Heres a brief list of things that happened to Josh Bowmans character, Daniel Grayson, by the end of the first season of ABCs hit nighttime soap Revenge. After starting as an irresistible rich party boy, Daniel had fallen in love, only to break off his engagement with Emily Thorne. He was shot by his best friend, then tried for said friends murder, spending time in jail until the charges were dropped. His model socialite parents werent so model after all, filing for divorce. His sister tried to commit suicide. His mother may or may not have been killed in a plane crash in the season finale. Finally, he began turning into the man hed tried so hard to stay away from, his father, by stepping up to head the family company (which also played a hand in financing 9/11, but Daniel doesnt know this. Yet.)
To hear the 24-year-old British actor tell it, these are just a string of normal occurrences on Revenge, which also stars lead vixens Emily VanCamp (as Emily Thorne, ne Amanda Clarke) and Madeline Stowe (as Victoria Grayson) and is loosely based on The Count of Monte Cristo. The shows unflinching commitment to being a sudsy guilty pleasure earned it top ratings in its Wednesday night 10 p.m. time slot. Starting this weekend, itll join Once Upon a Time and 666 Park Avenue on ABCs newly reprogrammed Sunday night. Bowman recently stopped by Rolling Stones offices (sporting a pair of Nike kicks he designed with his personal motto) to chat about the shows success so far, whats ahead for season two and what life was like pre-Revenge.
For all of the things that happened to Daniel last season, which had the biggest impact?
Probably Emily. For Daniel, hes very much still thinking about Emily when the season starts.
We start the season with Daniel recovering. My sister survived but my mother is dead, and Im going through that, and Im also in somewhat of a relationship with Ashley Davenport, who is working at Grayson Global with me. The summers just starting, and Conrad is running Grayson Manor, so hes like its kind of like Scars lair in The Lion King. You know, when its all burning and its kind of dark and the ashes are there. Its kind of [got a] very Hitchcock-y feel to it all.
Were all in mourning for my mother, and Emily and I are separated. Theres a new guy, Aiden [Barry Sloane], coming in from her past, and theres also her mother [Jennifer Jason Leigh] who comes in from her past, so theres a couple of new obstacles that are coming into play. And Im definitely becoming more a part of Grayson Global Ive got a spring in my step for that. I want to right a few of the wrongs that my dads been doing. He just causes absolute drama and catastrophe, and he works with the Initiative, which is the terrorist organization. I dont know that, but Daniel, I hope, has grown up. Hes taking a little bit more control, and he needs to its a multi-multi-multi billion dollar company, and hes learning the ropes. Hes keen about it.
Youve talked about how you wanted Mike Kelley to expand Daniels role and give him some more depth.
We all, as actors, have to fight these battles, where its like, OK, thats a little far-fetched. Granted, this show is a little kind of ficticious, right?
To say the least.
I think were just all encouraged to be like, No, this would be wrong this is more truthful. I think they were developing the character quite a lot, so with a lot of my storylines it was like, Where are we going to take him? Mike was on that wavelength before I brought it up, so it was great to go through that and have a dialogue with the showrunner. I think its important to be a part of that process, because were living these characters for 22 episodes and we want to make it believable. If hes going to run the company, hes got to have a fucking idea whats going on.
What else is changing when we come back to the Hamptons?
Im primarily with Ashley and Conrad, and now Ive just been introduced to Aiden, so itll be interesting to see where that goes. Aiden is Takedas proxy he works for Takeda. He obviously doesnt, but in our world were made to think that. I know Takeda, but I dont know Aiden is Takedas pawn, that hes there for a different reason and hes helping Emily out. And Emily will come between us. Ill tell him how I feel about her and obviously have no idea that he knows Emily, so its going to be interesting to play that dynamic another triangle. Now its a love square. Jack, Aiden, Daniel and Emily. Shes a slut, isnt she? [Laughs] Theres three guys now.
Theres the real love, or the childhood love, the newer love
What is the previous love? Aidens a previous true love, too. Whats going on?
Did you realize what you were getting into with this show when you filmed the pilot?
Fuck no. No. Way. [Laughs]
When did you realize?
I guess after the second episode. It took a while, though. Great learning, but we dont want it to be too off the charts. I know people love that, but its nice to keep that believability in there. As actors, you dont want it to be a puppet show.
