I spoke with Randy Wayne about his character, Justin in The Lying Game, The Dukes of Hazzard: The Beginning, his upcoming films, and so much more. It was a pleasure to speak with Randy and I can tell you that he has an incredible sense of humor. I’m sure he is an absolute blast to be around and he certainly has some pretty funny stories to share. Don’t miss the mid-season finale of The Lying Game on ABC Family. You can follow Randy Wayne on twitter @iamRandyWayne.
Lena: I saw Frat Party this weekend on Showtime, yeah (laughing).
Randy Wayne: I’m sorry. You know, we all make mistakes and that one was mine.
Lena: Hey, it was a paying job.
Randy Wayne: That long hair period of my life was a little reckless and I wasn’t doing the work that needed to go into it and I didn’t even read the script. I got an offer and I auditioned and it was all good. I didn’t even think it would be released and now it’s on Showtime like every other day.
Lena: Was it supposed to be a comedy because it really wasn’t funny?
Randy Wayne: (Laughing) Yeah, the writing was really bad and I didn’t get my lines right because I was being stupid and I was learning as I was going and because they had limited time, it was all just kind of a big mess. Everything was bad about it.
Lena: I did like your long hair, though. You are a natural blonde, right?
Randy Wayne: Yeah, I’m glad someone liked it.
Lena: You’re lucky. I’m so jealous of natural blondes. I did like your long hair and it went great with your blue eyes.
Randy Wayne: Thank you.
Lena: Let’s talk about The Lying Game. I have a lot of fan questions for you about that show. Justin seemed like a decent guy but we found out that he may be up to something shady, so what can you tease about Justin’s ulterior motives and his relationship with Laurel?
Randy Wayne: I think that Justin is new in town so no one knows anything about him, so I don’t think he wants to spill everything about himself right away. He needs a little time to explain things. I can’t give too much away but basically, I think there is all this hesitation because you can’t expect someone to spill their guts right away.
Lena: Since you definitely don’t look your age and I would consider it an honor but your fans want to know if it is challenging to play a teenager?
Randy Wayne: It’s fine and here’s the thing to me, people have a hard time with someone older playing younger but we are actors playing people that we are not all the time, whether it is young playing old or old playing young. I’ve played a drug addict and I’m certainly not a drug addict. We are playing characters, so it doesn’t really matter as long as people buy it when they watch it. No, it’s easy since I have been doing it for so long. I’ve been playing in high school for seven years (laughing).
Lena: What is your take on Justin?
Randy Wayne: I love it. I love the character so much and he’s got a lot going on that I think is interesting. He’s one of the more interesting characters on the show and it’s cool because he’s such a good guy and he’s also got his things that he is keeping secret right now. I think people are going to be shocked when they find out what it really is. It’s more than one thing. It’s fun to play and keep things secret and try to have a good life.
Lena: How would you compare Justin’s high school life to your own high school experience?
Randy Wayne: They don’t compare. I played sports and he played sports, so I guess that is comparable. I was a pretty good swimmer. I had a lot more friends than Justin. Justin doesn’t have any friends and he’s new in town, obviously. He’s so whipped by this girl Laurel that he doesn’t have any friends. No one talks about that but that’s what is weird to me. Everyone talks about the things that are happening and they bring up the reasons why but why doesn’t he have any friends? Why is he always with Laurel? Why is he so whipped?
Lena: And he doesn’t have a home.
Randy Wayne: He doesn’t have a home and I had a home. I was not with anybody and I had lots of friends. That’s the difference.
Lena: Were you the prom king at your school?
Randy Wayne: No way. When I was a sophomore I was trying to be preppy and I was always worried about what people thought. It was really difficult because I cared about what I looked like all the time and I quit baseball and started swimming. When I did that, I just kind of changed who I was in a good way and I stopped caring about what everyone thought. I just started to have a good time and was more free spirited and from that point on, I started to really enjoy high school. I wasn’t into high school functions really.
Lena: What is your advice to students that are subjected to bullying?
Randy Wayne: You have to speak up. A document came on last night that I didn’t get a chance to watch all of it but all of the things that you hear and see, you just have to speak up about them. If it happens to you, don’t be afraid to talk to adults, a counselor or other people at school. Just put it out there because if it’s out there, it will stop. It has to.
Lena: Is it difficult to relate to your teenage fans from the show?
Randy Wayne: No, I love it. I think sometimes when I get recognized, I’m happier that they recognized me than they are. I love it. I was a teenager and I have been playing kids for so long that I’m not far from it. Usually most of my co-stars are around that age, so I get it.
Lena: Can you talk about what it is like on set and working with the cast?
