, and it doesn't matter like
Speaker 2: who you are. It's always important because you deserve to
Speaker 2: have your own boundaries, you.
Speaker 1: Know, oh one hundred percent. I mean, can we just
Speaker 1: get a quote book from you? Because I feel like
Speaker 1: in the interview today you have given us so many beautiful,
Speaker 1: well spoken, eloquent nuggets of wisdom on that I just
Speaker 1: want on my coffee table.
Speaker 2: Thank you. Yeah, I'll make I'll make a coffee mug
Speaker 2: for you with all these quotes on.
Speaker 1: There we go. That would be a perfect way to
Speaker 1: begin every morning. Edvon I am. I am so just
Speaker 1: in awe of your talent and of you as a
Speaker 1: human being. I think that you have a huge, huge,
Speaker 1: huge career ahead of you, and the fact that you're
Speaker 1: so grounded and in touch with the things that are
Speaker 1: important in life is only going to serve you for
Speaker 1: the better of my friend and I just I just
Speaker 1: love chatting with you.
Speaker 2: That's nice, Thank you, Tommy. I really enjoyed chatting with
Speaker 2: you. You're a You're a very nice human being. So much fun.
Speaker 2: Oh god, I feel safe.
Speaker 1: Oh I love that. That's the best compliment ever. I
Speaker 1: love that so much. I've Never Said This Before is
Speaker 1: hosted by me Tommy Didario. This podcast is produced and
Speaker 1: edited by Mike Coscarelli, and executive producers are Andrew Paglici
Speaker 1: and Katrino Norvel At iHeartRadio. I've Never Said This Before
Speaker 1: is part of the Elvis Durant podcast Network on iHeart Podcasts.
Speaker 1: For more, rate, review and subscribe to our show and
Speaker 1: if you liked this episode, tell your friends. Until next time,
Speaker 1: I'm Tommy Dederio.