- 6 hours ago
The stars of NBC's new musical drama 'Rise' talk what makes their onscreen chemistry so strong and what drew them into the show.
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00:04Hi, this is Mariah Gullo from The Hollywood Reporter, and we're in studio
00:07today with Ali'i Cravalho and Damon Gillespie, and they are the stars of the
00:13new NBC show, Rise. Yay! Congratulations!
00:18Thank you so much for talking with us today.
00:19You want to talk to me a little bit about Rise, like the just the basic plot?
00:24Yeah, sure. Rise is about a normal working-class town and normal students in
00:30that town who are sort of rising from their circumstances, so to say. They find
00:36that theater is an incredible way and an incredible community to kind of show
00:41their talents and show where they want to go in life. So they have an incredible
00:46teacher, Lou Mazakelli, and he kind of galvanizes the entire town. It's based on
00:51a true story, written by Michael Sokolov, originally titled Drama High, and we're
00:56really thrilled.
00:57Oh, very cool. And I assume that maybe both of you have some experience in musical
01:01theater from back when you were in high school. Did you both go to special music
01:07schools, or?
01:08I did. I went to a performing arts high school. I started in middle school, and
01:13then in high school kept with it, and then ended up going to college for a
01:18couple years for it, too. So I definitely grew up in musical theater and theater
01:22and stuff like that.
01:23I tried. I loved theater. I loved to sing and stuff like that. And I would
01:29audition for things, but I would be that person in the middle of the theater and
01:36be like, I can't hear you. Can you talk louder? Like I was that person. They didn't
01:39trust me with the lights. They were just like, why don't we just put you like some
01:43place where they can't see you or can't hear you. I was like, yeah, okay. But...
01:47Wardrobe?
01:48I know. No, but I'm having kind of the last chuckle now.
01:52Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. So how did you each get involved with the project
01:58personally?
02:00Well, I was really lucky. I got the audition while I was here in LA for the 2016 Oscars,
02:08it was. And I auditioned for it, and I remember thinking that I absolutely bombed
02:13it. But I did pretty well, I guess. And I sang, what did I sing? I sang House of the
02:20Rising Sun.
02:21And it was like the first time that I had like tried that kind of like soulfully feel
02:25and I had loved reading about my character Lilette. And I gave it all I got and thankfully it came
02:31my way.
02:32I just needed a job. I got the audition after like six months of a dry spell. And then it
02:43came to me and I was like, oh, great.
02:44I'll, you know, another audition. Why not? And I actually sang Blue In Your Color by Keith Urban.
02:50But I also had to do like my own like rap in it. So I did like, did a couple
02:58rounds of the audition.
03:00I was like, okay, you know, whatever. It's fine. And then I was actually at work at Dunkin Donuts when
03:05I,
03:05when I got the call. And they were like, you, you're gonna screen test and you, you got it.
03:13I was like, I'm sorry, what? What just happened? And so we were about to close up and I grabbed
03:21every one of my coworkers
03:22and just like, they were like, you're only here for like three days, dude. Why are you doing this?
03:26I'm like, because I'm gonna be on a TV show. So it was, it was very, it was very insane.
03:35Does an audition feel different when you get it? Like, do you feel it in the moment or do you,
03:40you know, go out of it going,
03:41Oh, well, whatever. And then find out that you get it.
03:44I felt like I sucked. I thought that I, I like, I, I had, I haven't auditioned for many things
03:53in life.
03:56So I thought that that sucked. It was like one of the first that I had actually like, you know,
04:00gone in for.
04:01Sometimes I do on tape because I'm from Hawaii and stuff. And there was no, that's different.
04:06Yeah. You can't go in like in Hawaii, but yeah, I, I beats me.
04:11When I feel like I'm doing a good job, I don't get it. So I just gotta feel like I
04:15suck.
04:16Exactly.
04:16What do you feel?
04:16At all times. Right?
04:17It depends. Like with this one, I felt like I did really well, except for the last audition.
