Burritos and science talk are the way to Charlie Depew’s heart
Charlie Depew says he accidentally fell into acting, and now he’s one of TV’s biggest heartthrobs.
Charlie is now co-stars and bff’s with Bella Thorne on their new show, “Famous In Love,” on which he plays Jake, one of Bella’s love interest.
It’s a show with a love triangle about a bunch of actors on a show with a love triangle and it’s pretty wild stuff. We’re definitely anticipating season two, especially with Charlie Depew as one of the lead hunks in this twisted love web. Check out our interview with the “Famous In Love” heartthrob!
You recently turned 21. How does it feel?
It’s great. I’ve gotta admit. Going into places that I wasn’t necessarily allowed into before. When you turn 21 in a place like Los Angeles, Los Angeles becomes a whole new place. You’re going out later, you’re hanging with older people.
You’ve worked on a lot of TV shows: “The Goldbergs,” “Famous In Love,” “The Ranch,” and “Awkward.” Is TV what you want to do forever, or are you trying to do movies/onstage acting?
Yeah, I want to do more film and theatre. I actually started out in theatre, at my high school. I was mainly doing theatre growing up, and I just happened to fall into TV, even though the film “Spiderman” was one of my first roles. I love working on TV though. It provides stability that film doesn’t always give you.
(Sweatshirt and sweatpants from Godi, jean jacket and shoes from Daniel Patrick, sunglasses from Bonnie Clyde LA)
How did you fall into professional acting?
Actually, my brother Jack and I were at one of our friend’s crew classics, and my brother got scouted for Abercrombie, ends up shooting for them, and then got acting deals after that. So I was left in the dust like, “Hey, what’s going on!” Then Jack talked to his manager about me, and then his manager signed me, and that’s what happened.
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What’s the wildest thing that’s ever happened to you on a set?
This happened before set, actually. I was shooting “Spiderman,” so I was around 15 at the time. I was with my mom. My brother Jack was shooting the Nickelodeon show “Big Time Rush” in Malibu, and I had to shoot later that day at Sony Pictures. So we drop him off at Malibu. On our way to Sony, I kept saying, “We’re gonna be late, we’re gonna be late,” and right then, one of our tires popped. We were stuck on the side of the road for two hours. I was an hour and a half late to the set of “Spiderman.”
So you’re a Disney kid, you started off on an episode of the show “Shake It Up.” And now you’re on a new show, again with Bella Thorne, called “Famous In Love.” Tell us about that! How weird is it to be working with someone seven years later?
It’s crazy, it really is, honestly. “Shake It Up” was actually my second audition ever. I was testing for the lead opposite Bella, but they ended up going with someone else. But, they liked me enough they had me come on the show for a guest star role, but Bella and I weren’t super close off of that. We just kind of went out with the cast as a group. If we saw each other after that, we’d obviously say hi. Then I saw her at a quinceañera, and that was the first time I had seen her in years. And now we’re on this same show, and it’s honestly wild.
(Jacket and shirt from Daniel Patrick)
Tell us about your character, Jake, on “Famous In Love.” Are you anything like him in real life?
Jake is a nice guy to a fault, and sometimes that hurts him, but at the same time, Jake can do a lot of harm to others without realizing it. He’s very earnest, but I think we’re going to see that change in season two. If you haven’t seen it, at the end of season one (SPOILER), Jake has a superhero moment where he barges into a room and professes his love for Paige, and in season two, we’re going to see what that moment will do to Jake. I think it’s going to make him more confident.
I saw you almost played Archie Andrews on “Riverdale.” What??? Explain.
Oh gosh, this is a story and a half. Basically, I got the call to audition for “Famous In Love.” I ended up testing against one other guy for the show, and he got the role. A few months later, I got an audition for “Riverdale,” and that process was really quick. Afterwards, it was just me. And any actor can tell you that when you’re the only one testing, it’s a bad sign, because they will always want to compare you to someone. They never want it to be one guy. I was in limbo for a few days when they were looking for someone else. They found KJ Apa, and brought him in to test against me, or me to test against him, however you wanna put it [laughs]. We were at the CW building, and KJ was so calm, foot up on the table, and I was so nervous, I wasn’t talking to him. We get taken into the room where we’re going to test, and I see a guitar. And I’m like, “No. He knows how to play guitar.” So I look him up on Instagram, while he’s sitting RIGHT THERE, I put my headphones in, and watched the videos of him playing guitar — I put my phone down and knew he got it. I can’t play guitar! Then, eventually they re-casted “Famous In Love,” and after seeing everyone, they chose me to play Jake. So it all worked out.
