“Beauty and The Beast” continues tonight on The CW and things are about to get even darker and messier for Jay Ryan’s Vincent.
The recovering super soldier with the cross species DNA, has been finding himself in increasingly messy situations since he met his beauty — Catherine Chandler (Kristin Kreuk), and in Thursday’s episode, things really heat up as Vincent’s bloody blackouts take center stage.
But while Vincent’s life is in turmoil, New Zealand-bred actor Jay is having a whale of time — his show got picked up for the season, and most recently, he even was able to enjoy a little break from the special diet and workout routine he took on to play the extremely well-toned character. (Click HERE if you need a visual.)
“It was my first Thanksgiving, so I went to town on pumpkin pies and turkey and all that jazz and I also did the Canadian Thanksgiving as well,” he told AccessHollywood.com on Wednesday night after completing a lengthy day of shooting. “Now I’ve gotta get back on the bandwagon the last three weeks before we hit Christmas!”
And while Jay films for three more weeks, fans get three episodes in a row, beginning tonight on The CW at 9/8c. But before revealing what’s to come, Jay shared with Access his reaction to the fan support that got the show the full season pickup.
AccessHollywood.com: What was your reaction when you heard the show had been picked up for the season? That must have been really exciting?
Jay Ryan: It was… It was kind of nerve wracking [and some waiting] with baited breath for it to get picked up. But it was really great because you saw this sort of surge in support from the fans when they realized it was crunch time: keep us on the air or lose us forever, and they really came through… And the ratings went up at the perfect time so we were really pleased.
Access: It’s nice to be able to have an impact, using social media to tell people when to tune in and to know when it’s important to tune in.
Jay: I know. I never used Twitter before I started the show and it’s amazing to have that kind of immediate response from fans and to see how some of them are so dedicated to the show and keeping us employed. So I try and give them as much attention as possible.
Access: This week’s episode is about Vincent’s blackouts. How much will we learn about them? We’ve seen him wake up already in a street, with blood on his hands, with no idea how he got there.
Jay: Yeah… Vincent is shocked at what he’s capable of, even though he’s not sure what he’s actually done. [He’s] sort of rushed to JT for an explanation because he’s the guy — usually — with the scientific answers, but even JT is floored at this one. What happens in the next episode is we open on Vincent again, almost in the same sort of state where he is scrubbing blood off his whole body in the shower.
Access: In the shower?
Jay: Yeah. He’s covered in blood and he has no idea what he’s done again and he sort of comes out and is trying to hide it from usually the one person he tells everything to – JT. I guess he believes he’s gone to his beastly instincts and he tries to hide it from JT, but JT finds a pool of blood and Vincent’s clothes tucked beneath his bed and he has to come out with it and say, ‘I have no idea what I’m doing, help!’
Access: Can we just say that Vincent puts JT through way too much. I think he’s going to have a stroke or something at a young age.
Jay: He is aged so badly, that guy, just because of Vincent’s antics, I think. JT has to go through so much, but he gets the best lines (laughs).
Access: Aside from his beast state, there’s the sweet Vincent who likes to spend time around Catherine. They’ve had their little chats, but he hasn’t even tried to make a move… It’s very Victorian era. You’re like Colin Firth in this.
Jay: I know! Totally (laughs). Look, I want it to move forward a lot faster than it has too, but I think the spirit of ‘Beauty and the Beast’ and that romantic element, we really are, I guess pushing the boundaries to take it back to that chivalrous kind of that treatment — that courting, But I think that the writers feel like that magic is going to be in that first kiss and they need to prolong [Catherine and Vincent from being together] as much as possible. There’s been many times when me and Kristin have [suggested] maybe we should think about throwing a kiss in in this? But we always get knocked back (laughs).
Access: It doesn’t have to be a kiss. They’ve spent a lot of time on the fire escape. They could have a cuddle.
Jay: Yeah, I know. I think Vincent’s so scared of intimacy though. And he’s kind of one the guys whose not gonna make the first move ‘cause he hasn’t been with a woman for like 10 years.
Access: And she’s also out of practice too.
Jay: Yeah, he needs to go online and figure out how it’s done on Google or something.
“Beauty and The Beast” airs Thursday night at 9/8c on The CW.
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