"Wildfire" co-stars (left to right) Ryan Sypek, Genevieve Cortese, Nicole Tubiola & Micah Alberti

Season four of the ABC Family hit television drama Wildfire, starring an ensemble cast including Genevieve Cortese, Ryan Sypek, Nicole Tubiola and Micah Alberti, picked up six months after Kris (Cortese) and Wildfire’s desperate participation in an illegal match-race. Kris, Matt (Alberti), Junior (Sypek) and Dani (Tubiola) are all headed in very different directions, as they make decisions that affect everyone around them, and learn what it is they want out of life.

 

The show's four young leads spoke with MediaBlvd Magazine about what’s in store for their characters in Season 4, as well as where they hope their careers will go in the future.

 

 

 

Born in San Francisco, Genevieve Cortese plays Kris Furillo, a juvenile delinquent who left her past behind when she went to work at Raintree, where she grew, both as a jockey and as a young woman. With theater always in her heart, the 27-year-old adventurer is hoping to one day return to the stage, but for now is content with her work in television and film.

 

Genevieve Cortese> I have been acting since I was a little kid. My grandmother would bring me over to the theater in San Francisco, starting when I was three or four years old, and we’d watch plays and stuff. I grew up around it, and went to the American Conservatory Theater. My mom jokes that, when I was 7 years old, I was sitting in the back of the car saying, “Mom, we have to move to Los Angeles. I have to do this.” And, she was like, “No. Join local theater. We’re not moving.” So, I’ve always had a real love for the theater. I grew up just watching theater and really loving plays and really wanting to be a part of that, and my grandmother really got me involved in it.

 

Genevieve> Yeah. I went to Tisch School of the Arts at NYU and, the year I moved out to L.A., I got the show. I auditioned for a couple pilots that season, and I think it was the first one that I really went in and tested for. I fell into it pretty quickly. But, it was the normal process of auditioning, with all that good, fun, nerve-wracking stuff.

 

Genevieve> I really identified with it because there were a lot of things about Kris that really made sense to me. First of all, she’s from the Bay Area and, specifically the East Bay, which is where I lived until I was 13. I understood where she was from and what that was like. I understood horses because my mom grew up with horses and we moved out of the Bay Area because my dad wanted to be a ski bum and my mom wanted to have horses. My mom had this love of horses and, through her, I understood all that. In terms of Kris, I really understood her need to gain a sense of identity and her independence. I moved around a lot as a kid, when I was growing up, and I really understood that need to find your own voice and claim your own independence. That just made a lot of sense to me. And, I really identified with the tomboy aspect of Kris because I played soccer. I played competitive sports, so I loved that aspect as well.

 

Genevieve> Yeah. I actually had to kiss them both at the audition. It was really weird. I read with both of them. I first read with Ryan, and then I read with Micah. I think Nicole did the same thing because it was between me and Nicole, and it was between Ryan and Micah. We were in a boardroom full of executives and we were making out with two random people.

 

Genevieve> I was shocked. Originally, there were four girls up for Kris, including me, and two boys up for Matt. I was told, “Oh, it’s between you and another girl,” and I didn’t know who it was. And then, I was just told I was cast. I don’t think it was until we all showed up that we knew who was who, and how things went. We were all pretty shocked to see each other there, but it was cool because we went through it together. We all bonded through that.

 

Genevieve> It was never wishful thinking. We all had this sense that we were going to be there for awhile. It’s the only show I’ve ever been on, and all I can say is that we have such great chemistry and they are all such great people that maybe that seeped through when people watched it. We have so many different audiences. There are the people who love horses, the people who love the love triangle, the people who love the adventure. We have so many different elements that people can identify with. And, we have an adult storyline as well. Because there’s so much going on, people really understand. There’s a reality, but there’s also a fantasy to it as well.

 

Genevieve> During the pilot, we bonded a lot. Nicole and Ryan, especially, formed a close bond because the pilot wasn’t so focused on Dani and Junior. They’re very close and remain great friends. And, Micah and I are really great friends. We travel and do stuff together. We play practical jokes together and laugh together. We’re always around each other when we’re filming, so you get to know each other. You laugh and cry with each other, and watch each other go through stuff.

 

Genevieve> Actually, I started working with horses the moment that I started auditioning, just because I wanted to make sure I had the background to back myself up. And then, once I was cast, I moved out to New Mexico a couple weeks early, and started training with the horse wranglers. At first, it was all Western. We knew that Kris was going to develop into a jockey, but we just didn’t know when, and that didn’t really come in until Season 2. I worked with a professional jockey for that kind of training, and it was more about strengths and stuff because you use different muscles that you just didn’t realize you had. Your inner thighs are just insane when you’re up on a horse because you have to balance and tuck your knees in. You’re barely fastened onto this animal. It’s crazy. I feel like horse racing is a lot different than any other equestrian sport because you don’t have the same bond. In the other sports, it’s a closer, more intimate bond. Whereas, with horse racing, you’ve just got to win the race. It doesn’t seem as team oriented, whereas most other sports are more team oriented. But, obviously, my character has been through so much with her horse that it’s more of a special thing.

 

Genevieve> Season 4 is cool. A lot of fans are going to be really excited. Our characters have grown so much. About six months has passed between Season 3 and Season 4, and Kris is in a much more adult place in her life. She’s really growing up. And then, she gets re-introduced back into Raintree, back into the racing world and back into the family world. When she’s on her own, she had to challenge those ideas of who she is, and what family and the people in her life mean to her. When she comes back, she has to face that. You see how she grows up and what she deals with. And then, in terms of relationships, she really has to figure out the right choice because it means a lot more, at this point. It’s not just some silly crush, it’s a bigger deal.

 

Genevieve> I had no idea. We had to film it so many times with so many different people and so many different scenarios in mind. It was funny. And then, we ended up re-shooting it for Season 4, when we knew who it was going to be.

