Sugar Highs: Cast Interview

What was so exciting about working on a project like this?

Adam Fox: When I received the audition request for “Sugar Highs,” I honestly thought it was too good to be true. Since seeing the movie “Chloe” at age 16, I have always had an excitement and curiosity around the mysterious world of arrangements and sex work. My alma matter, New York University, boasts the highest percentage of sugar baby users on Seeking Arrangement (the sugar daddy website) in America, so I felt like by proxy of my peers’ experiences, I could bring some knowledge, insight, and curiosity to this role in a way others couldn’t. Also, this was my first time booking a lead role on a TV series, which was exciting as heck! Getting flown out to Halifax to live and work there made me feel like a star.  I couldn’t ask for a better first time being a lead on a show.

Sam Davison: I think I knew it would be a step out of my comfort zone and a way to be more comfortable on camera and mainly an opportunity to learn more about how film/tv is produced from a more molecular level than I was already familiar with.

Joey Beni: Filming season one was a lot of fun because our cast and crew was like a little family. Everyone was hardworking but had a very good sense of humour so there was a lot of laughing. I was excited because I had never been to Canada before, so coming to film and live in Nova Scotia for a month was really cool.

Michael Ayers: It’s always fun to play a queer character on a queer show, and I’ve known about Thom’s work for a long time so I was interested in meeting him. Plus Halifax is a beautiful place to film.

What are some ways that you feel like you can relate to your character?

Adam Fox: Bud ultimately just wants to be loved without judgement, by his roommates, his family, and the world, and that is something I feel hard. Also, I’d say that I interact with the world in a similar way to Bud, with a fearlessness, confidence and street-smart scrappiness that only comes from growing up LGBTQ+ and navigating tough situations, with a determination to never lose. In a lot of ways I feel like Bud is myself in an alternate universe. Though I wish I could say that in real life I was breaking hearts left, right, and centre like Bud, in real life I am more of the pursuer, and the one whose heart gets broken. I can’t deny that even just getting to experience how it feels to be on the other end gave me a confidence boost!

Sam Davison:  I don’t really relate to mickey fundamentally due to his discipline and the fact that he can sometimes be a little judgemental but I think we share some insecurities and awkwardness that helped me take on the right mannerisms to portray him correctly.

Joey Beni: I feel like I can relate to Tab mostly because he is a pretty happy dude and doesn’t like to be in the middle of conflict. I am a pretty optimistic guy and I like to find humour in everything. I am always down for a good spirited debate, however I don’t like to give any energy to arguments. Also, Tab is very into working out and lifting weights is my favourite hobby.

Michael Ayres: Clark definitely hears only what fits with whatever story he’s telling himself, and I’m absolutely guilty of that sometimes. And he’s definitely a romantic, though probably a little more hopeless about it than I am.

How did you prepare for the role?

Adam Fox: When I read the audition scenes for the first time, there was an immediate familiarity with the text and it made it easy to memorize because it felt like I was speaking my own words. As I got further along in the audition process and eventually booking the role, I got more specific with Bud’s backstory, his family life, upbringing, and objectives. I considered attachment theory, and how as a result of Bud’s complicated upbringing (parents being apart, difficulties with his sexuality), he would have an avoidant attachment style, yet ironically, his super-objective (an acting term for what one wants out of life) is to be loved without judgement. I considered things like where Bud would position himself in gay world, both socially and his literal sex position. And of course, as he is a modern dance student, I invested in a few private sessions with a modern dance teacher so I could be more familiar with the style.

Sam Davison: I wish I could say I cruised an arrangement app and pursued a daddy/mommy. But really I think I just mentally prepared myself to be open to whatever material I was given and I also came to realize that my going out of my comfort zone in terms of this show is similar to Mickey leaving his comfort zone to be a baby.

Joey Beni: I prepared by going through the script and working with my coach back in Los Angeles. Also by tightening up my eating and not skipping any days at the gym….which was hard cause I love eating ice cream. I went online and printed out sample questionnaires and the forms they give you when you go to the doctors office, and I filled them out as Tab to help me create his history and how he would answer those questions differently then I personally would answer them. I also bleached my hair. And yes, the saying is true…. blondes have more fun!

