TNS: So Sean, how did you first get involved with Skins?

Sean Teale: Well, it all started when an agent, who just happened to be in the audience, approached me after a school play I was in during my final year at school. I started doing some work with the agency and then a couple of months later I was told about the audition for Skins!

TNS: Was it intimidating going to audition for a show as big as Skins?

ST: Not really to be honest, it was such a big deal that I didn’t think I really stood a chance. So I just went along like it was any other audition, but then I found myself being called back to Bristol to do more auditions and read-throughs and rehearsals and then eventually, eight weeks later, I got the part! It was surreal.

TNS: That sounds like something from a movie! Were you a fan of the show before you got a role in it?

ST: Definitely. I was a big fan of the show, especially the first generation (Series 1 and 2). I think because at the time, there was nothing like it really, it was gritty and hard-hitting and it took the country by storm.

TNS: The nature of the show (which follows a group of teenagers through their college years) means that the cast is replaced every two years. Was there a sense of pressure or responsibility having to take the reigns as part of the third generation of characters?

ST: Yes, to be honest with you. There is a huge amount of pressure and expectation that comes with the show, especially when it comes to your looks. The last group of actors was known for being particularly good-looking, and so of course it is going to be daunting going into an environment like that.

TNS: How did you cope with that pressure?

ST: As cheesy as it sounds, I just had to believe in myself. I am massively self-conscious, as most actors are, but I also had the self-belief and the confidence that I could bring something different to the show. I was excited by the project, and knew that I would learn a huge amount from it, so I just tried to focus on that instead.

TNS: Skins is known for introducing relatively unknown or first-time actors to television audiences, so I imagine that the rest of the cast would have been in a similar position to you. What was it like meeting the other members of the cast for the first time?

ST: Filming on a TV show is the sort of situation where you are all thrown together, and spend so much time together that you just have to get on really. But we are so lucky in the fact that there are no forced friendships, we just all genuinely enjoy each other’s company. Seb [Sebastian De Souza] who plays my brother Matty on the show has become one of my best friends.

TNS: And how about any other on-set relationships? Any behind-the-scenes gossip you can tell us about?

ST: Unfortunately there isn’t! I’m sorry! We all just spend too much time together, so we try and keep it clean with each other.

TNS: The last series of the show faced some criticism, with some people saying that it had become soft, or lost its edge. What do you have to say to those people about this new season?

ST: I would just say that this series is an entirely different beast to the last one. The last season focused on introducing the characters, building their relationships, and this year everything gets pushed and put to the test. It is what people know, love and expect from Skins, but there is just more of it. It is more extreme, and more edgy. We are doing things that have never been done on Skins before, maybe even never been done on TV before!

TNS: Is there anything that you can share with us?

ST: Unfortunately I cant talk about so many of the incredible things that are part of this new series, I’m afraid you’ll just have to wait and watch it. But it will be really amazing; we are all really excited about it. Its like the last season on heat, lets put it that way! Anyone who didn’t give season five a chance really need to give this one a go, it’s something special.

TNS: And finally, how is your Christmas shopping going?

ST: I haven’t done any actually! We wrap on December 23rd, so I should probably start soon.

Series six of Skins airs in early 2012 on E4

Dan's decision to run away and join the French Foreign Legion has far reaching implications for his younger brother, Keith.

It’s hard to believe that Skins has been on our screens for four years, and the show that invented their own type of party is back once again for its fifth series with a new bunch of characters for us to meet.  And it seems that even America has picked up on the show, with MTV commissioning their own version of Skins to get in on the action. Although with the UK versions having several awards under its belt, that has come has no surprise. So far the show has picked up several awards including Best Drama prize at the 2008 Rose d’Or ceremony, A Philips Audience Award at the BAFTAs, as well as nominations for Best Drama Series at the British Academy Television Awards.
It’s safe to say we’ve gone through a lot with the characters of Skins, as well as the partying and the break-ups and make-ups of their relationships, in the past we’ve seen storylines around important issues such as anorexia, mental illness, drug abuse, family problems and even the death of major characters.   But with eight new members filming on set in Bristol, it’s time to start again with Skins and party with a new gang.   With a new young cast to meet, Idol sat down with Laya Lewis who plays wannabe wild child Olivia Malone (Liv) and Sean Teale who plays uber-competitive rugby captain Nick Levan and talked about what we can expect from the new series.
Can you tell us a little bit about your characters?
Laya – Liv is quite cool, she’s quite laid back, does what she wants and doesn’t really care how it affects others; but in the end there are consequences to her actions. She wants to be that kind of cool person who doesn’t give a crap about anything
Sean – Nick’s a bit goofier than that, he’s not that cool.  He’s  a rugby captain, so he’s ambitious and competitive. He’s got this winning mentality that’s been imposed on him by someone else or by his surroundings.  He puts on this front that he’s this arrogant cocky guy, and that’s what the initial appearances tell you, but throughout the series those preconceptions start to crack and break away. He’s actually genuine, kind-hearted, a bit of an idiot, a bit goofy, and you see a lot of cringe moments from him.
Laya- There’s so many scenes when I was watching him, where I just wanted to give him a hug
Sean- I didn’t get any hugs though