 

Genevieve> It was great. It honestly felt like a whole new thing, and I really enjoyed it a lot. It’s tough when you’re in the same situation. You think, “How can I make this cool and creative? How do I get stimulated? How can I make it interesting?” It was so nice for me to be filming inside, which was really great. On top of that, it was great to be in a whole new location. And, a lot of it was second unit, which is great because it’s a lot less people and a lot more fun.

 

Genevieve> We’ve really grown intimate with our characters. And, like the characters, we’ve grown up. We all started with hardly any experience, and our characters were also really young. We all grew.

 

Genevieve> The biggest thing I learned is that it’s not all about one particular thing. There’s a whole crew, and a whole group of people, that are behind you, who support you. A whole bunch of people work together to make this happen, and it’s really important to realize that you’re part of a team. I don’t know if I’ll ever work with such a great team, as I have on this show. The woman in the wardrobe department has become my second mother, and the make-up artist and I still text back and forth, even though she’s living in Phoenix. Such wonderful people have taken such good care of me. We’ve all supported and taken care of each other, and I don’t know if I’ll ever find that again. You just have to have a good attitude, have fun and be professional.

 

Genevieve> Sometimes. The most difficult part is that a lot of people think I’m a lot like my character. And, there’s definitely similarities, but we’re very different. At the same time, it’s cool that people recognize me because, for the most part, it’s young girls that really like the show, and I’m so appreciative of that. It’s really nice to get great feedback.

 

Genevieve> The most rewarding part is to acknowledge that I have a certain responsibility. Whether or not you like it, being the lead on a show, you have a responsibility to be a voice, and that’s been really great. Through that, I’ve been able to do some cool volunteer programs, which has been so rewarding for me. I went to college for acting, and I’m doing exactly what I’ve always wanted to do, since I was four years old. For me, that’s just incredible. The most challenging part is working 16 hours a day, out in the freezing cold. On a TV show, you don’t know where your character is going to go because it’s constantly changing. On a film, you have a beginning, a middle and an end, whereas on TV, it’s constantly changing. It can change just because the viewers or the network didn’t like something. And, it can be really tough to always be ready to fight for your character, but also be able to be malleable, and change and compromise. It’s also hard to keep it creative and stimulating because you’re doing the same thing, day after day. That can be very challenging.

 

Genevieve> I don’t know. Kris has been through it all. This season has been really cool for me because she goes through a whole transition. She really develops into a woman, and that was really nice.

 

Genevieve> Yeah, absolutely. With a background in theater, you can do anything. You realize that you’re one part of the puzzle. You’re part of a team, and I love that. I love being on my toes. The greatest thing in theater is that you can fuck up, but you change it and make it into something else. It’s all about being present, whereas sometimes in TV or film, you can not fully be present. I would totally do theater, in a heartbeat. I think it’s great.

 

Genevieve> It depends. Sometimes we film back to back and, when that happens, I travel. One season, between seasons, I traveled and went to Machu Picchu. And then, I moved to Paris one season. This season, I live in New York and L.A. I go between living in New York and getting stimulated creatively, and then I’m in L.A. and I’m trying to get more work.

 

Genevieve> Overall, if there’s a cool character that has a certain need that I can relate to,  I think it’s great. As long as I can make a great contribution and it makes sense to me, then I’m all for it.

 

Genevieve> It really wraps everything up. I would be happy, either way. I’d be happy if we ended it because I feel like it was a great season with a nice ending. But, there’s always more possibilities, and I would be happy to go back. These people are just amazing and it would be a lot of fun.

 

 

 

Massachusetts native Ryan Sypek made his television debut as Junior Davis, a rich kid with attitude to spare. With a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Boston University, where he honed his craft, the 25-year-old Sypek is hoping to expand his career into more film work, but would also be more than happy to do another television series once Wildfire is finished.

 

Ryan Sypek> I grew up in a town called Wayland, Massachusetts, which is about 20 minutes outside of Boston. I started acting in school plays when I was in 6^th grade because a teacher recommended me. She said, “You read aloud well. You should audition for the play.” It was the last thing I ever really thought of doing, but for some reason I did it, and I just fell in love with being onstage and performing. So, I kept on doing plays throughout school, just for fun. And then, when I was auditioning for colleges, I thought, “I’m going to audition for a couple of theater schools and see how I compare to the rest of the country, and see if I can get into them.” I got into Boston University’s program, which is a really good program. I thought, “I’ve got to try it. I’m going to be so mad at myself if I never try it.” So, I went to school for acting and did the 4-year program at Boston University. It was probably in my freshman year at school, when I was at the conservatory programs, acting all day, that I realized that it was definitely something that I wanted to commit myself to, if I could do it as a living.

 

Ryan> Yeah. I moved out to L.A. in August of ‘04, and then I booked Wildfire in November. I just got really lucky. It was almost pre-pilot season. I’ve never actually done a pilot season. Usually pilot seasons stretch around January, but they were doing pre-pilot seasons for some of the cable shows. So, we got scooped up before any of the network’s pilots started.

 

Ryan> I was just trying to get a job. But, I thought the pilot for Wildfire was really good, and it had a lot of potential. Originally, I auditioned for the role of Matt, and I liked that character too. But then, when they told me that they wanted me to come in again for Junior, and they were going to rewrite his character, that’s when I really felt it click. I understood where they were going with it, and where I wanted to go with the character, and it just felt right. It was cool.

 

Ryan> I definitely felt like I could identify with Junior. Also, there was a little bit more of a comfort level, since I had been going in and meeting everybody, and I had already gone through a lot of the audition process, with the casting for the role of Matt. So, when they wanted me to come back in, I was just like, “Yeah, whatever.” The stressful part was over, so I just got a chance to really play around, and that was helpful.

 

Ryan> I like Junior, so I didn’t feel like I had to make sure everyone else likes him. I was playing him how I saw him. I didn’t think he needed to be an asshole all the time. He’s a lovable dickhead. He’s the lovable spoiled kid because there’s something good about him, and I think people can see that. But, he’s still got this shell that’s just so annoying, at times.

