NW Magazine
Meet the cast of Young Americans, the new series set in a boarding school and lakeside town that brings together five teenage friends. While not a direct spin-off of Dawson's Creek, the character of Will was planted in a few episodes to create a link between the two shows.
1 Will Krudski
He's the Dawson of the series, except Will's a budding writer rather than
filmmaker. Will is a local boy with an unstable home life who won a scholarship
to the Rawley Academy, an exclusive school for boys, by cheating on his entrance
exam. However, he quickly proves his worth and redeems himself. Will actually
appeared in a few episodes of Dawson's Creek, as a boyhood friend of Pacey's.
...played by Rodney
Scott, 22
This is the first lead role for Scott, whose own father was jailed when the
actor was 15. "One day I came home from school and caught him doing cocaine,"
says Scott. "Later, he moved on from coke to crack, and started stealing
stuff." These days, Scott's pretty happy with his life. "If those things
hadn't happened, I wouldn't have had the desire to go out and follow my dreams."
2 Scout Calhoun
Scout is the charismatic rich kid who was born with a silver spoon in his
mouth. He has everything he could ever ask for, except local girl Bella. It's
love at first sight for Scout and Bella - and then they learn they share the
same father.
...played by Mark
Famiglietti, 21
Due to all the chest-baring Scout is required to do, Mark Famiglietti runs 60km
every week. "I was fat growing up," says Famiglietti. "That's why I'm always
eating protein bars and then working out a lot." Scout is the un-official
pin-up of Young Americans.
[I beg to differ.]
3 Bella Banks
Bella, Will's childhood friend and half-sister of Scout, is the
economically-challenged spunk of the town. She works in her stepdad's garage
pumping gas, and spends a large amount of time sneaking peeks at her
love-that-can-never-be, Scout.
...played by Kate
Bosworth, 17
At 17, Kate is the only actor in the series who is actually in her teens.
Kate's big break came when she won the role of Judith in the film
The Horse Whisperer.
Still at school when filming Young
Americans, Kate found herself living more
of a student life on screen than in real life. "I missed my prom, as I was
working," she says. "But I got to dress up for an episode, and someone made it
so that it looked like my prom."
4 Hamilton Fleming
The son of the school principal, Hamilton is a bit of an outsider, who is
attracted to fellow student Jake, which make Hamilton think he might be gay.
Little does Hamilton know (or not yet, anyway) that Jake is actually Jacqueline,
a girl who's passing herself off as a boy.
...played by Ian
Somerhalder, 22
Former Versace model Ian says he enjoys acting as a teen, because he didn't have
a proper adolescence. Of his character's relationship with boy/girl Jake, Ian
believes viewers will relate to the dilemma. "I think there's a lot of sexual
confusion at that age," he says.
5 Jake Pratt
The Harley-riding computer hacker who masquerades as a boy to attend Rawley.
Neglected by her actress mother, Jake (real name Jacqueline) uses her skills and
her mother's credit cards to enrol herself in schools up and down the east coast
of the US. However, why Jake wears a bra under the corset she squashes her
breasts down with is a bit of a mystery.
...played by Katherine
Moennig, 23
Moennig, who's Gwyneth Paltrow's cousin, has spent most of her career behind the
scenes of theatre productions, as well as having made a few as yet unreleased
films. The actress is philosophical about auditioning for another boy/girl
role, the one that went to Hilary Swank in the film
Boys Don't Cry.
"I was up for that, so when I got this role months later, my family was
psyched. Everything happens for a reason," she says.
Young Americans, 8.30pm, Tuesday, Network Ten