04:23The last audition, I was like, that's it. Like another one like slipped by.
04:29But a lot of times, like when you, for me, I've auditioned so many times now, like in consecutive order.
04:37I've, I know how to kind of read a room a little bit and be like, okay, they're into it.
04:42I'm into it. Let's make this magic happen.
04:44Uh, but other times I, I look at a, like a breakdown and then before I even go in, I
04:50go, yeah, you think I, you want me to come in and play this?
04:54All right. All right. It's your choice.
04:56It's like, you're going to say no and I'm going to say no. So like, like it's, I'm not right
05:00for this. Like, come on.
05:02And then it usually is like, okay, you're, yeah, you were right. You weren't right for this one. It's like,
05:07great. Let me go back to work now.
05:09Speaking of that, Damon, your character is a football star who's also super handsome, a talented actor and singer.
05:16Yeah.
05:17Was it hard to step into the role of such a misfit?
05:20You know, you know, it's a stretch.
05:23What do you say?
05:25Being, you know, I had to really do some surgery on the handsome part, you know.
05:28You know, um, it, it's honestly, um, I grew up in sports and football. I used to play football.
05:36Um, so stepping into the character was actually quite easy because I could identify with him.
05:43Um, you know, I like sang a little bit growing up and, you know, started to do a play or
05:50two and while I was playing football and baseball and basketball.
05:53And then I found musical theater and I really had to make the decision, like, do I go with football,
06:00which is almost never going to happen because I'm little, or do I go into acting, which I've always had
06:08a passion for.
06:08I've always been pretty good at it or just performing in general.
06:11And so I eventually was like, all right, well, you know, gotta leave it behind.
06:15So, I can really relate to this character because we have a lot of similarities.
06:22What was it like, um, to do the pep rally scene where you had to rap in front of all
06:25the kids?
06:26Oh, that was pretty awesome. That was, I think we all agree that that was a day.
06:30That was so awesome.
06:31That was a day.
06:32That was so cool.
06:33First of all, we took over a school, which I think, like, we apologized for numerous times, but the kids
06:39were, like, amazing.
06:40Yeah.
06:41But you were awesome.
06:43He was killing it every single time, rapping it live.
06:47It was a lot of fun.
06:48It was one of the, like, I felt like back in my element.
06:53I was like, oh, yeah, just give me the mic and let me go.
06:57But, you know, I have to sing a little bit in it.
07:00So, it was actually kind of rough on that part because you're, you know, that scene takes, like, eight to
07:06ten hours to film.
07:07Yeah.
07:08So, you're, and I'm singing almost every time.
07:11So, I had to, like, really make sure that I was, like, taking care of my voice, like, doing everything
07:17that I possibly could to make sure it stayed okay.
07:19Yeah, what a lot of people don't realize about crowd scenes, like party scenes and movies or television, is that,
07:26you know, there's no music playing.
07:29It's kind of a silent situation.
07:31So, these scenes where it looks so magical and amazing and all the stuff is happening and bands are playing,
07:37it's a pep rally.
07:37It's actually, you know, that's not the sound that you're hearing.
07:41It's almost entirely mimed.
07:42So, yeah, you've got to keep your energy up when there's literally nothing happening.
07:46No sound.
07:48Yeah.
07:48Well, your character, she's more of a person who might get bullied in school.
07:53Mm-hmm.
07:54Do you have, like, advice for kids who are watching this show who might identify with that, like, the character
07:59that's a little bit, you know, is looked down upon because of her family situation?
08:06Mm-hmm.
08:07Yeah, I think in life we definitely have underdogs that kind of come to light.
08:12My character, Lalette Suarez, is definitely one of those.
08:15So, she's not one to be in the spotlight.
08:17You know, she's a good girl in the sense that she does her work.
08:20She knows that the town she's in has nothing for her.
08:23Mm-hmm.