Michael Ayres: Something about Clark is pretty saccharine and romantic so the only thing I did beyond the usual stuff to prepare was listen to a lot of Taylor Swift. Feels like she’s high in his rotation.

Of the cast, who would you consider to be the biggest troublemaker on set and why?

Adam Fox: There was enough trouble-making in the script that we didn’t need to do it on set, haha. But, I will say Joey was the one who made the set a fun place. Everyone knows I am very jumpy and get startled easily, so Joey airdropped me a random internet dick pic and then as I looked at it he jumped me and I screamed. It was amazing.

Sam Davison: Me. I was arrested several times through out production, I won’t elaborate.

Joey Beni:  I don’t think there were any of us that were causing any trouble or being mischievous. Mostly, we all would sit around and talk and laugh in between takes and set ups.

Michael Ayres: Probably Ursula Calder, who plays Sarah. Not a troublemaker per se but she definitely made all of us laugh a lot. And then probably Adam, who plays Bud, a close second.

What do you think is going to surprise fans about the show?

Adam Fox: I think that some viewers may not expect a dramedy about sugar babies to have so much depth, and address some of the realities of why so many young folks become sugar babies, as well as why older folks seek out the company of young ones. Viewers also may be surprised by the diversity in sexualities, between Bud who is gay, Mickey who is sexually fluid, and Tab who identifies as straight but is more likely questioning. I think we are used to seeing LGBTQ+ content more centered around a group of folks who are one identity, or are a bit more homogenous, but I think it creates a unique dynamic between the three of us. It is also sort of fabulous to see an effeminate, openly and unapologetically gay character (Bud) be the alpha of the group, bossing the other two roommates around and telling them what to do. A friend who watched told me I play the “misguided big brother role very well,” Haha.

Joey Beni: I think anyone who tunes in to watch the show will be surprised that, even though it is a comedy, there are some real moments that the characters have that have been well written. I think some fans may watch those scenes and be able to relate in some way.

Sam Davison: Probably it’s ability to mix it’s quirky straightforward comedic aspects with realist sincerity. Also their’s quite a bit of ass.

Michael Ayres: The show is funny but it has a lot of heart too. And also how absolutely perfect and insane Joey’s body is.

Besides this one, what’s your favorite show on OUTtv?

Adam Fox: I really love Avocado Toast, I think it’s such a fun and unique show and I love seeing shows where the creators are also the actors- it just has such a fun energy to it. Also, I got to work with Jennifer Whalen from Barroness von Sketch show for Sugar Highs and loved her, so I immediately watched her show and it was HILARIOUS.  And of course, “Truth or Dare” the documentary about Madonna’s Blond Ambition Tour. It’s essential gay herstory.

Sam Davison: It’d be narcissistic of me to say Cam Boy because I’m also in that but I love sketch comedy and have been checking out Baroness Von Sketch Show.

Michael Ayres: I’m a big fan of Slo Pitch and Avocado Toast.

Without giving anything away, was there a favourite line of dialogue from the show?

Adam Fox: “Oh? So you’re genuinely interested in being part of an intergeneration throuple?” It’s just too good lol.

Sam Davison: Definitely “you have nothing but a bare taint son” I’ve been using that as an ambiguous chirp to friends of mine since seeing that.

Joey Beni: Hmmm that’s a tough one. I would say, for my character, “Who is David Enz?” That line made me laugh when I was reading the script, and when we filmed it, and then now watching the completed scene. But I think that at the end of the day, the character of Bud has a lot of funny one liners. It would be a toss up between “You’re giving up on your energy drink pyramid scheme?” and “So like, tinder for barnyard animals.”  Even makes me laugh saying them outloud now.

Michael Ayres: All I can say to that is Yes, there was! A line from a height, for Clark, that makes me laugh because of how earnest he is.