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Ryan Sypek plays Junior Davis on the popular Wildfire. With charming good looks and a laid back attitude, he is a knight in shining armor. Plus, it sure helps that he works with horses on the ABC drama!

THE STAR SCOOP:
Tell us about what you’re up to, your show, and what’s been going on in your life.

RYAN SYPEK:
We finished shooting season three in November, so we had a couple months off. Just hanging out, relaxing, catching up with my friends, surfing, kind of winding down from all the work from last season. I went home for Christmas and New Years, just relaxed, little vacation, down to Barbados for a week. I’ve had a great break, getting ready to go back to work.

THE STAR SCOOP:
Can you tell us about your character on Wildfire, Junior, and how you are different, and some of the similarities that you have as well?

RYAN SYPEK:
Sure. Junior and I have very different upbringings. Junior was really privileged, and spoiled, and I don’t think he was taught to value money or really understand or appreciate all that he has. My parents were really sure that they instilled that in me. I’m very thankful for them for that. In that sense, I’m glad I’m not like Junior. As the show has progressed, Junior has grown, I feel like we’re becoming more and more like each other. He needs to find out who he is, and better himself, which is definitely something that I would like to do. I’m kind of on my own out here, kind of on the same path, trying to figure out, you know, what I am or who I am.

THE STAR SCOOP:
Have you seen with the show, as it’s been going on, a bigger fan base?

RYAN SYPEK:
We have a fan base that is steady every week. They’re pretty loyal to it. I don’t know how else we’d film our fourth season. We definitely have great fans who like it. I’m so, so, lucky for them, that they enjoy it, and we get to keep on working on it, it’s great.

THE STAR SCOOP:
How is this show different from those that are out there?

RYAN SYPEK:
There’s a little something for everybody in this show. It doesn’t really hit one point over and over again. Yeah, we have horse racing, but there is so much more that the show has to offer, and so much more that we focus on. There is humor in it, there are different story lines that everyone can relate to.

THE STAR SCOOP:
How did you end up in L.A.?

RYAN SYPEK:
I went to college for the acting thing, studied at Boston University, School of Fine Arts. After my four year program there, I decided that I wanted to move to L.A. and I’d do film as opposed to – I was either going to focus on theater in New York or film in L.A. I worked for the summer after I graduated to save up money and I moved out here, started auditioning and got really lucky and landed this job. I’ve been working on it for over two years now.

THE STAR SCOOP:
What will this job do for you?

RYAN SYPEK:
I hope that it can launch me into other work, you know? That’s my goal, to keep working. Hopefully people will see my work. It’s definitely helped me with recognition.

THE STAR SCOOP:
What advantages did you gain from doing the fine arts program?

RYAN SYPEK:
I gained confidence in myself and confidence in my abilities. Before I went to college, I acted for fun and it was an extra curricular activity that I liked. Going to school for me really made me serious about it. I liked learning about the history of it and all different techniques and getting to really stretch myself and do things from Shakespeare to modern Chinese plays, do the craziest things you could imagine. It was the right path. I’m glad I did it.

THE STAR SCOOP:
Do you have time to work on other projects? What do you get to do in your down time?

RYAN SYPEK:
I definitely get to audition for other things, it’s just been hard to book something in the short amount of time we’ve had on our hiatuses. Also, what’s great about working so much is being able to really commit myself to that. It’s been great to know, yeah, I have these two months off, just kind of relax, and when I go back to work I get to really focus on my work again. It’s been great.

THE STAR SCOOP:
What has been the most important thing that you’ve learned from all of this?

RYAN SYPEK:
I think the most important thing I’ve learned is just how filming works, how many people it takes, working together to really get to go off, and what a team effort really is. Everybody needs to work together to create, in our case, the hour of TV we have. Also, everyone’s job is really important.