Can you both relate to your characters in any way?
Laya- Definitely, in a lot of ways. It’s weird because it kind of messes with your mind because I read some of the storylines that have been written for Liv and I’d be like, ‘wow that’s really similar to this thing that happened to me once’. I guess you start doing that when you’ve been playing the same character for so long and you get really attached to your characters.
Did you find that makes it easier to act?
Laya – Yeah, it definitely does. I use a lot of methods like that, like sense memory, it really makes a scene more real.
Sean- It depends on the person. We all got the part in a way because through the casting process where  you personally relate to your character,  the person auditioning you would see that, they’d notice. Shaun has certain aspects of me, whether it’s the rugby, the competitive ambition, there are elements there. Laya is so laid back, just like Liv is, we all have our similarities.
I found it to be quite tricky because with Nick there are certain points halfway through the series where I still didn’t know much about him. I think everyone else was introduced to an extent, and were told in the first episode, ‘this is who she is’ ‘this is who he is’  and the story builds from there. But Nick half-way through actually ends up completely flipping over into a different character, and because he’s episode five it wasn’t written till half-way through, so  I didn’t know until three months into filming who my character was. That meant I had to fill it in with bits of me, which was the relating side of it.
Did you enjoy putting your own personality onto him?
Sean- In a way I didn’t because I wanted to play someone different, I wanted to play Nick. I used to be such a whiner and complain to myself about wanting to know who Nick really is so I could work on it. It was just me guessing, projecting what I had to say, giving off the idea that I had to give, and think ‘this is what Nick would do’ with the little information I had about him.
Laya- That was so impressive because none of us really had to do that. I had the same kind of thing, you’re given a kind of basis of your character but Liv didn’t have much substance till we started doing her episode. So you’re kind of going out on a whim for the first couple of weeks of filming, but she stayed the same, she was still Liv. But I think for Sean, to have that massive arc in your character, it was so impressive to see him pull it off.

Do you think the show is relatable to teen culture today?
Sean- Despite what the Americans say, yeah.
Laya- It’s a heighted sense of youth culture I think. Obviously because its TV, it has to be dramatic, otherwise it would just be a documentary, but I think I can relate to it. I can relate to past characters and I can definitely relate to characters in this series as well.
Sean- It isn’t real, so we have to establish that it is heighted for dramatic purpose, it has to be a little more extreme. The house party that you see on Skins isn’t quite like the house party that you’d have in real life, it’s a little bit crazier. But the issues that it tackles, and what it says and gets you to think about, and what these kids go through as characters is all relatable. That’s why it has such a fan base I think, because teenagers have something gritty that they can look at and say, ‘you know I’ve been through some of that stuff’.

How do you feel about acting out the more extreme scenes in the show?
Laya- To me, they were some of my favourite scenes, scenes where I was being really mean were some of my favourites.  There’s a scene in the trailer where I’m shouting at Freya (who plays Mini) and I remember doing that, and the scene is at this big party, and I was so pumped for the scene. I remember seeing her and she was acting upset because her character had to be, and I had to keep being really horrible. But at the same time I was thinking ‘”Yes! Yes!” because those are the scenes where you really get to show your work, those are the scenes you are the most proud of, where you pull it off, and it actually looked real.
Sean- Those are the more challenging and rewarding scenes. Any stories with raunchy scenes were just quite funny; everyone seems to think they must be so awkward.
Laya- But it’s not once you get over the initial embarrassment
Sean- And the crew, as well as the cast, are quite young as well so it’s always easy and funny.



So we can expect a lot of mischief from you guys in the new series?
Laya- Yeah there’s definitely a lot of mischief.

