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Hamilton: "It's so Hardy Boys"    Jake: "Yeah, meets Nancy Drew"

 

 

'Young Americans' share life's mysteries in WB summer series
By Jay Bobbin

    A new show's main characters may be "Young Americans," but it's a sure bet that not all teens have the same adventures.

    The WB drama is set largely at  an exclusive school in a blue-collar New England town. Local youth Will (Rodney Scott) has earned admission to Rawley Academy, but he's done it in a sly way that a faculty member (Edward Quinn) soon discovers. That makes Will think his new roommate, privileged and self-assured Scout (Mark Famiglietti, formerly of NBC's  Saturday-morning show "Hang Time"), has exposed him.

    However, Scout has bigger concerns. Attracted to gas-station employee Bella (Kate Bosworth), he initially can't figure out why she's so prejudiced against the academy and it's students. That's because he doesn't know the link he shares with her, something that is destined to drastically affect their budding romance.

    Another relationship  sure to have a bumpy road is that of Hamilton (Ian Somerhalder), the son of the all-male college's dean, and boyish fellow student Jake (Katherine Moennig). They quickly become pals, but Jake later starts taking an interest in Hamilton that the latter wouldn't expect of another fellow. (Really big hint: Take another look at the performer who plays Jake.)

    "Young Americans" had a fleeting introduction toward the end of last season on WB's "Dawson's Creek," in several episodes that featured Rodney Scott in the role he plays on the new series. "I think that was a really good opportunity for our show." the actor says, "trying to latch onto that established audience, but 'Dawson's Creek' has it's own thing going on. If I'd had any say, I would have wanted more of my own story line."

    That's not a problem now, since Will is trying to escape an unhappy home life, a reason he deems attending Rawley Academy imperative. Scott allows that the show's theme of different classes coming together has a long ancestry: "You saw it earlier in 'The Outsiders,' with guys from across the tracks meeting up with rich kids, then in 'Dead Poets Society.' You'll always have that kind of social totem pole, so it's a theme that never really goes away.

    "The thing about our show is that Will and Scout are both smart enough to realize they need each other, even though they might not admit it. They're both broadening their horizons, and each is curious about the other's world. There's a still a bit of hostility between them, though." Some of that could result from a rivalry over Bella, who has known Will for years. "You never know," teases Scott, who's being given his first major role by "Young Americans."

    The show's depiction of teen life comes from someone who knows about portraying it: Creator and co-executive producer Steven Antin is a former actor. He was in such fare as TV's "21 Jump Street" and the movie "The Last American Virgin" before turning writer-producer with "Inside Monkey Zetterland," a 1993 film-festival favorite in which he played a struggling Hollywood screenwriter. "I have a lot of friends who wen to private schools, though I did not," Antin explains of the genesis of "Young Americans," which he also owes to a New England vacation he took two summers ago.

    "I wanted to write a series that would tell classic types of teen-age stories, about star-crossed lovers and all that. Basically, I wanted to do a high-school 'Peyton Place,' but I wasn't exactly sure how to get into that arena. Then I just fell in love with New England. While I was there, I pulled into a gas station that seemed to be operated by 16-year-old girls. A convertible pulled up with these preppie guys in it, and I just went, 'Bingo! This is a show.'"

    As modern a sheen as "Young Americans" has, Antin feels it pays homage to William Shakespeare in numerous ways. "We have a lot of 'Romeo and Juliet,' a little of 'As You Like It' and some of 'Twelfth Night.' The characters are definitely inspired by those plays." That's certainly true of Jake, whose gender-bending masquerade will seem familiar to anyone acquainted with the Bard's works.

    "It was a little scary to watch so much of (actress Moennig's) hair off," Antin reflects, "But we made a commitment, though we still wanted her to look somewhat like a girl. She's really able to pull of that androgynous haircut." That subplot may echo "Boy's Don't Cry," but Antin maintains he came up with it long before Hillary Swank's Oscar-winning movie was released. "I wanted to tell a story about the power of love," he says. "If you're attracted to someone, that person could be in a bear suit and you'll still find him or her."

    As an actor, Antin also had a recurring role on "NYPD Blue" as a detective who went from narcotics to homicide. He sometimes pulls that out as an ace if his "Young Americans" cast questions his creative decisions. "They say, 'We can't do that,' and I tell them we did it on 'NYPD Blue,' Then they say, 'But you were an actor on that.' I tell them, 'What's the difference? We did it anyway."

 

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