 

Ryan> I never thought it would be this successful. I was just so happy to book the job and get a chance to do some work on film, and be able to call my parents and say, “Those four years were worth it.” The coolest part for me was just knowing that I had a job. Four seasons after that has just been such a bonus. It’s been so fun. I just feel so lucky. In terms of the show, there is a good amount of variety. There’s not too much drama, and not too much action. It’s a good mix for a whole bunch of people to watch. Parents can watch it with their kids, most of the time. It can also be a really exciting show for kids to tune into, especially if people are into horses at all. There’s not too much on television about horses.

 

Ryan> The four of us went down to New Mexico a couple weeks early, before we started shooting the pilot, for horse training. When we got down there, they told Nicole and myself that we weren’t ever going to ride horses, so we were just chilling all day. We really had nothing to do while Micah and Gen were taking riding classes and doing all this stuff, so Nicole and I had a lot of time to just bond with each other. We were just living in the hotel, so we would go out to lunch and go out to dinner and go to the bar, after we had hung out all day. I felt like we got really close in that time before the pilot, and then we’ve continued to be friends afterwards. I got really lucky, having her cast as my sister.

 

Ryan> It’s been great. It’s awesome to get a chance to work with different actors. Everybody on the show adds something different. Getting a chance to see how Dennis Weaver worked, when he was still with us, and seeing professionals like Nana Visitor, who plays the mother on the show, or Greg Serano, who plays Pablo, or even James Read, who plays my dad, I’ve seen how everybody has their own style and their own way of working, which is really cool. You can take little bits and pieces that you like from everybody and add them to your repertoire, or you can understand that that’s not how you want to act or deal with stress at work. I just try to take it all as a learning experience and get better. Hopefully, I’ll be able to keep working.

 

Ryan> I had absolutely no idea. I’m from right outside of Boston, and we don’t have much horse racing over there, or farms or anything like that. This was as far away from my lifestyle as could be, so I definitely had to do some research. I’ve learned a lot about that whole lifestyle. It’s a big part of our country. It’s been interesting to learn about.

 

Ryan> Season 4 has got some pretty definitive answers for viewers, in terms of some of the big questions that we’ve left people hanging with, over the past couple of seasons. There’s big talk of a wedding. The big thing that the writers went for this season was the whole wedding theme.

 

Ryan> I think Junior has definitely grown from being totally stuck up to becoming more of a man and being able to think for himself, and not just doing whatever his father says. He’s more his own person now. He doesn’t necessarily believe everything that his family does is right. And, Kris has been a big part of that change in him. He’s more jaded now, too, because of the situation with Matt, and Matt hooking up with the love of Junior’s life. It seems weird to have a best friend that does that. So, his guard is up, in terms of friendship. He’s just been on a weird roller coaster these past couple of years, and he’s ready to figure things out for himself, when the season starts. He wants to get his life back on track.

 

Ryan> I feel more comfortable in front of the camera. I know how I’m supposed to work with the camera to make everybody’s job easier. The best thing I’ve learned is just understanding how the film process works. Before I got this job, I had done theater and student films, but nothing of a professional caliber, so the biggest way I’ve grown is in understanding the film process and understanding how to act on film, as opposed to onstage.

 

Ryan> It’s always cool when we get someone new. There’s a whole new energy and someone new to play off of, which is fun. In terms of Laura coming in, it’s always nice to have Junior get away from his obsession with Kris for a little while. There’s times when you feel like she could just walk all over him and he’ll just take it and still be in love with her. It’s cool to have Junior stand up for himself and say, “I’m going to find someone myself. I can live without this girl.” That’s a good, empowering thing.

 

Ryan> I tried to be friendly and show her around. But, everyone is really nice on the show. I don’t think it’s too much of a hostile environment for people to come into. We’re all pretty relaxed.

 

Ryan> Right now, I’m up for anything. I really like doing television. I like the comradery aspect of it. You’re with the same people for so long and it really feels like a family, going to work every day. You get a real good sense of community. I just shot a movie this summer, and I loved doing that, too, and it was a blast, but it felt like, right when I started to know everybody and was getting everybody’s name and starting to become friends with everybody, it was like, “Okay, that’s a wrap. You’re out of here.” I think they each have their advantages. Right now, I just want to keep working. But, I’d definitely like to do TV again.

 

Ryan> The biggest challenge has been keeping it fresh throughout four seasons, with a lot of the same themes running through the show each season. I always try to make each scene feel like it’s new. It’s always hard doing those scenes where you’ve got to pretend you’re watching a horse race. Those can be painful days. It’s just been amazing to have a job and to be a working actor. It’s something I’ve been dreaming about for awhile. It’s the best. I can’t really ask for much more.

 

Ryan> Yeah, I’d like to see Junior do something wild again, that’s totally out of character for him, like the bull riding thing. I love doing all that action stuff. Any chance for me to do something crazy again, like get on a bull, would be really fun.

                                                                                   

Ryan> They wouldn’t let me ride them, but they let me get on and get all strapped in. And then, we’d cut to my stunt double, who is a professional bull rider, riding the bulls. I’d do all my close-ups on a mechanical bull. It was really fun. It was cool. I’d love to do something like that again.

 

Ryan> Oh, totally. I love getting to be physical. I got to do some trampoline work for getting thrown off the bull a bunch of times, and that was so fun. Any chance I have to jump around, or whatever, I’m there.

 

Ryan> I’m always auditioning for stuff, so it’s just a matter of getting the job or not. But, I got really lucky this off season. I got to go shoot a movie, called Major Movie Star, down in Louisiana, and that was really fun. It’s Jessica Simpson’s new movie, hopefully coming out sometime this year.

 

Nicole Tubiola (left) and Ryan Sypek (right) in a scene from Season 4 of "Wildfire"

Ryan> It was great. It was so fun. It’s cool to be on a set and understand how everything works. To know I was doing my first movie was just a blast for me.

