The following interview for Backstage’s on-camera series The Slate was compiled in part by Backstage readers just like you! Follow us on Twitter (@Backstage) and Instagram (@backstagecast) to stay in the loop on upcoming interviews and to submit your questions.
Kevin Quinn’s star is on the rise. He had a stint on American Idol at age 15, and soon after was booking gigs at Steppenwolf and Chicago Shakespeare Theaters before moving to Los Angeles and working on Disney Channel’s “Bunk’d.” He now stars in the Netflix movie “A Week Away,” and is already looking towards the future: He hopes to someday produce his own content like industry role models Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio. Quinn sat down with Backstage to talk about his journey, how he booked his latest musical film role, and why you should never take the job too seriously.
He describes “A Week Away” as a faith-based “High School Musical.”
“My character Will is a juvenile delinquent who finds himself at a crossroads: either go to a Christian summer camp or attend juvenile detention. He obviously chooses the Christian summer camp, and along the way he meets a special girl, he meets a new best friend, and he finally finds a place where he belongs. So that's kind of the gist of it, and we've thrown in a bunch of musical numbers. It's basically a faith-based ‘High School Musical.’ ”
A CD’s 6 Tips for Getting Cast on the Disney Channel The film allowed him to marry two of his passions: singing and acting.
“It was really fulfilling for me, creatively. Acting and singing have always been kind of separate for me. I have my own artist project with Capitol Records going at this point, so that’s coming out pretty soon here. But I’ve just always felt like it was removed from the stuff I do on the film side. But it was pretty cool for me being able to combine the two, because it was just a completely new set experience that I had never done before. The process of making the movie itself is so much different when you have a musical as opposed to a drama or a comedy.”
He originally auditioned for the “bad guy” role.
“So I first auditioned for the role of Sean, and anyone who’s seen the film will know that’s kind of the bad guy, the antagonist. So I went in a couple times for that role, and I was offered the part, which was surprising, because I never felt like I related to it too much. So when they offered me the part, I was a bit surprised, I was like, ‘Can I get my hands on a script to read?’ I read through it, and I did that thing that actors do: they gravitate towards a certain character’s lines when they’re reading the script, and you kind of imagine playing it. And that just happened [with Will] throughout the whole script, I couldn’t avoid it. So I called my manager, and said, ‘Look, I don’t know what they’re looking for in this character, but I really think the better role for me and my personality is Will.’ And he said, ‘They’re looking for a Charlie Sheen–type; your hair is too light, and you don’t have dark eyes like that. They want someone a little grittier.’ And I was like, ‘Just give me a chance to audition and see if it goes further.’ And that was when I got the role.”
He’s learned that even after a “big break” there’s still work to be done.
“I think actors have a misconception that your first series regular role is going to be your big break. I think it’s work that elevates you in the industry’s eyes, but I’m not sure it’s always going to be a big break. The thing about Disney Channel is it was a lot of young kids watching at the time. That was the demographic, we were appealing to these young kids. And they were just starting to use Instagram, and Tiktok at the time. So a lot of these Disney Channel actors, we get large social media followings, but it's not always representative of our actual stature in the industry. I felt like even after ‘Bunk'd,’ I was working harder than ever to get the next role, because you can get put in the box, and you’ve got to prove yourself all over again. I felt like I had to do that after Disney Channel, and I’m always doing that, to be honest.”
READ: How to Get Cast on ‘Bunk’d’
His advice to actors: “Never ever take it too seriously.”
“I remember as a young kid, the first few jobs I ever booked professionally, even at Chicago Shakespeare Theater, I’d be doing my homework backstage because I had school the next morning. But I never took it too seriously, and I think that it helped me in my auditions, it helped me in my career in general, because I never saw it as a career. I never thought, Oh, OK, so this is my first professional gig, I’m now entering the entertainment industry. Here goes my career.’ I was just going along for the ride, and I think that’s actually helped me [take it] from hobby to career.”
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