Randy Wayne: It’s cool and everyone takes their job very seriously, so they are not big on goofing off on set. It’s fun, though and everyone respects each other. I’m trying to loosen the set up a little bit. I did my first prank and I’m going to try to keep the pranks going for a little while. I love working with Andy Buckley, he’s hilarious. You are trying to keep the drama and all he wants to do is make us laugh. It is fun working with Allie because she’s a lot like me character wise, just quirky and fun. It is fun hanging out with Kristen on the set and we have a million inside jokes and everybody gets annoyed by us.
Lena: Blair is my favorite.
Randy Wayne: He’s a pretty good dude. He’s a great guy and he is a lot like his character. He’s a guy’s guy.
Lena: You have a lot of films coming up like April Apocalypse with George Lopez.
Randy Wayne: Yes, we just shot that. I think it will be a little festival darling. It’s like a romantic dramedy that takes place during a zombie apocalypse. It’s an indie film but there are comedy things to it.
Lena: The one that seems really exciting to me is Liars All with Torrance Combs.
Randy Wayne: I had tried out for the lead role but Matt Lanter got it but the producer really like me, so they wrote a role in for me. I have a scene with Sara Paxton and Matt as well. I play a British banker. I get a little feisty and I do my own thing. It’s a really fun movie.
Lena: How is your accent?
Randy Wayne: Well, here’s the story, it can be good but when I booked it I said I want to do a British accent and they said no, just do your American. I did my American even though I wanted to do British because it only made sense. Then they called me back and they want me to do my lines with a British accent. I have to work on it a little bit.
Lena: I don’t know how you guys can do that.
Randy Wayne: I don’t know how we do that either.
Lena: (Laughing) So, will it be your first accent?
Randy Wayne: It could be a terrible accent by the way. I’ll probably end up doing an Australian accent on accident.
Lena: I love Australian accents. They are the best.
Randy Wayne: It’s sexier, right?
Lena: Yes, definitely. I don’t care what the guy looks like if he has a nice Australian accent, then he is awesome.
Randy Wayne: I’ll work on one and I will call you back later (laughing).
Lena: (Laughing) There you go.
Lena: You are also playing a skateboarding teenager in Hardflip.
Randy Wayne: Yes, I feel like I’m Doogie Howser. It’s a drama but skateboarding is kind of what the kid does to getaway. John Schneider plays my dad and Rosanna Arquette plays my mom. It’s kind of a faith based skateboarding move, so it has its audience. It’s coming out in February.
Lena: How is your skateboarding?
Randy Wayne: It’s funny because I just got an offer to audition for it and I booked it and it was shot and there wasn’t a lot going on and I may not have to skateboard at all. I have never skateboarded in my life and then I told the director four days before and he told me that they got me all these great doubles. I know the basics of it but I asked him if he wanted to know if I was goofy or regular footed and I told him I was goofy. All of the doubles were regular. I can actually skate now and I can do an Ollie. That’s about as far as I got with it. I skateboard around town now. That’s my transportation.
Lena: It’s not fun when you hit a rock.
Randy Wayne: Hey, let’s not jinx me. I longboard sometimes and I hit a rock and have gone face first.
Lena: You also do some writing and you wrote Placebo. Is that coming out?
Randy Wayne: Placebo is the first thing that I produced. I came up with the idea for it and we didn’t have any money and we shot a film for fifty thousand dollars. Now, what we have is a really cool short film. It’s not going to come out, I don’t think. I’m writing a new film with the same guy and we should be shooting that, depending on my acting schedule, in March or April.
Lena: You are working on so many projects.
Randy Wayne: Honey 2 is also coming out here in February. I’m looking forward to that.
Lena: Do you do a lot of dancing in that?
Randy Wayne: About six or seven dances.
Lena: I have to ask you about The Dukes of Hazzard: The Beginning.
Randy Wayne: Awesome. That is the most fun job I have ever done.
Lena: Did John Schneider talk to you about that when you were filming the movie with him?
Randy Wayne: Yeah, it was a really funny moment because I was in John’s car, it was one of those classic cars, and we were going to set one day and I played Luke and he played Bo and he was just the navigator. He didn’t really drive much, so we were driving in his Corvette and I was in his passenger’s seat and I was telling him how to get to our next spot. It was kind of a surreal moment and so strange. It was a really cool moment. When you are a kid you watch that character and then when you get to play one of those two characters, it’s just amazing. The only time I’ve been star struck in my entire life is when I saw the General Lee in person. We had a full day of stunt driving the car, sliding across the hood and jumping in the windows. It was a full day of practicing that.
Lena: How many bruises did you get from that?
Randy Wayne: None but the guy that played Bo probably got fifteen hundred. He was so uncoordinated and it was fun trying to watch him get into the car. He’s 6’2” and I’m 5’10”, so it was a little easier for me.
Lena: Talent: The Casing Call, can you talk about your character in the web series?