 

Ryan> Honestly, she’s much shorter than I thought she’d be. She’s tiny. I had never really met her before. I think I opened a limo for her when I was parking cars. In terms of her personality, she was a lot more down-to-earth and normal than I thought she’d be. She was just a really nice girl with a hilarious family. We all got along really well and had a good time while we were down there in Shreveport.

 

Ryan> I’d love to get a chance to do comedy. Comedy is definitely where I’d like to be. I’d love to get the chance to do some totally weird character. Off-the-wall, physical comedy is my favorite type of acting. Hopefully, someday, I’ll get to do something like that.

 

 

 

After guest appearances on such television series as Boston Public, The District and The Steve Harvey Show, Arizona native Nicole Tubiola was cast as Dani Davis, the spoiled rich girl who has proven herself to be a fierce businesswoman and shrewd negotiator. Juggling new motherhood (she and her husband, New Zealand actor Kieran Hutchison, have a baby boy) with a burgeoning acting career, the 28-year-old is excited to be making her acting dream come true.

 

Nicole Tubiola> I’m from a small town called Bullhead City, Arizona. It’s close to Laughlin, Nevada. It’s right across the Colorado River. I’ve danced since I was a little girl, and I had always loved being onstage and performing. I think that I always knew that I wanted to be an actress. When I was three years old, I used to look in the mirror and say, “Is this my happy face?,” and then I’d smile really big, and then I’d say, “Is this my sad face?,” and I’d make a real sad face. My mom says that she knew, from the time I was little, that I wanted to be an actress, but I kept that to myself. When I was 17, I graduated early, and I heard on the radio that there were some agents in Las Vegas, looking at people. I went to this open call thing and they liked me, and so I moved out to Los Angeles for that next pilot season and decided to give it a shot, when I was 18 years old. I had to learn a lot. I thought it would be a lot easier. But, acting is just something that I always knew I wanted to do. I didn’t really want to say anything until I got to L.A. and started doing it.

 

Nicole> Oh, definitely, there was a point in time where I thought I’d give it up. I had been in L.A. for a couple years, and I had done a few things, but it wasn’t really going how I had imagined it to go. I really thought that I’d just come out and get a TV show or a movie, and it would be easy. Maybe I thought that because I came from a small town where, if you’re interested in something, you can pretty much achieve anything you want. So, a few years in, I thought, “Well, maybe this isn’t my thing,” and I went to FIDM, which is the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, to see if I could get into their program. And, as I was walking out of the building after the interview, I went, “Nope, I’m giving it another shot. I’m not going to give up on acting yet.” Something in my heart just told me to keep on pushing forward, and I did, and it was pretty quick after that, that things started happening more. You have to make that decision, within yourself, to stick it out and not give up. As soon as I did that, things rolled into place. Not that they totally rolled into place, but they got better.

 

Nicole> I came to Wildfire through the regular auditioning process. It was actually a two-hour movie-of-the-week, back door pilot. And, there was something special about the script. I really felt an immediate connection with it, maybe because it was about horses. Not that I love horses, but all girls have an affinity for animals. And, it was about this girl that really believed in something and wasn’t perfect. I really felt a connection with the project and really wanted to be a part of it. And, I think a part of me knew that, in some way, I would. I feel like I went in and attacked it in the audition, in a way that maybe I don’t always do, because I just felt like it was something I was going to be in. Thankfully, it came about. Originally, I auditioned for Kris, and it came down to me and Genevieve, and they went with Genevieve. They called that night and said, “We want you to be on the show. We want you to be Dani.” I was actually a little scared because I felt something for the Kris role and I wasn’t really even looking at Dani, at the time. But, I’m so glad that they said, “You must be a part of it,” because I thought, “You’re right, I must be a part of it.” And, it’s worked out great.

 

Nicole> Dani has evolved. In the pilot, there wasn’t really much to go on. I made up my own little back story for her, but I had to wait to find out who Dani, as a character, was going to be because the pilot didn’t really tell us much. She was in a few scenes, but there was no real character development, so all I really knew about her was that she was rich, she was in love with Matt and she didn’t like this girl stepping on her turf. In every season, I learn more and more about her. As soon as that first season started, and I started thinking, “Oh, this is who she is,” I was so excited. Dani is such an interesting character. She gets to be everything and anything that she wants to be, so it’s great.

 

Nicole> I never really saw her as the “bad girl.” I would say that it was fun to play the “bad girl,” but I never thought that she was a bad person. I don’t think that you can judge your character. You’re just there to play it, and the audience gets to judge whatever they think the character is. I certainly thought that she did some questionable things, but in order to play the character, I had to come up with reasons and justifications for that. I really did think, and I still do, that she’s a misunderstood character. She tells it like it is and, a lot of times, that can come off as harsh, whereas she just thinks she’s being honest. It’s evolved. In the first season, she really wasn’t that likeable. And, as we got towards the end of the first season, she became more likeable because we got to see more of her. When the first script that you open has her doing something for, seemingly, no reason, out of nowhere, when she tries to get Kris put back in jail, of course she’s just going to seem like a horrible person. As the seasons have gone on, we’ve gotten to see the soft inside the hard of Dani. It’s interesting because most of us wrestle with that. I know I do.

 

Nicole> I hoped that we would be here, four seasons later. And, I hope that we get to be here for more seasons. The lovely thing is that we have amazing fans who just like our show and stick with us through, sometimes, a crazy amount of time between seasons, and keep watching. It’s thanks to them. I think our show is made for them, and it’s a blessing for me, certainly. I feel that the reason the show has done so well is because of the horses. It brings something different that’s not on TV. We’re doing a country show, and there’s not a lot of those. We have the country with the sizzle as well. We have our soap opera aspects that go on, too, but ultimately we’re just a down-home show, and we have heart. That strikes a chord with people because it could be their lives.

