THE LYING GAME: Blair Redford Dishes on Relationships and More in S2

The Lying Game returns tonight for its second season with the identity of the twins’ mother finally revealed. But Ethan, played by the gorgeous Blair Redford, is in a downward spiral after being caught in the crosshairs between Emma and Sutton. He’s been treated pretty badly by those two and some of it was his own doing. Blair Redford, our current Nice Boy of the Week, explains where Ethan is at the start of the season and how his relationship evolves with the twins over the course of the season.

Moderator    It seems like Ethan’s kind of a mess when the show returns.  How would you describe Ethan’s relationship with Sutton this season as compared to Emma?

 

B. Redford    I think the season opens up and Ethan’s in a little bit of a darker, more depressed place given how the last season ended.  Anyone who watches the show knows how Sutton operates and I think that definitely leaves it open for Ethan and her to get closer because anytime that Emma won’t entertain Ethan, Sutton’s there to step in.  So you’ll definitely see, compared to last year, it’s different because I think he’s pretty certain of what kind of girl she is after she’s repeatedly lied to him so many times, but he still can’t really shake either one of those twins.  So it’ll still be there.

Moderator        How does the arrival of Jordan impact Ethan’s state of mind?

B. Redford    I think it has a couple of different twists and turns for Ethan.  He’s not very trusting of anyone new as it is, so I think he sort of has one opinion of Jordan when he first arrives, but it doesn’t stay one level.  It’s kind of nice to see.  They definitely start out as a bit of a rivalry, as you might expect, but it definitely grows and changes.

 

So it’s something interesting to watch, and honestly I think there’s more places for it to go.  I’d like it if Ethan had a friend at some point, you know?  Just a guy that he can knock a beer back with or something and watch a game, but he spends all of his time with the twins, I think.

 

Moderator    If you had to choose, do you think Ethan is crazier about Emma than Sutton?

 

B. Redford    I’d say given what we’ve seen, I think the healthier relationship would be with Emma.  I think that’s more of the real relationship.  And then I think with Sutton it’s a bad habit.  He’s drawn to girls that really have a good heart.  So he kissed Sutton when she had put on that face.  She was on the farm with him and she had put on this kind and caring side of herself, which is there, but that’s the times that he’s attracted to her.  They are limited, but when they pop up he likes it.

 

Moderator    I read in an interview that you enjoyed having scenes with Tyler Christopher the most.  Can you tell us anything about the season coming up with the two brothers?

 

B. Redford    I’m really looking forward to what happens with the brothers in this season.  I think in a lot of moments in our show where they’re kind of combative, especially in the first season, obviously a large part of it is because Ethan’s lying to his older brother a lot and I think this second season opens up a little bit more and shows how they need each other to lean on, to count on, because they are the only family they have.  So there’s just a lot there where they’re helping each other out with different challenges they’re both going to face this season and that was really fun to play.

 

Moderator    Which character do you most relate to?

 

B. Redford    I just thought about saying something random like Sutton’s dad, like a plastic surgeon, but that’s not true.  I guess there are different aspects of different characters.  I can see myself in a few different ones, but if I had to say the one I relate to the most I would say Ethan.  So I guess that’s fortunate for me, and a good fit, because that’s the character I was cast to play.

 

Moderator    I guess would you say that you’re a bad boy like Ethan in real life then?

 

B. Redford    It kind of sounds bad.  That’s a title you can’t really give yourself, describing yourself.  But no, I would just say that the qualities I have in common with Ethan is I think we both like some extreme sports.  He’s always on his motorcycle.  I like riding bikes.  I like doing a lot of off-roading.  He’s very protective of his friends and loved ones.  He’s quick to throw a punch if he feels you’ve wronged someone close to him, whether or not that’s too hasty, that’s probably similar to myself as well.  I have more in common with him than the others I supposed.

 

Moderator    Alexandra Chando plays both Sutton and Emma.  Does it ever get weird when you have to act differently with the different characters?  Do you look at her as the same person?

 

B. Redford    You know, I don’t.  It’s funny; that comes up a lot.  I didn’t think it was going to happen this way. When the show was first created I didn’t expect this, but she has a difference in the characters, so finely polished that you show up on set and she doesn’t even have to say anything to me.  I just know who she’s playing.  I don’t have to look at a script to see which twin I’m with, which makes it really easy on me and I think the rest of the cast.  But it is kind of a shock because just her mannerisms, things she does with her eyes, the two girls have different smiles.  In a way I do feel like there are two of them.  She’s very convincing with it.  It kind of freaks me out occasionally, but props to her for pulling it off.

 

Moderator    Do you guys have a great relationship?  Are you guys friends off set?  Do you hang out and stuff?

 

B. Redford    Yes we do.  We are.  We’re very close.  She’s a good girl.

Moderator    I wanted to know if you have a favorite episode of the shows so far, either one we’ve seen or one we have yet to see in season two?

 

B. Redford    I definitely have some favorites.  I would say—I can’t elaborate too much on the new season, especially on my favorite episode because it’s the last one we shot.  It’s episode ten of season two.  I just think our writers are so talented at having all these story lines stem out in different areas and then they come to a crescendo on some of our finale episodes.  To me, ten is just brilliant.  It’s really fun to watch.  A bunch of questions will be answered.