Randy Wayne: Talent is by Alloy Entertainment, who makes Vampire Diaries and some of the writers from our show. Alexandra Chando plays my co-star and I play a music A&R guy. It was a fun role, I get to play an A&R guy in his early twenties and I got to make out with Alexandra Chando, so that was really cool.
Lena: Are they going to air that on TV at all or is it strictly web?
Randy Wayne: Strictly web and it actually got picked up for two more seasons. It starts shooting again this March but Alexandra and I can’t do it because we’re on The Lying Game, so they had to write us off.
Lena: The Lying Game reminds me of Pretty Little Liars and it’s funny because I’ve interviewed Tyler Blackburn, who plays Caleb in that show. He’s the homeless kid and you’re the homeless kid, so I guess I get to interview all of the homeless kids.
Randy Wayne: You want to hear a cool story. I met Tyler when I think he was 15 or 16 and we both had started acting at the same time and we went to acting class together. He was like this little sophomore in an acting class with 20 year olds. He’s such a cool guy and easy going. It’s cool to see him years later, working in the industry and successful.
Lena: Yes, he is really nice and seems very sweet. He has a web series, too (Wendy).
Randy Wayne: Yes, from the same company, Alloy. They have good taste.
Lena: Is it different shooting something just for the web than it is doing something for TV?
Randy Wayne: Yes and no. I did a couple before Talent: The Casing Call and it was a comedy and was very low budget. Talent actually has a decent budget and a big crew, so it was exactly like taping a TV show. The other ones had a very indie feel to them.
Lena: What are the top two movies that you think people should check out?
Randy Wayne: Mallrats and Kalifornia with Brad Pitt and Juliette Lewis.
Lena: Those are great movies.
Lena: How about two movies that you are in that are your favorite and that you are most proud of?
Randy Wayne: To Save a Life, I think every high school student should see that, it’s actually about bullying. I think Honey 2 came out pretty good. I’m pretty happy with that. It’s coming out in February, in theaters.
Lena: Definitely not Frat Party, right (laughing). That definitely wouldn’t be a movie for people that like you in The Lying Game.
Randy Wayne: People come up to me and say, “I loved you in Frat Party, it was hilarious.” That’s just a courtesy gesture.
Lena: (Laughing) Yeah, yeah I would say so. I can kind of fluff things sometimes but…
Randy Wayne: I did this movie called Cougar Hunting right after Frat Party and the big guy is my co-star in that film as well and we did those two movies in a row and they are both just horrible.
Lena: Did they even the score in Cougar Hunting because in Frat Party it was just naked women, no men?
Randy Wayne: In Cougar Hunting I have like four butt shots but I somehow worked it where I never had to have any. I do wear a Speedo in pretty much the whole movie, so it’s kind of weird.
Lena: This is something that I have to ask you, when I was looking for pictures to include with the article, I came across a picture of you that looks like you are looking for your keys (in the wrong pocket) (laughing).
Randy Wayne: (Laughing) Um, it’s funny because a lot of people I know have seen that photo and I don’t know how it got online. That picture was taken about nine years ago but I was just adjusting and he was like, look up and so…I was just a naïve guy that just moved here and I was like, this looks good, okay cool. I think it is hilarious and I love it. People look at it and it makes them uncomfortable. That is the most amazing thing ever. Especially guys, they will look at it and go, “oh, geez I don’t want to see that.” I’m like, you can’t see anything so relax. I’m just adjusting myself like every man does and I just happen to have like a really smoldering look on my face while I am doing it.
Lena: (Laughing) I know, it’s so funny.
Randy Wayne: You can just put my response as, every guy adjusts himself but I just want to make it look good (laughing).
Lena: (Laughing) Well, there you go. You didn’t have the long hair so figured it wasn’t a screen test for Duffy.
Randy Wayne: (Laughing) No, that was about eight or nine years ago.
Lena: All of your fans are going to be upset that the mid-season finale is coming up (Oct.17th). They are going to have to wait for new episodes.
Randy Wayne: Everyone can check out To Save a Life. You’ll watch the movie and will finish it wanting to be a better person. It makes you really question where you are in life and what kind of person you should be.
Lena: That sounds like a good movie and I will have to check it out. I think your horror movies, Ghost Town and Grizzly Park are going to be on cable again soon.
Randy Wayne: Ghost Town would be on Syfy and Grizzly Park would be on Chiller. I actually like Grizzly Park and people hated that movie but I think it’s awesome. I’m into it. I play a really cool character.
Lena: Do you get to play a bad guy a lot?
Randy Wayne: No, maybe three or four times. I do play unfortunately, the douchebag a lot. It’s the blonde hair and blue eyes.
Lena: Thank you for your time.
Randy Wayne: It was a pleasure talking to you.
THE LYING GAME
Randy Wayne Interview
Justin Miller in The Lying Game
Honey 2 Coming February 2012
The Lying Game Airs Monday Nights on ABC Family
October 16, 2011
By Lena Lamoray