Exclusive Interview with Sweet/Vicious’ Nick Fink

You might recognize Nick Fink as Warbler #6 from Glee or the social media thriller, YouTube series T@gged. But it’s his new role on MTV’s black comedy Sweet/Vicious that’s likely to be his breakout role. As Tyler, he falls for Jules, a seemingly squeaky clean sorority girl with a bevy of dark secrets, most notably her being a masked vigilante who wreaks revenge against rapists on her college campus.

The groundbreaking show that sheds a sharp light on rape culture has had a profound effect on Nick in more ways than one. Read on….

Your character becomes smitten with Jules, but little does he know that she’s an undercover vigilante that, with the help of her friend, made Tyler’s stepbrother one of her victims. Do you think there can be much in the future for these two, given the circumstances?

(laughs) I think that’s more of a question for Jules than it is for Tyler, but he doesn’t really know what’s going on. She’s the one hiding all this information from him. He’s none the wiser, so for him, he’s just falling for a girl that seems to be falling for him too. I think he’s just along for the ride at that point. If she’s willing to make him more than that, then he’s open to it.

Most actors feel that they can connect with their characters in one way or another. In what way do you think that you can relate to Tyler? Do you share anything in common?

He’s an art major in our fictional campus and obviously something we share is that we’re both pursuing a career in the arts. When I booked the role I got heavily into art myself, to get to know him better, and it’s become a huge part of my life now. I found this totally untapped talent that I…well…maybe I shouldn’t be so presumptuous (laughs), but yeah art’s become a big thing in my life. I draw all the time now, and I paint all the time, and it’s something I enjoy. And it definitely brought me so much closer to him and getting to know him.   

Is that your favorite part about playing him then?

Yeah, it’s definitely a part of it. I like his moral code, like who he is and who he strives to be. I hope I can be a reflection of that myself. That’s another thing I really do like about him.

What’s it like working on a set where the storyline heavily revolves around badass women?

In front of and behind the scenes. I’m just constantly in awe of the talent I’m witnessing. I’m so fortunate to have gotten a chance even to see these people work. To work alongside them is just a bonus. Taylor and Eliza are so wonderful, and our whole team behind the scenes is the most bad ass group of women you could ever find. They are so incredible, so talented.

Did you have a favorite moment while filming that you can talk about?

(laughs) That’s always a tough one. I think it’s episode 4…it’s gotta be right? Yeah, in episode 4 I get to go to a cool location, and that was a really fun thing to film and to experience. Just one of those moments where you’re like, “how am I out here being part of this?” There’s no other series of events that would lead to shooting here and having this experience.

It’s heartening to see that television is beginning to talk more opening and frequently about abuse. It’s essential since assault cases happen every day and especially on college campuses. How do you feel that Sweet/Vicious is going to shine a light on the matter?

I think at the very least it’s going to start some conversations about the subject. Our whole theme…it has so much research and so much respect for these stories we’re telling and to tell them in a truthful and very honest and real way. I think that any conversation that it does start will start on the right side of things and I hope we shine some light on some things for people that they might not know so much about.  

There certainly hasn’t been a show like this before. The primary focus is definitely very sensitive, and it will be raising consciousness in its audience every week. What is something that you personally took away while filming the series?

I  guess I felt humbled; and at the beginning, as more information was presented to me, and I’m diving deeper into the subject matter, there’s a certain part of me that felt naïve about it as well, and sad that I didn’t know more about it. I guess what I’ve taken away is that I have an education on something that I now care very deeply for and a cause that I feel closer to and understand and want to help shine light on.

There’s clearly a revenge fantasy element here. Some people may be turned off by that; some may find it empowering. What are your thoughts on the subject?

I think the way it was leaning towards one side or the other would be how the show handles it. And the fact that we have this team of people that do care so deeply about these issues and have done their research and know these stories and how they happen and so they can approach from an honest place, but it is a heightened reality that we’re presenting. It’s almost like if Gotham were a college campus. We’re not saying this is real life; this is definitely…we’re talking about some issues, but we’re talking about them from a point of view that’s a little heightened.

What can we expect to see from Tyler in the upcoming episodes?

People will start to get to know him better. He’s just introduced in the first episode through meeting Jules and as the season goes on we start to spend more time with him and start to see some of his struggles and his insecurities . We’ll see what makes him vulnerable and what he cares about. I’m just excited for people to get to know him how I know him.

Can you tease anything about the rest of the season?

(laughs) Tyler wants answers. If you watch the show, you’ll know what questions he’s going to be asking. There’s your teaser. He wants the answers to these questions.  

We see you’ve worked on quite a few things slated to come out early next year. The independent film “The Great & The Small” is centered around your character ‘Scott’ who is trying to get his life back on track. What was it like playing a role that so many people can relate to?

He’s kind of like a homeless guy; he’s kind of living on the streets so (laughs) I’m not sure so many people can relate to that but definitely some. I guess what people can relate to is he’s at a time in his life when he’s decided just not to care. It’s easier for him to think like, you know, “whatever, this is my life, I don’t need to try to make it different, I’ll just live it out.”  Through a series of events, he decides to change that, and he decides to try and make his life better. He realizes that making his life better is actually in his control and I think that is something a lot of us have gone through. You have those moments where you’re down on your luck, or down on yourself. Life’s not just going to get better for you. You have to make the choice to stand up and put a smile on and try to see a better day.

Season two of T@gged is also set to come back in early 2017, can you talk to us about what to expect with its return?

Oh, yeah! If you were into season 1, I have to imagine season 2 will blow you away. Speaking of bad ass women too, our creator/writer/director Hannah Macpherson of T@gged is such a force. She doesn’t disappoint. 

We call ourselves Talk Nerdy With Us, and we are all nerds of the first degree! Is there anything that you ‘nerd out’ about?

I’m a big gamer so probably the nerdiest thing for me right now is how much time I spend on Twitch (laughs). It’s people broadcasting themselves playing games, writers, tournaments, whatever, but I watch a lot of Dota 2 on there, cause I play a lot as well. Rocket League. I watch a lot of them play as well. There’re some smaller streamers. Young Wave Lord. There’s a really cool variety streamer. And then an artist that was a huge mentor of mine for Tyler, Grigoriy Peppo, he’s also on there. That’s definitely one of nerdier things about me. We’re just touching the surface.

 

 

Sweet/Vicious airs Tuesday on MTV @ 10/9C