Can you give us any spoilers?
Sean- There’s clearly sex involved , sex in crazy places. There are some amazing shots actually in really nice surroundings.
Laya- There’s some backstabbing, there’s some actual really lovely romance, and friends with benefits as well.
Sean- There’s some really bad highs, being unfaithful, there’s cheating involved, there’s all sorts of things.
Laya- It’s mad how they fit so much into a 45 minute episode. The characters are all complex in their own way, there’s a lot more to them than meets the eye.

Who are your IDOLs?
Laya- I’ve got a lot of idols. I’ve got a lot of style icons like MIA and people like that, women who are empowered and are stylish and cool
Sean- There’s people I look up to massively and it depends on different things, like whether it’s sport, so people like David Beckham who has won over absolutely everyone in a really intelligent way.
But acting-wise, actors are probably the people I look up to the most; Steve Buscemi is incredible,  I also look up to Quentin Tarantino who is one the best directors in the world. Also James Franco because I have to say he rips up the rule book and does what he wants to do, he’s flying around the country all the time, filming here, filming there,  he’s got his fingers in so many pies.
Words by Vicki Carr

"A London schoolboy was plucked from obscurity in the middle of his A-levels to star in the fifth series of hit teen drama Skins.

Sean Teale, 18, will play good-looking but arrogant "alpha-male jock" Nick in the new cast - the third - for the fifth outing of the hit on E4, which returns this Thursday.

But it was only a late switch in focus from sport to drama in his final year at Latymer Upper School, Hammersmith, that secured Sean his TV career, after he decided acting looked more fun.

Sean, from Putney, said: "I thought it was my last chance to really do something so I went for it." By chance, his performance in a school play was spotted by an agent in the audience.

As he was preparing for his A-levels, he began auditions, winning a part alongside Tom Hardy in short film Sergeant Slaughter, My Big Brother.

He then rejected a role that would have wiped out his Easter holiday revision "which kind of felt like I was throwing my life away if I ruined my A-levels".

But the Skins auditions came up, taking place over nine weeks: "Exams were coming and I was thinking, 'Either kill me now, or let me know I haven't got it so I can pay attention to my exams, or let me know and I can rejoice.'"

He was told he had been chosen a week into his
A-levels last summer, the day before his 18th birthday. It left him " absolutely astonished".

Sean, the son of IT consultant Noel and Fini, who is at an advertising design company, got an A in history and Bs in drama and economics.

His character Nick is a rugby captain who dates hot gang leader Mini, and is one of a new group of four boys and four girls at the fictional college in Bristol.

Rugby is one of the sports his agents advised him to renounce for fear of damaging his looks. But he said he had no regrets.

"It's heart-wrenching watching yourself," he said of appearing of television. "But there's nothing more that I enjoy than acting. It doesn't even feel like work."

His mother said the family would have friends over to watch his first appearance - and she would "accept" watching him in some of the show's risqué scenes: "I am going to be so proud seeing him in Skins that I'm sure it will be OK."

The return of the series is being marked with a gig at the Coronet Theatre, Elephant and Castle, on Thursday. Tickets are free from E4.com/skins"

"Do you play any actually sports like your character? by Anton

Yeah I loved playing rugby when I was younger, I played it all the way
Through school. I used to swim for my borough at championships and a lot of Football til the end of sixth form.

If you could be friends with one of the characters from series 3 and 4, and be related to a character from series 1 and 2 who would they be and why? by JJMC

Cook. Having Cook as a mate would have it's down sides as you'd get in to loads if trouble but the amount of fun you'd have would completely out weigh that! And for family, it'd have to be Chris. If he was my cousin I'd probably not have many other friends, we'd just go mad the whole time. Plus family reunions would be so much more bearable watching him with all the drugs he'd be on.

Would you date any of your co-stars? most embarrassing/ and/or funniest onset experience so far? by CL3Blue

Ah I couldn't do that we're all too close as friends.. Most embarrassing moment either getting puked on on my first day just because I didn't know any of the crew or anything properly, funniest moment probably when I had to wear a strap on (brand new specially ordered following Chris' flying off to the US for the other show) the concept of being a boy and having to wear one made me struggle to focus on the scene. So many ridiculous things happened that day on set."

"The E4 teen drama has gained a reputation for its graphic take on sex and drugs during its previous four series.

No holds barred ... Skins sails close to the wind with its sex and drugs storyliness
No holds barred ... Skins sails close to the wind with its sex and drugs storylines
Channel 4

It returns on January 27 with its third cast - who say they have loved stripping off for their sexy scenes.

But not everyone is getting on in the act, with Will, 17 - who plays pothead Alo Creevey - saying he is annoyed that his character keeps his clothes on.

