British actor Gregg Sulkin stepped into a big role for Netflix’s newest sitcom Pretty Smart. Premiering on October 8, Sulkin tackles the role of gym buff Grant in this hilarious series that follows the rekindling of two distant sisters.
While Grant is textbook hot — especially when it comes to Los Angeles standards, he is also funny and good-natured. At the beginning of the series, his roommate and ex-girlfriend Claire (Olivia Macklin) welcomes her college-graduate sister, Chelsea (Emily Osment), into their home which they share with two other socialite-like roommates. Chelsea is resistant to the crew but eventually realizes that she has nobody else to turn to and her current support system is weak.
Left with no other choice (and an abundance of guilt for hurting her sister’s feelings), Chelsea ends up moving in with the group and breaking down her walls — connecting with each roommate on a different level.
As the series progresses, it is revealed that she has fallen head over heels for Grant. Speaking about creating this love-triangle dynamic, Sulkin told Monsters & Critics, “One of the biggest challenges, for me, was to make sure that the Grant and Claire relationship, and the fact that they dated was believable, although we don’t actually see that much on the page throughout season one.”
He continued, “You see a lot of Grant and Chelsea, but I thought it was really important, to me, in any moment possible where Grant and Claire could connect, they would connect. At the end of the day, if you dated someone for three years, there’s a special relationship there.”
Monsters & Critics had the opportunity to chat with Gregg Sulkin about the love triangle featured in Pretty Smart.
Making it believable
The 29-year-old actor is very well-experienced in the television and movie scene. He played a lead role in the major television shows Faking It and Marvel’s Runaways. He also starred in the popular teen series Wizards of Waverly Place and Pretty Little Liars. Sulkin approached Pretty Smart with nothing but professionalism when honing in on the multiple dimensions of his character.
“To me, it was making sure that the audience believed that there was a relationship, a preexisting relationship without having any real scenes or without visualizing it at all. And then obviously treading that line between, oh, there’s a new person, this person’s really smart and intelligent and something so different and unique and oh, am I attracted to her? But also wait, that’s my ex-girlfriend’s sister,” Sulkin explained, breaking down his character.
He added, “Like, how’s that going to end up? Obviously, throughout the season, the audience will get to see where Grant is gravitating towards or who Grant is gravitating towards.”
But what actually made the screen?
But, unfortunately, Sulkin isn’t sure how much of his careful character construction actually made the final cut. Sulkin shared, “Some of it may have got cut out, you know, but, but any looks, any moments, anything that I could possibly do to tie that relationship together? I tried.”
Well, Netflix, we speak for the fans when we say: Release the deleted footage. It’s what we all want to see!
Check out our full conversation below.
Pretty Smart is currently streaming on Netflix.