08:23She knows that the family grew up in that town, and it's kind of expected that she does the same,
08:27that she grows up there, she'll work in the diner that she's worked at since she was a teenager, and,
08:31you know, she'll just continue life, but that's not what she wants to do.
08:37Mm-hmm.
08:37And it's sometimes so hard to break the mold that others have put on you, especially when the mold is
08:43something that seems to have passed on, like, through generations.
08:46Like, from a grandmother to a mother to you.
08:48I mean, it's, it's something that's almost, you don't think about it.
08:52You are your mother's daughter in some cases, but individuality is something that really shines through, and sometimes you need
08:59a guiding hand, like the teacher in our show Rise.
09:04Yeah.
09:04Just someone who will kind of pluck you from whatever circumstance it is, and really encourage you to just be
09:13whoever that person really is.
09:15And only you can, can really figure that out, and it takes time, and it takes perseverance, and it takes
09:20that, that one individual.
09:21But when you've got it, when you have the time, and when you put in the effort, it's, it's all
09:26worth it.
09:26Mm.
09:27Yes.
09:27Um, so the two of you have, uh, you have some on-screen chemistry.
09:33Did that, does that, do you feel it as well?
09:35Because I see it just by watching the show, and, you know, I know that there's a lot of, uh,
09:40there's a lot of, uh, cast and crew put into the show and editing to make, you know, this incredible
09:46chemistry between the two of you.
09:47But I assume that you feel it as well.
09:49I mean, the editing is pretty good.
09:52All right.
09:53I won't, I won't, no, yes, but no.
09:55Thank goodness for the editors.
09:56Right.
09:57She's the worst.
09:59No, he's fantastic.
10:00Mm-hm.
10:00I think there's just a really good, I, I don't have many good guy friends.
10:05Mm-hm.
10:05Just because I'm an only child, and thankfully you've met my mother.
10:09She's, yeah.
10:09I have.
10:09I've met, I've met mama.
10:11Yeah.
10:12But, um, yeah, in that sense, I'm, I'm really grateful to have a character, uh, to have a co-star
10:17that I, I trust in that sense, where I've, I've never played a character in, in this particular field.
10:23Mm-hm.
10:24And we all, like, now that we're, you know, now that we've done more of the show, like we filmed
10:32more of the show, it, we've, we've gotten to have a lot more encounters, just she and I.
10:40Mm-hm.
10:40So we're, you know, we have more time to talk, we have more time to like really kind of form
10:46a really good, a really close friendship.
10:50And it's, it really is like coming along.
10:52Yeah.
10:52Mm-hm.
10:53And it's, I mean, we only have like a month to shoot the pilot, so when, you know, it's kind
11:00of hard to be like, hey, nice to meet you, we're gonna be in love, you know?
11:03Right.
11:04So, now that the show is like moving along, and we're kind of staying with it, the, it really is
11:10blossoming into a really pleasant friendship, I would say.
11:15Oh, that's really sweet.
11:17Um, so, uh, what are your favorite musicals?
11:21I assume we're going to see some pretty amazing musical numbers over the next season?
11:25Mm-hm.
11:26Yeah.
11:26It's gonna be awesome.
11:27Yeah, I mean, we don't have to give away anything on the show, but personally, like what musicals do you
11:32love?
11:32Like what's really spoken to you from an early age up until now?
11:36Oh.
11:36Let em know.
11:37A similarly early age.
11:39Let em know there.
11:40My favorite has always been In the Heights.
11:43Oh, yeah.
11:44Always been In the Heights.
11:45Yeah.
11:46Ugh.
11:47Always been In the Heights.
11:48I love that, I'm Puerto Rican and Portuguese, so to see a Latin community come alive and to understand the
11:55struggles of, I grew up in a small town and in a small community where everyone knows everyone and everyone
12:00knows each other's business.
12:01And it's like, I will be like one of the first individuals in my family hopefully to like go to
12:06college if it's in the future.
12:07And it's, I understood the pressures of like Nina and it was, in the Heights.
12:14In the Heights.
12:15In the Heights.