Familiar face ... Dakota Blue Richards
Familiar face ... Dakota Blue Richards

He said: "I was really excited when I first got my script - I was flicking through it looking for my first sex scene and I don't have one.

"I was gutted. I was really looking forward to getting my kit off. I wanted to get naked. It is not Skins if you don't get naked. It is a real shame."

But there was no such drought for Sean Teale, 18, who plays stud Nick Levan. He has several raunchy scenes with screen girlfriend Mini McGuinness, played by Freya Mavor, 17.

He said: "She is absolutely beautiful and I really got along with her.

"It was character-building doing the sex scenes. We talked about it beforehand, but we never rehearsed it in our own time. It just kind of flowed."

He added: "In my first week I found myself doing a lot of nude stuff. I was thrown in at the deep end on my first day - I was naked and I got puked on. It made my opening experience quite rough."

Sean added: "My parents would have loved me to have been in a period drama instead.

"My dad was flipping through the channels once when the last series was on and when he saw Skins he was absolutely gutted, so they are bracing themselves for what is to come.

"They are going to close their eyes and not watch some of the stuff."

But single Sean said he was looking forward to the attention from girls that the series will bring.

Jessica Sula ... apprehensive about role on sexy show
Jessica Sula ... apprehensive about role on sexy show

He said: "I want to be professional, but I do want to enjoy the attention as well.

"But you have to be careful - a lot of these people won't have wanted to know me before I was in Skins."

Bosses have said there will be more of a focus on the girls in this series, after the boys took centre stage last time. Jessica Sula, 16, who plays prim Grace Violet, said she was apprehensive about taking the role at first because of the show's sexy reputation. She said: "When the show first came out it was a big shock. I was only 11, so I was a bit young. When I told my mum I was going to audition for it, she said, 'Is it that show?'

"But my mum understands this is what I want to do. She understands it is only on TV."

Producers have promised the new series will be more fun after the last run was criticised for being too dark, particularly when one character got battered to death.

Series producer Matt Strevens said: "Things were heavier in the last series because the characters were older and had bigger things to deal with.

"But with the new cast, they are younger and we can have some fun with them. We want to bring more of its silliness back in."

Alexander Arnold, 18, who plays heavy metal fan Rich Hardbeck, added: "It is still dark in places. It isn't a political show - it is just a representation of youth culture.

"We lay out scenes that viewers can relate to."

Raunch of a new show ... the younger cast of the lastes Skins are set for more fun, nudity and romps
Raunch of a new show ... the younger cast of the lastes Skins are set for more fun, nudity and romps
Nicky Johnston

Most of the new actors are unknowns, with several being chosen after taking part in open auditions which attracted more than 10,000 wannabes.

But one cast member is more familiar - Dakota Blue Richards, 16, who plays Franky Fitzgerald. She previously starred in Hollywood movie The Golden Compass.

A lot of Skin ... sexy new cast love getting their kit off
A lot of Skin ... sexy new cast love getting their kit off
Channel 4

But she said that having fame before had not changed her take on joining the show.

She said: "I don't think it has given me any kind of advantage because this is so different to what I have worked on before. I have never done TV and it all moves so much quicker.

"The others wouldn't ask me for tips. We all have our ups and downs, but generally we all get on. It is quite nice because I have never worked with people my own age before." Dakota's androgynous character also misses out on raunchy scenes - only because she doesn't know what she likes yet.

She said: "My character doesn't have sex with men or women yet. She is very innocent. She is so reserved and buttoned up - I would love to have some nude scenes.

"I am very jealous that most of the others get raunchy scenes. This series has the potential to be the best yet as it is so different."

But Dakota conceded the new cast will have to put some work in winning over die-hard fans who grew accustomed to the old faces.

She said: "There will be some prejudice about it as it is the third generation." Jessica said she had already suffered internet abuse, despite the series not even starting yet.

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She said: "People can be cruel and it is not nice. One mistake I made was going on the internet and people were being mean, comparing us with the old cast.

"But the sad thing is that they don't even know us yet."

Several former Skins stars have gone on to huge international success, such as Nicholas Hoult - who starred in Tom Ford's Hollywood movie A Single Man - and Dev Patel, who appeared in the Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire.

Sean - who is deferring a university place to do Skins - said: "It is a fantastic springboard as a show and you can really up your profile from it. Quite a few of us want to carry on in acting after.

"But I am realistic about the industry and my parents made sure I have a back-up plan with uni."