Cliche Magazine April/May 2018 | Page 29

Micah and I are like real brothers. And honestly, we became that way very quickly. I met him for the first time at the pre-network table read and he and I just clicked. He has a great sense of humor and laughs at all my stupid jokes, but he is also genuinely one of the nicest people I have ever met. The cast and I don’t treat Micah any differently than each other because he is just an actor at work like we are. We hang out on set in between takes and go to movies pretty often outside of work, He is a great guy and WAY nicer than JJ [laughs]. I think we developed the brotherly dynamic on the show very quickly. Speaking of which, like all brothers, JJ and Ray's relationship can be a little contemptuous at times! They like messing with each other or enjoying a joke at the other's expense. Do you and Micah ever prank each other on set? I love to make Micah laugh on set. Sometimes we have too much fun and start laughing uncontrollably when we are supposed to be focusing on the scene, but our set is so much fun, it never feels like work. I am a big prankster and love to sneak up and scare people. Micah will literally jump five feet up out of his chair if you scare him. It is SO funny. Ray recently started a romance with Taylor, a girl who also has a special needs brother and who appears, thus far, to be as loveably dorky and weirdly enthusiastic about long-term financial planning as he is. How would you like to see their relationship develop in future episodes? This is a tricky question to answer because since we wrapped filming on season two last week, I know a lot of info on this subject and I have to be very careful not to give anything away. I will say this season has been a roller-coaster in the Ray-Taylor romance with lots of ups and downs. One of my favorite parts of the development of the storyline is that it has allowed Ray to find some long-overdue self-confidence. They are a great match.... Or are they? As far as where I would like to see it go? I trust the writers to do what is right for Ray, but I am very good friends with ultra-talented Sedona James, who plays Taylor, so I would be excited to have her back for a third season! Something that Speechless does really well is pairing unexpected characters together. Is there any particular character that you would want to see Ray interact with? I am just going to come out and say it... our writers are the best in the business! It would be so much easier to keep storylines separate and link the obvious characters together week after week, but they keep it creative. It makes sense for Ray to have story lines with each of his parents and siblings but having a Ray-Kenneth storyline is out of the box. Our storylines have turned out to be among my favorite episodes – especially the one when Ray and Kenneth are in charge of Thanksgiving. I want a storyline with the nut job teacher, Mr. Powers. His character makes me laugh out loud. A Ray-Mr. Powers storyline would be a blast. If people only take away one message from watching Speechless, what should it be? From day one, Scott said to us, and the press, that he did not want “Speechless” to be the heart-warming “After School Special” TV series designed to teach people about disability. He wanted to create a funny show about a funny family. Unfortunately for Scott, his writing is so good that you can’t help but get the feels when you watch our show. At the end of each episode I want people to think, “I just laughed for 21.5 minutes (without commercials) and never once thought about the fact that one of the characters is in a wheelchair and can’t speak.” That would prove that, without even trying, we can see people as people and not people with disabilities. www.clichemag.com Photographer: Leslie Alejandro | Stylist: Erica Mer | Groomer: Sean Harris I put myself out there 100% with each audition, meeting, and role I play. 29