 

Nicole> Ryan and I just clicked, from the very beginning. For the pilot, we were all in this hotel in Albuquerque. Ryan was originally up for the Matt role, and I was up for Kris, and we both got cast as Junior and Dani from those auditions. We just hung out most of the time because neither one of us had to work much, during the 6-week, 2-hour movie-of-the-week shoot because we only had a few scenes, but we couldn’t leave. They wouldn’t let us leave Albuquerque, and we didn’t have rental cars, so we just hung out all the time. We had lunch and dinner and drinks. We had rooms that were right next to each other. And, we really did become brother and sister. There was never any kind of romantic feeling because I was married, and he knew that, and he had a girlfriend, at the time. We were playing brother and sister, and there are no feelings for each other because we are both completely separate, so we just became brother and sister. I call him “my brother from another mother,” and we’re still very close. His birthday is my actual brother’s birthday. It was all very strange. My relationship with him is the best thing that has come out of this experience for me. I don’t think it’s often that you make great friends like that. I consider him family.

 

Nicole> I did. Originally, Dani was going to be an English rider, or a Hunter jumper. They weren’t sure which she was going to be, so I did research on both. But, it just never really came to fruition for Dani. They started it in the first season, and then it just all fell by the wayside. I trained with horses a bit, and did all that, but it never really became Dani’s thing, so I didn’t really have to worry about it too much.

 

Nicole> Times are changing, over there at Raintree and Davis Farms. I think that everything is coming around, full circle. At the end of Season 3, Dani was kicked out of, and left, Davis Farms, after her brother set her up. And so, she’s just trying to find out who she is right now. She considers herself to be alone. She doesn’t have her family, and the love of her life died in Season 3, so she’s just back to business and figuring out what she’s going to do with her life and how she’s going to piece it back together. Her sparkle has been kicked out of her a little bit and she’s looking to reinvent herself, and she does, successfully. So, a lot changes for Dani this year. Now, personally, I miss old Dani a little bit. If we get a Season 5, I hope everything will come full circle.

 

Nicole> The character has grown because she is realizing her own power, and that she doesn’t need to be controlled by her father or her family, or what they or anyone else think of her. She’s just learning to be her own woman and not compromise herself too much. Dani also realizes that she did some questionable things and she wants to fix that, but she doesn’t want to change who she is. She’s just stepped into womanhood. And, as far as I go, I’ve changed a lot. This experience has been so rewarding, on so many levels. I had worked prior to Wildfire, but to have that consistency and a safe place to try new things and put yourself out on a limb, which can be a scary thing to do, as an actor, and have everyone be supportive of you doing that, has been an amazing experience. And, I’ve made some great friends, especially with Ryan. It’s changed who I am. When I first started shooting the show, I was young and just married, with stars in my eyes. Now, I am a woman too, kind of like Dani. I’ve had a baby and a lot has changed, and it’s all been for the better.

 

Nicole> I prefer when the stories are good and when the writing supports the action. I don’t care if she’s evil, or if she’s the nicest girl in the world. I just like to play something that makes sense. Thankfully, I’ve had the opportunity to play so many things with Dani. I’ve had the opportunity to play mean, vulnerable, nice, happy, sad, in love, out of love, mad. I get to play the whole range of emotions, and have a supportive environment to do that in, which has helped me a lot.

 

Nicole> The man that I wanted Dani to end up with died in Season 3. I would like to see Dani end up with someone who is her equal, and who matches her in strength and conviction, but who also loves her. I think she deserves someone who appreciates who she is and isn’t intimidated by it, and loves her all the same. Who doesn’t want that?

 

Nicole> The biggest challenge is probably that it shoots in Albuquerque and my home is in L.A. Even though I have a house in Albuquerque, my family and the majority of my friends are in L.A., so that’s been a challenge, just to gear up to go out there, once or twice a year. Albuquerque is a great city and it’s really refreshing and lovely, but L.A. is my space. The most rewarding thing about being on the show is just the opportunity to act every day, and create something and be a part of a creative environment. All of the actors work hard and want to be good, so it’s been very rewarding, just being around people who love it as much as I do.

 

Nicole> I would like to see the Davises explored a bit more. We’re there, but sometimes, just when we get into the good stuff, it veers off into another direction. I’d like to see the dynamic between Dani and Junior and their father explored more. Sometimes we’ll see Dani and her dad, and Junior won’t be a part of it. And, sometimes we’ll see Junior and Dani, and their dad won’t be a part of it. I’d like to see the whole family unit, and what they mean to each other, explored.

 

Nicole> When we were shooting Season 4, I was pregnant, so I haven’t really had to balance it yet with the new baby because he was born after the season ended. I have an amazing husband who also understands what it’s like to be on a show and to act. We’re really supportive of each other, and we have our little system down for how we’re going to approach these things. We know that the most important thing, above acting, is our relationship and our family. That’s priority for me, and that will always be priority for me. I don’t care if it’s Spielberg or Wildfire. I know what’s #1 in my life. And, maybe that makes me a bad actress. I don’t know. But, my husband and my family are what makes me truly happy, and anything else is icing. They’re first and everything else is second.

 

Nicole> It was nice having him there. At first, I was a little scared. I didn’t want us together as a couple because I thought people would put something into it or think that we didn’t seem like a real couple. And then, as soon as he got there, I thought, “Oh, I wish they’d make us a couple,” because we just get each other. We understand what the other one is saying, we know how to help each other and we know how to act together. We hear what the other person is saying and we don’t need to think about what they’re saying because we get it. Now, I wish that we would have gotten the chance to act together, and I really hope that some day we do get the chance to act together. We work on a lot of things together, on the side, so I think it will happen one day. But, I wish it could have happened with Wildfire.

