Skins 5 IDOL Magazine interviews with Sean and Laya

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

Labels: Brand New , generation 3 , interview , laya lewis , Sean Teale , Skins season 5