There are shows like Gossip Girl and Greys Anatomy that start off really strong and then they
Slip away.
Yeah. The characters lose their focus.
Thats why I think its important for the writers to be consistent. Its a big job for all of them, all of us.
It seems like youre using all of this as a learning platform.
Massively. I dont care if I fail. Ill just keep on trying to be better and get better at my craft, and I think it would be good to get out and have people see me in a different light. Maybe something back at home in England, or something where Im embodying a different character completely. I dont think Id want to play the same character ever again.
What was the first thing that made you decide to get into acting? You didnt start off on that path right away.
No, I didnt. I dont know what made me decide. I love films, I love the way they make me feel. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Midnight Cowboy, Thin Red Line. Im trying to work more on studying different directors I love Stanley Kubrick, Terrence Malick, Scorsese, Brian De Palma. The Untouchables is a great film. Spielberg. I love Danny Boyle, I love Woody Allen. Im reasearching Billy Wilder. Ingmar Bergman. Christopher Nolan. I want to work with those guys, 100 percent Im going to do my best to be in the same room as them and work hard to earn the right to work with them.
I was playing rugby, and I wanted to just get out there and leave town and start a new life. It wasnt right for me. Ive always been into acting. I was modeling since I was a little kid, like three years old. I did a little Versace campaign that was shot by Bruce Webber, and I actually shot with him recently again. Hes fucking hilarious. That guy remembers everything. He watched Revenge and he realized it was me, and we were put in touch.
So I was in that world a little bit, and I grew up in school, acting in acting class. And my Grandmas a big drama queen, my mothers side, my Irish gran, shes probably where I get the acting bug from. Shes an Irish storyteller. She used to tell me stories when I was a kid. So maybe she implied that storytelling in me.
I got injured [playing rugby] I dislocated my shoulder twice, three times, and had two operations. Im like Robocop. It went off like a switch in my head I cant do this. And as soon as I quit, I felt free. And thats what I get with this job. I like studying people thats what Im a fan of, really. Its not even just the acting. I like photography, I like stories, I like writing. Everyone wants to escape, everyones drawn to escapism to leave their lives for an hour or two, and were all so curious as human beings. All those reasons are why I love this job. Whether its theater or film, or network ABCs a great network for me to be learning my stuff on.
How so?
Well, for starters, Im doing 22 eps. I feel like Im on a crash course of learning. Im getting my degree now, then Ill go on and get my bachelors somewhere else. Then Ill do my Ph.D. and my doctorate, eventually [laughs]. Its great to be part of something that people have taken a liking to, but its also terrifying. I kind of dont like it because my work is out there for people to scrutinize, and its easy to critique. But Im just always wanting to improve and take advice.
So whats the best advice youve gotten thus far?
From the executive producer of our show, Marty Bowen: Dont be afraid to be great. And dont be afraid to fail, thats really what its about. I learned that in drama school. Ive got a tattoo [on my side] that says Dont let the bastards get you down, and I live by that.
When did you get it?
In New York, five years ago. I was here when I was 20, here for a year in school, then back home for a year, then two years in L.A. before I got Revenge. I got a pilot the first year, but the pilot [didnt get picked up], got a visa, stayed in L.A. Some people go back, but I was like, Fuck no, I want more jobs. I was about to get a bar job. I was living month-to-month. Then I got Make It or Break It, then I got the Miley Cyrus movie, and that led on to Revenge. But we dont have to talk about that.
So you dont want to talk about anything before Revenge.
Not really . . .
Its interesting.
It is?
But you seem apprehensive.
I shouldnt be.
So the movie is called So Undercover.
Yeah.
Coming maybe soon to a theater near you.
I dont know when. Im not dissing anything, but you get the sense that some things may have not gone the way you wanted them to go. You might not have done the performance [laughs] you wanted to give. Because people have to see it, and then theyll think you suck. But thats when this comes into play [gestures towards shoes, which have March Forth written on them].
Talk to me about March Forth.
Im born March 4th, but a great friend of mine, her father was a lawyer. He was born on my birthday and he came up with March Forth. And I said, Ive got to take that, and Im going to live it on for your father. Hes unfortunately not alive anymore. So Im kind of repping him. March on. Dont look in the rearview, just the windshield.
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