You have an app called Toybox — explain that to us and how that came to be?
I was 18 in high school, and I was a big gamer. I got together with a few buddies, and we tried to figure out how to advertise to the younger gaming audience without making them angry with the advertiser. In gaming, 44% of total app time is spent gaming. Typically, there’s an ad after you lose a game. When you’re trying to beat a high score and the second you lose you get hit with an ad, you’re gonna hate the ad. So companies just stopped advertising on games all together. So instead of intruding, we integrated. We are making games that are centered on the brands. The brand is the game, the game is the brand. We get gamers the company’s’ product for free — say it’s Chipotle, the number one performer in the game gets Chipotle for life.
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You’re definitely a music festival guy. I saw you went to EDC and you said you went to Nocturnal this weekend? How did you get into that? Where does the love of it stem from?
I was always into electronic music. I was listening to Daft Punk when I was like five years old. Also, everyone at my high school was into going to concerts, but I never did. I never understood it. Then, one year I went to Coachella, and me and my buddy Cole camped. Then, I started to go to more festivals. Then when I started hanging out with Bella more, it totally changed, because she loved festivals and I loved festivals — now it’s like, “There’s this festival, let’s go!” We also kind of like the image of being the festival people. We like being the TV guys that are going to music festivals every weekend.
Do people recognize you at all?
We went to Billboard Hot 100 a few weeks ago, and that was one of the most insane experiences of my life. Literally every single person recognized Bella.
Omg, she was probably dying.
No! She was like, “This is sick as hell!” She told me she’s never had a swarm like that in her life. At one point there was 250 people literally SPRINTING after us. And I’m like, “Run!!!”
(Sweater and jeans from Standard Deviation)
Who’s your favorite DJ?
I mean, I really like Space Jesus, who no one really knows. He makes a form of electronic music called Riddim which is basically if you took Dubstep and then you were to half time it. Same tempo as hip hop — basically it’s dubstep that you could potentially rap over. But, my dream artist to go see is Daft Punk.
Who is your celeb crush?
Jessica Alba.
Who was your first kiss?
Oh god, it was a stage kiss [laughs]. Oh god, this is bad. I was a freshman, and I was the lead in this play at the private Catholic school nearby. The girl who I had to kiss was a senior. And I was freaking out, because everyone kept telling me about this one kid — I won’t say his name in case he reads this — but everyone was talking about how he was blushing about his stage kiss the year before.
Netflix and chill or boys night out?
Boys night out.
Biggest turn-on?
Um. If a girl can start talking some crazy science shit that I don’t know about.
What is your order at Mexican takeout?
My Chipotle answer is three scoops brown rice, two scoops black beans, 2 scoops fajita veggies, pico de gallo — drained, very important — lettuce, and guac. My all of the above answer is, burritos or tostadas.
If you could be anything other than an actor, you would be…
A chef.
You love to cook. Are you self-taught?
For the most part, yeah. I actually did a cooking class in high school, and that’s where I first fell in love with cooking. It made me appreciate cooking a lot more.
Favorite recipe?
I make this beef chuck Wellington, is what I call it. I take beef chuck, and I turn it into a beef Wellington. Then I add a rosemary lavender béchamel sauce over the top of it, and put the entire thing over sweet potatoes.
Do you cook to eat or cook to share?
Oh, I’ll cook to share.
Favorite chef?
I love Gordon Ramsay.
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Where do you see yourself next?
I want to start screenwriting.
Thing you do to chill out?
Video games, movies, cooking, board games. I’ll play Monopoly!
Jack and coke or pina colada?
Pina colada.
Fuck, marry, kill: Kylie Jenner, Bella Hadid, and Shay Mitchell.
HOOOOOO SHIT. Marry Shay Mitchell, I’ve already talked about wanting to marry Shay Mitchell. Definitely. Ummmm. [whispers] Fuck Kylie, kill Bella. Yeah, I think Kylie’s hot.
Charlie then asked if he could show us a trick he had finally mastered:
Sweatpants and shoes from Daniel Patrick
Photos by Jacqueline Kulla
Styling by Mallie Koczon
Clothing from Godi, Daniel Patrick, Standard Deviation, and Bonnie Clyde LA
Grooming by Simone at at Exclusive Artist Management using Bobbi Brown and Kevin Murphy