 

    And then if I could pick one from the previous season, I would say I think it was 17.  It would be two episodes.  It was the ones where we got to shoot out on this really beautiful farm. We got to learn how to ride a horse bareback and all kinds of stuff.  That was a good time.

 

Moderator    Is there someone on the show that you don’t get to work with as much as you would like to?

 

B. Redford    Yes, absolutely.  I wanted to do a lot more work with Adrian Pasdar.  There are only so many minutes in an episode and so many story lines.  So nothing real juicy has popped up yet for us to have any work together, but we talked about it before.

 

I think we both approached Chuck Pratt, our creator of the show, to talk about the story line because we want to work together.  We’re spinning ideas around our head.  But yes, I think that would be some interesting scenes to see, because it’s an unlikely match up.  You don’t really expect to see those characters together and sometimes I think that’s what’s most interesting.

 

Moderator    Can you talk a little bit about the overarching scenes for this year?  What are some of the new themes that are going to be going on this season?

 

B. Redford    I guess some of the major ones they put out there so you’ll have to keep your eye out on different couples and try to figure out who they think is going to tie the knot.  I think another big one that has also been put out there is one of our main characters will bite the dust.  Everybody needs to try to figure this out now.  I think that will be fun to watch and worry about, and then we’ve got this new guy, Jordan, who’s going to form different relationships.  That’s another one to watch.  So those are some of the new ones.

 

Moderator    And then for your long ride on this show, what has been your most memorable moment, on set or off, either dealing with things or just dealing with cast members?  What has been your most memorable moment, favorite moment and even bad moment?

 

B. Redford    There’s a lot.  I had a fun time this season.  There’s a lot of friction going on between Ethan and Thayer this season.  That was kind of brewing and boiling last season and it kind of comes to a head this year.  They might have a little bit of an altercation.

 

On our show, Ethan has a lot of those, but anytime there’s a chance to do any kind of action sequence it’s fun.  All of us guys on the show; we eat it up.  We have a really good time.  Christian, who plays Thayer, is a good buddy of mine.  So that was a real fun time this year.  We had a little bit of a tussle that we had to shoot.  We both went for it.  We probably went at it—good match, it was fun.

 

Moderator    So are you going to be back on Switched at Birth or on you on this one permanently now?

 

B. Redford    The Lying Game is definitely my permanent seat.  We shoot in Austin and I’m there the majority of the year, but there haven’t been any discussions to bring my character back to Switched at Birth.

 

Moderator    Do you think that there’s anything that will surprise or shock the viewers this season?

 

B. Redford    Yes.  I think that’s the name of the game for our show.  That’s what our writers are good at.  … What exactly will surprise them, certain things I’ve already mentioned.  There’s a death coming up, a wedding coming up.  There’s going to be a 180 Alec’s story line.  It starts off where he was arrested last season.  He’s in jail.  I think it’ll be really fun to see him way out of that situation.  Then you have all the stuff, the twins again. I think they hope to get along but really they love the turmoil that happens between the two sisters.

 

Moderator    What is the nicest thing a fan has ever said or done to you?

 

B. Redford    That’s a tough one.  Something that comes to mind is I think at least on two occasions I’ve had a couple fans—obviously they’re talented artists and they’ve drawn a portrait.  They found a picture of me online.  I think one found a still shot of me from a film that I did and they did a really nice drawing of me.  I think one was actually charcoal … one was mailed to my fan mail.  I think that’s really cool and nice of someone to take the time to do that.

 

Moderator    I just wanted to say for the record there are a few of us who think that Ethan should just forget about the twins and hook up with Mads.

 

B. Redford    That’s an interesting idea.  I do think the boy needs to examine his priorities with the twins, but where it goes from there is up to the writers I suppose.

 

Moderator    Out of everything you’ve done, what is your favorite type of role to play?  It seems like you do like the bad boys.  Is that what you like to do the most?

 

B. Redford    I don’t know if it’s what I like to do most as much as that’s what Hollywood likes me to do.  You kind of go on your — you get hired where you get hired.  So I guess I have a little bit of a niche in the bad boy brooding market. I’d really like to do more comedy. I do a lot of it in my off time and I think it’d be fun.  So we’ll see where that goes.

 

Moderator    Could give us a little bit of insight into what it’s like to be on set?  If there’s a behind-the-scenes moment that you think our fans or readers might enjoy or just something that would give them a little insight to what it’s like to be on the set of The Lying Game?

 

B. Redford    It’s kind of like summer camp when you’re 13 years old.  Like I said, I think a big part of it is that we’re on location in Texas.  It’s just a different feel than being in Hollywood at a normal studio shooting, but we love it out there.  All of us young on the show and even the adults, the actors that play the parents, we’re all really close.  We’re just running around in our trailers playing pranks, eating food, obviously.

For the record, we did let Blair know that he was voted our Nice Boy of the Week and I think he was surprised and a wee bit tickled.

The Lying Game premieres tonight at 9/8c on ABC Family, immediately following Pretty Little Liars.