 

Nicole> Yes and no. I think that I’m at a point in my life where I’m not going to just take anything anymore. When you’re starting out as an actor, people always think that you chose to get that role. No, I didn’t choose to get it. I got it and I was thankful. It didn’t matter if it was a crappy horror movie, or one line on a show. When you’re trying to build a career, you’ll take whatever it is, just for the experience of it. Now, I feel like I’m in a place where I’m not going to be doing that anymore because I don’t feel like I need to. But, that being said, I’m still job to job. I’m auditioning for jobs, and I have to get a job because we need to support our family. As far as being worried about whether my kid sees me smoking or cussing, or doing any of those bad things, I don’t think that they’ll see me in those roles until they’re old enough to get it. It just comes down to the part. If it’s a good part, I’m pretty much willing to do anything. But, it’s about how good it is now, not just about it being a job, so I must take it.

 

Nicole> Wildfire has been a very confusing schedule because we haven’t been like normal TV shows with a predictable hiatus. We’ve pretty much been at the mercy of the season. Sometimes, we’d shoot two seasons a year. So, we never knew if we were going to have a 6-week hiatus or a 3-month hiatus or a 5-month hiatus, like we’re having now. It’s difficult to look at scripts and say, “Oh, this is something I’m definitely going to audition for,” because if it starts shooting three months from the end of Wildfire, we could be shooting another season of Wildfire, and they won’t let us do both. So, it’s been difficult to become involved in other projects, other than as a guest star, because we’re in a contract and we never knew when we were going to be shooting again. We knew if we were picked up, but we didn’t know how long the hiatus was going to be, and producers don’t really want to take a chance on that. But, now, we’re just hanging out. We’re involved in the writer’s strike, which puts a kibosh on a lot of things. And, we don’t know whether or not we’re picked up. It puts pilots on the back burner because we can’t go out for them.

 

Nicole> Anything good attracts my attention. I look forward to playing all kinds of roles. I feel like I’ve really just gotten started. Dani was my first big step into this business. I did do other things, but this was the first time I got to find out who I am, as an actor. And so, now I’m hungry for more and I can’t wait to find out what I can do, and see where I want to be. I’m excited to know whether or not we’re going for another season, so that we can just really go full-force, and either move onto the next thing or get right back into Wildfire mode. Right now, I’m in limbo.

 

Nicole> The quality of our show, and most shows on ABC Family, is exceptional. They’re really trying to do something different, and speak to people, and they’ve done an amazing job at it. Some of the shots on our show are gorgeous and, a lot of times, you don’t find those on network shows. We have these gorgeous locations and a great cinematographer and D.P., and great directors. I’m shocked by it. I remember thinking, “Oh, it’s ABC Family, it’s going to be schlocky kid’s fair.” But, reading the script, I knew that, if they did it right, it was going to be really good. And, they did it right. They hired all the right people. The great thing about ABC Family, and I didn’t know in the beginning how they were going to be, is that the thing they take very seriously is that family is not defined as mom, dad, brother, sister and white. Family is defined as everything. In our show, and most of their shows, there’s a wide range of ethnicity. You have single parents, you have people with no parents and you have family coming out in forms that are found in the real world. It’s refreshing, and I’m thankful for it. I wish that more people knew it. I wish that more people would take the chance on ABC Family, give it a watch and realize that they’re really taking chances on things.

 

 

 

Country boy Micah Alberti plays Matt Ritter, the partial owner of Raintree, who is still in love with Kris Furillo, even though she ran off to start a new life for herself. After trying his hand at modeling, the 23-year-old from Wisconsin discovered that acting was more his calling, and his been focused on his career ever since.

 

Micah Alberti> I started modeling in Madison, Wisconsin, when I was about 13 or 14. I pretty much fished out the market in the Madison area and eventually said, “What is the next step?” The next step happened to be Chicago. But, Chicago said I was too short and didn’t meet the criteria of a real model. So, I just went back to the drawing board and thought, “Okay, what’s my next step here?” And, we went to the IMTA, International Modeling and Talent Association, competition and I did a couple monologues and met a bunch of people. I tried for the modeling and the acting, and it turned out that I got 30-some callbacks for acting and only one or two for modeling, so I thought, “Okay, maybe this is a different door that I should walk through.” I met my manager in New York, when I was 15 or 16. He introduced me to a couple people, and I met my agent then. I didn’t really think this whole acting world could be a possibility until I met a professor at Northern Illinois University. My manager introduced me to her. She was awesome. She just lit a whole new flame under my tail and it really gave me a whole new respect and understanding of what acting is all about.

 

Micah> I think the atmosphere of being around the photographer and the lights, and being in that space, was a big help. As far as modeling itself, standing in front of a camera helped, knowing what angels helped and knowing not to have your chin all the way down, and stuff like that, did help. But, acting is a whole different ball game because you have to bring emotion and you have to have personality. It goes above and beyond what pictures do. When you’re a model, a lot of people say, “Oh, honey, you’re cute. Just keep the mouth closed and stand there and take pictures.” But, in acting, it’s a whole different ball game.

 

Micah> It was. I got a call from my agent saying, “Hey, there’s this audition for this horse show, and I think you should try out.” I said, “All right, let’s give it a whirl.” I actually read the sides and went in for the audition, and completely bombed it. I was in the audition, shaking like a leaf. I had been acting for awhile, and I had booked several other jobs before this one, so I don’t know why I was so nervous and timid. They just said, “Okay, take a deep breath. Take your time. Nobody’s rushing you.” It was just those few little words that settled me down. And, from there, they said, “Great job!” As soon as they gave me that note, I calmed down and fell into it. They just said, “We’re going to have you come back for a callback.” And, from then on, I just did better and better, and eventually booked the part.

                       

Micah> What drew me to the show, most of all, was that the character was a lot like me. I grew up in Wisconsin, in a small town of 7,000-8,000 people. I was surrounded by the same atmosphere that Matt is surrounded by, which was a big help. On Saturdays, I would help my friends with chores on their dairy farms. As kids, being in the country, you have imaginations that can create anything, and I think that helped with Matt. Not only did he grow up with the background of the horse family, and working on chores and being around those kinds of animals, but he has an imagination. He has goals. I have friends in New York, and friends in Texas who are complete country boys, and there’s just a difference in a person who grew up in a city and a person who grew up in the country. I was fortunate to be the person who grew up in the country. I had a lot of girlfriends who rode horses, and I love horses. Hopefully, down the road, if everything goes as planned, I would love to have a ranch of my own, eventually. That is a big goal because I love horses that much. I would love to start my own ranch.