12:15In the Heights.
12:15Have you been to Washington Heights?
12:17I haven't, no.
12:18Oh, you gotta check it out.
12:19I'm so close.
12:19Go to Fort Tryon Park.
12:21I know.
12:22Look at the whole, it's the one neighborhood in New York City that doesn't have construction cranes.
12:26That's true.
12:26It's just solidly built, beautiful stone buildings.
12:28That is true.
12:29Yeah, it's cool.
12:30I gotta go.
12:31It's a great neighborhood.
12:32I gotta go.
12:33William.
12:33Mine is Avenue Q.
12:36Nice.
12:36It's always been Avenue Q.
12:38Since the day I saw it, it's been my favorite musical.
12:40I love it.
12:41I love it, I love it.
12:42I have posters, I have all the scripts, the librettos, the musical books, everything.
12:50I love that show.
12:51Mm-hmm.
12:51So much.
12:52It is so funny and it's so brilliant.
12:56And it, you know, I was like, this writer is brilliant.
13:00And then, you know, ten years later he comes out with Frozen and wins his EGOT.
13:05So, like, you know it's a great, it's a great musical and he's a great writer, so.
13:11Yeah.
13:12Are there any theater actors who you really looked up to?
13:17Did you see anybody and just say, oh, this is what I wanna, you know, this is how I wanna
13:23shape my career?
13:25Oh.
13:27Oh.
13:29Are you a good person?
13:30Me, uh, yeah, definitely.
13:32Well, as a dancer, um, his name is Ryan Steele.
13:36Uh, he was, he got his Broadway debut in West Side Story when he was, like, 19.
13:40Mm-hmm.
13:41And he's just an incredible dancer and I, during, like, in high school I looked up to him and
13:48then Aaron Tveit is, his voice is just perfection.
13:54Mm-hmm.
13:54It's just perfection.
13:55So, those two were like, I need to dance like him, I need to sing like him.
14:00Mm-hmm.
14:01And then I, I will have it made.
14:03I will be, I will be the perfect specimen of a robot.
14:06It'll be great.
14:07You will.
14:09Um, I, I've always really admired Adrian Brody as an actor.
14:14Mm.
14:14Um, and then Audrey Hepburn.
14:16Oh, yes.
14:17Oh, gosh.
14:18I mean, there's just, there's a grace and an elegance that Audrey possessed.
14:22Um, and then Adrian Brody in The Pianist, it was just, to, to evoke a pain, um, that
14:31spanned across time and even now can just reduce me to tears.
14:36It's, he's one of my favorite actors.
14:38Mm-hmm.
14:39Uh, let's talk about your other cast members.
14:41Um, is there anybody who really surprised you with some, like, amazing skill when you're
14:45filming?
14:46Oh.
14:47Are there any of the other cast members who you're like, wow, I had no idea?
14:51Mm-hmm.
14:51I mean, obviously they're all talented singers.
14:54Uh, I have a cast member, his name is Nacho.
14:59Nacho.
14:59Um, the fact that his name is Nacho just blows me away.
15:03That's a great name.
15:04Uh, Amy Forsythe is an incredible singer.
15:08Yeah, she is.
15:09She laid it down.
15:11Mm-hmm.
15:11She set it up, she just went in, uh, on one of the episodes and everyone was like,
15:19you better sing, girl, you better sing it out.
15:22Yeah.
15:23That's awesome.
15:24Um, okay, I'm gonna do a quick, uh, four question, uh, question, called First Best,
15:33Last Worst.
15:34Okay.
15:34It's one of our THR things.
15:36Okay.
15:36Um, first musical performance you fell in love with?
15:40In the Heights.
15:40Chorus Line.
15:42Nice.
15:42Best story from your musical theater backgrounds?
15:51Best story from musical theater backgrounds?
15:53Yeah.
15:54Like, our personal stories?
15:55Yeah, like a, maybe a performance story, or?
15:58Oh, I've got one.
