From 90210 to Days of Our Lives kissing guys is just part of the day job. Freddie Smith, a boy from Ohio, comes to Hollywood to be an actor, so goes the story. Landing commercials and other TV appearances eventually land him as part of the beautiful cast of the revamped 90210, playing Marco, the love interest of the gay character Teddy. As he is on that show he gets another audition. This time on the English telenovela Days of Our Lives, where his character Sonny ends up being gay as well. If there ever is an actor worthy of the male starlet title Freddie is it. Who else lands dream jobs kissing hot guys on TV? Lol You go lucky Freddie. You can catch him now on Days of Our Lives and don’t be surprised if he also ends up behind the camera cause Mr. Smith has a passion for directing and producing. Enjoy my chat with one of the luckiest guys in Tinseltown Mr. Freddie Smith.
Samara: What’s your secret to having made it in Hollywood?
Freddie: I would have to say consistency is the key in anything you are doing. I just have to stay consistent. Kept my head above water the whole time. And just audition and audition and put in the work. And you know it’s paying off. I would just say consistency. And working hard.
Samara: Tell us about your daily routine to get to work?
Freddie: Waking up about half an hour before I have to be there. Cause I can go there in my pj’s for the most part cause they take care of everything so… I’ll go there. I get breakfast at the commissary. Get my hair and make-up done. Then I go to work. If I get off early I head over to the gym. And then everything after that is just always up in the air. It’s always different. I spent most of the time with my friends just hanging out. We’ll go out. We’ll go to Runyan Canyon sometimes. Just go to like some cafes. And we’ll go to a bar at night. So it’s kind of just hanging out. I work for the most part all the time.
Samara: What studio do you guys tape at?
Freddie: NBC.
Samara: Had you been a faithful viewer of the shows you’ve gotten to be on?
Freddie: Ahh, I wasn’t. I was very aware of both of them. And had seen maybe an episode or two. But I wasn’t like a tune in every day and watch it. So it was kind of cool to be on the show and kind of learn everything that’s been going on for forty-six years. So it’s crazy learning all the history of all the characters. It’s a lot of fun catching up on all that.
Samara: How was the process of you getting cast on Days?
Freddie: It was a pretty big process. I went in six times to read. And then the seventh time meeting with the cast. They brought eight of us. And we did scenes with Judi Evans who plays my mother. And then Chandler Massey who plays Will. We had a chemistry test with them. So there was eight of us. And we all went and did a scene with them on stage and the [luckiest]one was the one that was picked.
Samara: And how did it feel?
Freddie: Honestly, I had such instant chemistry with both of them that when I left I felt pretty good. Like I was like “I have a really good shot.” I was really proud of myself. I put in so much work and just the chemistry I had I just felt like the mother son relationship and then with Chandler too we just hit it off right away. I could just tell that we were gonna work together. It was the greatest feeling. That was after I got the call but I knew I did a good job.
Samara: So confidence has a lot to do
with it?
Freddie: It really does. After being put down so many times you just kind of get used to it. So when you do a good job and you get it like “yes!” I probably went on four hundred auditions. So when you book maybe fifteen things like you can see the number games. So it just takes confidence.
Samara: Has it been a conscious decision playing gay roles?
Freddie: Ahh… it just happened actually because I auditioned for Sonny when I was on 90210. And I was just finishing up. And the character was a different character. It was I think a character called Ryan. And then on the third call they switched the character to Sonny. And they were telling me, “it’s going to be a gay character now.” If I was afraid. “I’m playing a gay character now on 90210, let’s do this.” So it kind of just rolled into one another. So it was a good transition.
Samara: What do you think of the writing of the gay character story line and your character on DOOL?
Freddie: They took it slow at first. Which I actually think is very important to get everyone to know Sonny. Cause you know it’s a huge step bringing a gay character on a show after forty-six years. And I think them taking their time, and I’ve said this before and it’s such a good point that I realize. When I first did interviews on the show it was like the first gay character, the first gay character. Now fast forward to six months later people are saying, “now Sonny, your character Sonny.” It’s so crazy that people now see Sonny as just Sonny and how him being gay is just a small part. And that’s what’s important. They took time but now from here starting today Sonny has so many storylines and their not tip toeing around the gay storyline. Like they’re going for it. It’s so well written. It’s just amazing!
Samara: How far in advance do you know about your story line?
Freddie: Yeah, we get it, I’d have to say, about a week in advance. So we never know where it’s going. That’s what’s kinda interesting. It’s like in a movie. You can look at the character from beginning, middle, end. Your work starts, your work finishes. But on daytime we get the scripts. They always start at the beginning. So you just kind of taking day by day going along with the character but you don’t know where it’s gonna end up. Which is kind of cool too because it just keeps a surprise everyday. You know it’s a lot of fun. I can’t wait to get the scripts cause there’s so much going on right now. So it’s great.
Samara: How long do you get to memorize lines?
Freddie: Ahh… If I work on Wednesday, I’ll start on Sunday. I give myself three days with every episode. Just to fully understand it cause we have to be prepared when we get there. We do one or two takes and that’s it. So it’s just very professional that everyone (everyone does it on the show) comes very prepared. And we just knock it out. And that’s what we do. We have a great team over there. It works well.
Samara: And are you good at memorizing your lines?
Freddie: Yeah, I’m blessed with a photographic memory. And it helps when you play the same character cause you have an understanding. This is actors talk right here but when you know the emotional background of the character makes it so much easier to memorize the lines because you know everyone you’re talking about. When you say Gabi or Will I don’t have to make this people up in my mind. I like know them, the things they’re talking about. You know when you’re playing the same character over and over it actually helps when you get to know them, know the character and it becomes easier as you go, about memorizing. If that makes any sense.
Samara: So what’s in store for Sonny in the near future?
Freddie: We have some romance coming up. Sonny and Will’s friendship continues to build. They get closer and closer. And also this week he’s gonna have a run in with a gay basher. A character that’s coming back that’s gonna gay bash him. It’s a great couple of weeks integrated with other things. And its gonna be interesting to see how Sonny and the other character both react and the family and friends.
Samara: What other projects are you working on now?
Freddie: As of right now I’m focused on Days. I’ve been working a lot on there so I spend all my time in there. And you know I’m auditioning here and there. But with my busy work schedule it’s kind of hard to do anything else anyway. I’ve been enjoying just having steady work and having a wonderful storyline and telling the story. So I’m very happy where I am.
Samara: Do you have facebook or twitter?
Freddie: I have a twitter. My twitter is @FreddieMSmith.
Samara: Alright perfect I’ll start following you then.
Freddie: Awesome! Yeah.
Samara: What last words do you want to say to your LGBT fans?
Freddie: Thanks for all their support. They’ve been such a positive… You know, they’ve really helped the storyline happen by being so interested and supportive and passionate about this. And I just can’t wait for them to watch this story. And it’s just important that the LGBT community has storylines like this too cause years ago they didn’t. And that’s why I’m happy that so many shows are doing this storyline now. Thanks for the support. And I’m hoping that they really enjoy what we’ve been doing over there for the upcoming months.
By Samara Riviera