 

  

Genevieve Cortese & Micah Alberti in a scene from Season 4 of "Wildfire"

Micah> Always. Ryan, who plays Junior, auditioned for Matt, and he and I actually met at the audition. I remember him coming up to me and looking me in the eye. I’m very anti-social when it comes to auditions. I just like to be in my world, do my thing and leave. And, he came up to me, during my audition, while I was getting psyched. I had my head down and I was totally pumped, and he came up to me and said, “Hey, man, good luck!” I was like, “Are you kidding me? Good luck? You’re trying to throw me off my game, man!” I totally got psyched out. And then, later, I got to know him and realized that it came from the bottom of his heart, and he was very genuine. I just thought it was cute that he and I were auditioning against each other, and he did just as well as I did and booked the other lead. I just thought it was fantastic, the way it worked out.

 

Micah> I had no idea it would go four seasons. I think everybody hoped and really prayed that it would go longer, but I never thought it was a true reality until it actually happened. There are a lot of hoops that a show has to go through, to just get picked up for a first season, and then for a second season. It seems like you’re always trying to get up to the top of the water for air. By the time you hit the fourth season, you’re a well-oiled machine. The crew, the actors, the producers and the directors know how everything should work, and it just turns out to be more of a routine than work. That’s one of the key ingredients in why the show has been so successful. Our crew is fantastic. I’ve worked on a few things and this is one of the best crews I’ve ever worked with. I can’t tell you how many people I’ve met on my set that are going to turn out to be life friends, and I can’t tell you how thankful I am for that. That comes across in our performances. If you have a crummy day and people are sour to you, and you’re not having as much fun as you could, I think that comes through on camera. That’s one of the first elements that made the show so successful. But, it also has to do with the family. We’re taking this show back to the essentials of television. One of the big issues with Wildfire was figuring out a way to do the show so that it could appeal to everybody. Being on ABC Family was a big help because their demographic is young families and people who love encouraging, wholesome television, and Wildfire was perfect for that audience. It has the difficulties that families go through, in day-to-day stuff, like “How do I pay this bill? How do I do this? How do I do that?” Our show tackles a lot of those life issues. A lot of times, Hollywood can blow that out of proportion and you’re like, “No way! That can’t happen in real life.” But, some of the things in Wildfire do happen, and that’s what helps bring an audience in. Everything is very real, and we tackle those real issues.

 

Micah> Of the four main cast, I’m the youngest one on the show, by two years. Everybody else could drink, but I couldn’t. So, we came up with other activities. I remember that, one day, we rented a car and the four of us just explored the neighborhood. And, a couple of people stayed for Thanksgiving and we just had a good time. We’re at that age where everybody can bond, we can all talk and we all have things in common. That really helped the comradery of the show, and it really helped our relationships off and on camera. Ryan and I are close. We love football, we love to snowboard, we love to talk. Gen loves to snowboard. Nicole is an amazing person. Everybody is so sweet and so kind. It’s not like you get out of bed and you’re like, “Ugh, I have to go to work.” You go to socialize and have fun, and that really comes across on the show. It comes across on camera. When you get there and everybody’s in a good mood, it just portrays itself.

 

Micah> Not specifically. I haven’t really gone and figured out how much feed I need for the horses. I know that you need a lot of land, the proper barn, the feed and you have to know your vets. I know that there are a lot of steps to go through. As far as I know, the first step is finding that land, and then being able to go forth from there.

 

Micah> Working with Nana is so real, you don’t have to act. I’ll see her in make-up and she’ll just scowl at me, and I’ll think, “What’s the deal? She knew I was speeding here. She’s mad at me because I didn’t put my dishes away.” I feel like my mother is actually looking at me, when she looks at me. With just one look, she has me begging for mercy and forgiveness. She just has this motherly feeling about her, and she’s an amazing woman. She and her family have opened her doors to all of us actors. Her family is so amazing. She brings a lot of what she does in her own family to Jean Ritter. I’ve watched my mom and I see things of my mom in Nana, and that always helps too. And, the way Nana works, she commands her role and she really knows what she’s doing. When you have someone like that, and you know when you’re working off that person, they know how to play that mental tennis game, it’s just easy. Nana is just so easy to work with.

 

Micah> When I work with Gen, it’s a riot. We never stop goofing around. We keep in touch, off the show, and we hang out in L.A., all the time. She’s like a sister to me. Anything you can do to your sister, I can do to Gen, and vice versa. A fart machine on set, while we’re doing a scene, was always a riot. We just goof around and try to make each other laugh, at all times. She’s a real sport for that. I grew up in a family of boys. I have two older brothers and my dad, and we’re big practical jokers. We really enjoy giving each other a hard time. What’s cool about Gen is that she can dish it just as much as she can take it. That always helps the relationship, on and off camera. And, she’s so dedicated and driven to really work on her part and make sure it’s whole. She carries the same characteristics that Nana has. When you work with someone who’s talented and who knows what they’re doing and can play the mental tennis game, it makes your job much easier. You just work off each other. And, she’s an amazing woman who opens herself up, so that you can play that game. It’s hard when you have an actor who doesn’t open themselves up, emotionally. It’s a tough thing to do, and Nana and Gen are two of the very best that I’ve worked with. They’ve really been awesome.

 

Micah> No way. Just take a look at her. She’s absolutely stunning. It does not make it hard to do those romantic scenes. It’s not like I’m hitting on her, or anything like that. We just get the job done. But, you don’t have to twist my arm. And, I hope she feels the same way. There’s a lot of jokes and a lot of laughing, but we get the job done. When two people are professional, you have nothing to worry about, even for outside relationships. It’s just a job, and it’s just part of your job description. That’s it. You run into people, every now and then, who get worried about the kiss, but it’s just part of the job.