16:01There was, I was, um, it was my sophomore year of high school, and we were doing this
16:06song called Mama Rainbow, and the teacher came out on stage, he was like, we just have
16:12some, a little surprise for everybody, and we went around and said all of our moms' names
16:16and literally, as the song starts, I went, just like, started bawling on, most of the
16:21people were crying, and all the moms were, you know, just in tears, and I was like,
16:27just, couldn't even get through the song, I was crying so bad.
16:30That was probably, that's probably the funniest one for me.
16:32Um, I, I was part of, um, like a choir, and we, and we traveled at one point to, to
16:39California,
16:39and I got to work with Rollo Dilworth, who's an incredible composer, and, um, and so that
16:45was probably just, I haven't had much musical experience.
16:47So, you know what?
16:49Choir.
16:49Choir was great.
16:50Choir.
16:52Choir.
16:52Choir.
16:52Um, last time you forgot your lyrics and how you covered it up.
16:58Choir.
16:58Choir.
16:58Um, what was that, episode 103?
17:03102?
17:03102?
17:03102?
17:04One of them, when we were singing, uh, it was literally on, while we were filming.
17:10We have to, it was, uh, word of your body.
17:12Word of your body.
17:13We had to, we were singing, and for some odd reason, I just couldn't, couldn't get the
17:18lyrics down, and I messed up, and it ended up messing around.
17:21Neither one of us got it.
17:22So we were literally like, oh, uh, who's, I'm, I'm winning, you're bruising.
17:27I don't know who's wounded, I don't know.
17:28Somebody's wounded, somebody, we're literally, we were, and we didn't recover at all.
17:32It was so bad.
17:33It was just like.
17:35Yeah.
17:36So recently.
17:38Yes.
17:38Yeah.
17:39Very recently.
17:40That's a big fat cut from the director.
17:41Yeah.
17:42They're like, um, go again.
17:44Yeah.
17:45Uh, worst on stage or on set accident?
17:49Oh, um, the Oscars.
17:50Uh.
17:51I was going to talk to you about that.
17:54I've had an experience.
17:56Um.
17:56Do a lot of people talk to you about that?
17:58Yes.
17:58I'm, it's my claim to fame, and I'm completely fine with that.
18:01I loved it.
18:02Okay, tell, tell everybody about it, because I saw it, but a lot of people have probably
18:07passed them by.
18:07Okay.
18:09So, I'm at rehearsal, right, for the Oscars, and we're like, it's going good, it's going
18:13good, and then I get hit in the back of the head.
18:14And I'm like, okay, that's fine.
18:17And I go back to them, like, that day, and I'm like, alright, so it sounded great.
18:22You know, I'm sure you guys were really good, and we were practicing all day.
18:25And I was like, but, I got hit in the back of the head, and they're like, oh my god,
18:28I got
18:28checked out by EMTs.
18:29And they're like, okay, don't worry, this won't happen tomorrow, the day of the Oscars,
18:34when it's broadcasted live to millions of people.
18:38Ew.
18:40Moral of the story, it happened the next day.
18:42It definitely happened.
18:43That hit on the back of the head.
18:45Yeah, it was just like a big prop that came close to you.
18:48It was a flag, and it was a flag that was, um, right.
18:53You don't need emotions.
18:55Is it a flag or a wing?
18:56Wing!
18:56There was like a thing going on.
19:00It was supposed to replicate the ocean.
19:02Yeah, it was like some beautiful puppetry.
19:05It was lovely.
19:06I loved every one of the dancers.
19:08That was the second time you had been hit on the back of the head.
19:11Whoever it was, they're forever holding their piece, which is perfectly fine.
19:15It was, that's my own stuff.
19:18Nobody confessed.
19:19Nobody confessed.
19:20They're like, I'm not gonna.
19:21Not the first day nor the second day.
19:23Not gonna admit that I just knocked out Moana.
19:26Probably a good idea.
19:27Oh my god.
