Matt Dallas Spills Secrets From ‘Kyle XY’

By Brian Gianelli
Fancast.com

Kyle XY is back for its third season, premiering January 12th at 9pm on ABC Family, and Fancast users will get a special treat by being able to watch the premiere episode a week before it airs on ABC Family, starting on January 5th. We also spoke with the show’s star, Matt Dallas, about what’s coming up in Season 3 and he will be joining us for a live chat on January 5th at 4pm PST so get your questions ready!

Season 2 ended with a lot of revelations, particularly the mysterious group that is after Kyle. Can you give us a refresher on where last season left off and where the upcoming season picks up?

Season 2 left off with the Prom — that was the big buildup. All this tension had been mounting between Kyle and Amanda, with her wanting to know who he really is and where he comes from. And Jessi was beginning to put a little bit of strain on their relationship and it was all building up to the prom. And Kyle comes out at the end of the night and goes to grab Amanda’s stuff and finds out she’s missing. And that’s how we leave off Season 2: What happened to Amanda?

The love triangle is very central to the story it seems. Can you break down the dynamic between Kyle, Amanda and Jessi?

This year it goes even further and Jessi starts to really put a lot of strain in the relationship. All of Kyle’s secrets are really starting to upset Amanda, especially because she’s slowly finding out that Jessi knows about Kyle’s secrets. And Amanda is wondering why she’s allowed to know all this stuff about Kyle, but she’s not. So I think Amanda “taps out” and decides that she’s had enough and it leaves them in a really difficult point. Kyle knows that as much as he really wants to protect Amanda, he can’t necessarily let her in. She gets to the point where she basically has to decide: Is it worth her to be kept in the dark and be with him and to trust him, or is it going to be too much for her?

With the introduction of Jessi, what do you think the addition of her character brought to the show?

I think one of the most interesting things is that Jessi’s the dark to Kyle’s light. Kyle was taken in by this loving, caring family who immediately took care of him, and Jessi was born on this cold, dark rainy night and was immediately taken in by Madacorp, who pretty much started messing with her brain immediately. It’s able to play up the whole nature vs. nurture and I think that’s going to make for a very fascinating storyline in the show. Originally when they introduced her character, we were like “Oh, she’s going to be the new villain on the show and will compete with Kyle.” I like that they necessarily didn’t go in that direction and they managed to keep her mysterious. We never really know, is she gonna end up bad, or is she gonna end up good? Especially with this season, they’ve really been able to show a side of Jessi that the audience can connect to, or feel for. Because last season you just kind of thought she was crazy. Who is this girl that is coming in and causing all these problems and trouble? This season they’ve really taken her character and introduced someone you can relate to and someone you can really feel for. You realize that all she wants is to be loved and to be accepted and to feel like she’s a part of something. And that’s why she behaves in the way that she does. I think this is going to be a really strong season for her and I think also that relationship will be key.

Kyle XY is on ABC Family and I think your show and others that have followed, Secret Life of the American Teenager and Greek, have really expanded what people would think of when they hear ABC Family. What’s it been like working with the network and watching it evolve into what it’s becoming these days?

It’s definitely been an exciting time to be part of the network. When I first came onto the show, I didn’t know what ABC Family was. And when I would talk about the show, they would say, “Is that the Family Channel?” Doesn’t that have the 700 Club? And you’d kinda laugh and go, “Yeah, but they’re re-defining themselves.” They’re creating a new network, so it was really exciting to get to be a part of that, and to help pioneer that. It’s been a lot of fun. I noticed on the other shows they’ve given a lot of liberty to the writers to let them explore different topics and ideas. They gave them freedom to explore different current events. We got to do an episode about homosexuality, and kids and drugs and to see how the parents deal with it. It’s been a really interesting time to be a part of the network.

Your fan base is very passionate. What do you think it is about the show that engages the audience so much?

I think so much of what connects people to our show is that we have so many different elements. There’s something for everybody. On top of having this sci-fi/supernatural/superhero aspect to the show, you have a truthful, real family aspect as well. You have parents that are really dealing with things that parents are really dealing with. You’ll have teens start watching the show, and then you’ll have parents sit down to watch an episode and then all of a sudden they’ll be hooked. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard that story from parents. Because you have the teens in the show that are dealing with real and current teen issues, they connect with the show. So really whether you’re looking for a teen show, a family show, a sci-fi show, we have all of that in our series. And that’s why we attract such a wide range of audience members and why they’re so committed.