 

Micah> I think Season 4 allows Matt to grow, as a man. He’s fumbling with what he really wants. He’s never sure what’s going on with the Kris situation. It’s always this on again, off again feeling that he has for her. The tough part is that Matt finds out who he truly wants to be with. He sticks his neck on the line for a lot of people, and he’s sometimes slapped in the face with the harsh reality of life. There are a lot of trials and tribulations of how Matt overcomes things and how he learns to roll with the punches. Matt has to go through a lot of life lessons and have a lot of growing up experiences that really say, “Get your head on straight, get your head out of your butt and start thinking about what you have to do to keep the farm alive and be true to your friends and family.”

 

Micah> I’ve grown leaps and bounds. To be able to be in front of the camera, every day, for almost four years is an invaluable experience. I’ve gotten to work in front of great actors, like Nana, Gen, Ryan and Nicole. I was lucky enough to work with Dennis Weaver. Not many people can say they worked with Dennis Weaver. He played my grandfather. I remember that he came up to me at the network audition and said, “Are you nervous?” And, I thought, “This old guy is asking me if I’m nervous. I don’t know who he is. He’s weirding me out. I’m in the zone.” I had no idea who he was, but he walked in so cool and calm. Then, he came out and said, “Best of luck to you. You’re going to do great. You’re going to get this part.” And then, I found out who he was and how he was going to play my grandfather. When he was alive, we shared a trailer with each other, and the lessons I learned from him alone were invaluable. He was a fantastic actor and he really knew what he was doing. I was very thankful to be able to work with him. And, from being in front of the camera, working on the material, getting prepared emotionally and physically and learning how to ride horses, I’ve found out what it takes to really form your character in a circle, and know you character inside and out. To know how to make a character, and to be that character for four seasons, is an invaluable gift.

 

Micah> As an actor, you want to play and have fun, and let your imagination run wild. You want to become a kid again. And so, those big dramatic scenes where you can cry, scream, yell, punch, kick and do anything you want to do, I’m all for that. That’s all about discovering the character and the scene, and really going in deep and understanding the guts of the scene. I love those kinds of scenes, where you can sit down and really chew in the fat of why you feel this way, why you’re here, why you’re opposing this person, why they’re looking at you that way and why their emotions are that way. You have to look at point-of-view. There are a lot of things that dramatic scenes allow you to do, but no small scene should be overlooked. Every scene has a purpose, and you should have purpose in every scene. But, I prefer the scenes where you’re just allowed to play and have fun with it.

 

Micah> I’m most grateful for the relationships I’ve made, the experiences I’ve had and just the time to be able to grow up. Getting this job at 19 or 20 years old, and being 23 years old right now, I’ve tackled a lot of life experiences, as a person. To be able to do that on a show, and really grow and have the character grow, has been the most rewarding thing for me. This has been my biggest stepping stone. I look forward to continuing to grow, but I’m grateful to be able to be on a show for three or four years and just grow. That’s an invaluable gift and I can’t be thankful enough. As far as the challenges that I’ve gone through, it wasn’t like I didn’t want to do the challenges. They were fun things that I could overcome, so I wouldn’t look at it as a negative thing. A lot of guys don’t really cry all that much, but I’m a fairly emotional guy. If you take me to The Notebook, I’ll cry like a baby. But, when it comes to a scene where you have 30 people on the crew and 30 extras, and you have to cry in the middle of that scene, that was one of my biggest challenges. It’s not a negative, but it’s just something that I’m happy I experienced, even though it was a difficulty. To be able to tap into your emotions and be able to cry in the middle of a scene with all these people there is a difficult thing. That would be one of my biggest challenges.

 

Micah> In four seasons, Matt hasn’t had much of a goal. I would like to see Matt really latch onto something fun and exciting, and just go for it. And, I want to see him rewarded for it, whether it’s money in his pocket, or the girl, or some kind of success. It seems like Matt is always being kicked, not literally but figuratively. He’s always down on his luck. If it’s not one thing, it’s another. There’s always something. And, I would like to see Matt stand on his own two feet and say, “I’m the man. I’m controlling my life. That’s where I’m going.” And, I want to see him have success doing it. That would be one thing to accomplish, before the show ends. That would be a lot of fun.

 

Micah> Honestly, the more experience I have, the better. I just shot CSI Miami a little while ago, and that was a blast. If it wasn’t for Wildfire, that would have been a bigger experience, and more of an eye-opener. I would have gotten cold feet. But, because of Wildfire, I found myself saying, “Okay, that’s where I have to go.” It was just old news. And, it was nice to walk around knowing this is what I had to do, and not be thrown off. I would prefer to work on the off-season. It’s always nice to get as much experience as possible and meet as many people as possible, but unfortunately it’s a hard thing to do. There are a lot of people out there, trying to make it happen. When something happens in the off-season, it’s great. It’s a really nice feeling. It’s another pat on your back that makes you feel good.

 

Micah> I recently saw The Great Debaters with Denzel Washington. It would be awesome to do something like that. I love movies like that. It’s a true story that’s very heartwarming, and I thought it was fantastic. I also saw Sweeney Todd. Those are fantastic actors and fantastic scripts, and people who can really make the material come to life. I would love to work with amazing directors and amazing actors. Call me a sap, but I loved P.S., I Love You. I really enjoy cute things like that, where you can have fun and play. I look forward to those roles, and being able to open my wings and fly.

 

Micah> I would love for there to be a Season 5. I would love for the show and the relationships to continue. One more season would be fun and, if it keeps going, fantastic. Unfortunately, that sort of decision isn’t in my hands, but I do hope it will come back. I hope to play and have fun a little bit more. Not that I don’t have fun at home, but I really enjoy being on the show and I enjoy the people. I don’t think that can ever be reproduced. It’s a good memory to have, and it’s a good place to be. I hope it continues but, if it doesn’t, that’s okay, too.