19:29Um, you know, speaking of Moana, um, have you ever been recognized in a really strange way?
19:35Yes, multiple times actually.
19:37When I'm buying, when I'm in a grocery store, it always surprises me.
19:41Like I'm buying beans, or like sometimes I'm buying tampons, and it's just like,
19:45like people are like, oh my god, you're Moana.
19:50And I'm like, in this instance, can I say no?
19:53But yeah.
19:55Yeah.
19:55They're always very sweet about it, and I usually have to direct them away from,
19:59you know, the background of tampons before we take a picture.
20:03Right, right.
20:04They're very sweet.
20:04I speak to a lot of actors who have people come up to them and say,
20:08you're, who, how do I know you?
20:11Right.
20:12And then you have to be, like, rattle off your entire resume to them.
20:15Uh huh.
20:15Yeah.
20:16What?
20:16Why am I doing this?
20:18Yeah.
20:19Well, I hope, I hope that nobody bothers you too much at the drugstore.
20:25Same.
20:26And just a final wrap-up question.
20:29What are you looking forward for people to see, or do you want people to feel a certain way when
20:34they see Rise?
20:34Or, you know, is there any, like, final thoughts on Rise and what hopes you have for it?
20:43Well, Rise is exceptional in its writing, and I think it's just going to connect with so many people.
20:50We touch upon so many diverse backgrounds in a number of ways.
20:56I mean, I can't wait.
20:58It's written by Jason Kadams as well, which, Parenthood and Friday Night Lights, which means
21:03I was going to say it reminds me.
21:05Keep the tissues in five.
21:05Exactly.
21:05Break them out.
21:06Break out the tissue box.
21:07I'm starting to think of NBC as the, the network that makes me cry into my iPad.
21:12Oh, of course.
21:13Oh, of course.
21:14On that, just.
21:16That's fine.
21:18Yeah.
21:19I hope that, honestly, like, that people who wouldn't, who didn't grow up in theater or who didn't really care
21:28for musicals or anything like that,
21:29I hope that they find a way to connect with this.
21:32Like, we can bring more of the non-theater nerds to the show and really find something that they connect
21:42with
21:42and some of the people that, you know, they just find the story close to their hearts as it is
21:49close to ours.
21:50Yeah, definitely.
21:51That's lovely.
21:52And, uh, as young people, do you have any causes that you'd like to champion just right now?
21:57Um, at this moment, I, um, I am a full sport of, um, United for Puerto Rico.
22:05But at this very moment, um, yeah, I'm also, I love, uh, it's called, you go, because I'll remember it
22:13in just a second.
22:14Um, there's a couple of, like, different things.
22:17Of course, United for Puerto Rico, um, also, uh, Autism Speaks.
22:22That's a, that's something that I really, um, plan on getting heavily involved with.
22:27And then, um, there was, uh, a local shelter back in my hometown called Noah's Bark that I wanted to,
22:36like, bring back.
22:37It was very heavily on, like, the Pitbull community.
22:41Um, that's, those are, like, the three things that I really want to, uh, oh, no, there's, uh, also PH
22:48Aware,
22:49which is a very, very good organization, um, for, uh, pulmonary hypertension.
22:55They do a lot of great work with, uh, with fundraising and trying to find a cure for this disease.
23:02So, like, there's a lot of, um, different charities and organizations that I really want to be a part of.
23:08And then, uh, the other one that I...
23:10Finally remembered.
23:11Finally, it's Opening Act.
23:13Opening Act helps to include, uh, after-school programs, um, specifically, like, theater-based programs into schools that have low
23:20graduation rates.
23:21And it gives students, um, a safe place to learn and to be after school and to do their work.
23:28And if they're interested in, you know, pursuing college, then they'll help them with college applications.
23:32And it's just a really wonderful community to, to help and to support other children.
23:37Like me.
23:38Fantastic.
23:39Damon and Ali, thank you so much for being here today.
23:43The show is Rise on NBC.
23:44Check it out.
23:45Bye.
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