Q&A with Lindsey Shaw and Ethan Peck From ABC Family’s 10 Things I Hate About You Part 1

March 16, 2010 | by Disney Dreaming

10 Things I Hate About You is returning for it’s second season on ABC Family on March 29th, and to promote the upcoming season a question and answer session was held with Lindsey Shaw and Ethan Peck from the series.

Lindsey plays the character Kat Stratford while Ethan plays Patrick Verona.

Q: Lindsey, what about your role continues to challenge you?

L. Shaw I think the need for evolution of this character really challenges me as it challenges all of us in this new season. I think we work on a show that, well, really any show can get stagnant if it stays one note, and so I think what we achieved in the second season was evolving everybody and keeping everybody interesting and relatable so that people want to watch them, which was a challenge. I really attempted to make Kat softer and to allow more in, and so that was challenging, but really fun. My friend Ethan Peck made that a lot easier, so it was fun.

E. Peck Well, thanks.

Q: Ethan, a lot of social networking sites have different areas dedicated to the show and to individual characters. Why do you think social networking has become so important to the promotion of the show?

E. Peck Social networking has become really important for many types of media at this point in time, but I think it’s special for this show because Web sites like Twitter and Facebook are becoming open to people of all ages, and our show really is geared to a younger demographic, in my opinion, and these are the kids that are making Twitter successful and making Facebook huge and who blew up MySpace, so it’s no question that they’re good for shows like us geared toward the younger audience.

Q: The first question I have for you is that it seems like the characters of Kat and Patrick are tied up in this relationship tease, and you see that on a lot of different shows where the couple that really needs to be together or that is going to be together eventually, they just never quite get there. I was wondering why do you guys think it is that writers maybe are so hesitant to make that move, and would you like to see your characters actually have a real relationship where it’s not questionable whether or not they’re really together?

L. Shaw I think for the first part of that question it’s that because, obviously, you need to maintain a tension between your characters. That’s sort of how it is in real life, achieving that perfect balance means you’ve reached this really Zen place of being together, and that’s rarely the case. There’s always that struggle back and forth, and it’s just a little more exaggerated and dramatic in the show I think. In terms of an actual relationship, I think it would be really interesting, but I also think that they’re too much; I just don’t know if that banter could ever cease. Either way, I think that they’re a big presence in each other’s lives and they always will be.

E. Peck I agree.

Q: A follow-up question, how do you guys think this show fits in with ABC Family’s, I guess, kind of the theme of family television and family networking? How do you see the show fitting I guess into at least that perception of the network?

L. Shaw Ethan?

E. Peck Well, I think that the show is told from the perspective of these two girls who have their own unique type of family. Their mother has passed away, but we see this show from the perspective of a tight, loving family with a strict parent, and you see the way other characters contrast to the daughters that come from this good family, characters like Patrick, whom I play, who may not have the loving family that Kat does. You see that, and it teaches a lesson both to parents and to kids that a good, supporting family is a loving one, and I think it sets a good example for everybody out there. I actually don’t really have TV yet still, and I haven’t seen too much of the other shows, but I do know that they’re all about friends and family supporting one another to achieve bigger dreams and bigger goals and aspirations.

Q: In the upcoming episode, Kat and Patrick get caught skipping school and are suspended. I was just wondering how does each of your characters deal with the suspension?

E. Peck I’ll go first because I’ll be short. Patrick just doesn’t really care, so it’s like a day off for him. Do they both get suspended, Lindsey? Yes, of course they do.

L. Shaw Yes, sorry, they both do.

E. Peck It’s just like a vacation for him, and I guess I’ll let Lindsey speak for herself.

L. Shaw Yes, Kat actually, believe it or not, gets a little frazzled, and she realizes she’s going to miss a really big test, and this forces her to do some dramatic things which she needs Patrick’s help for. She reacts in her normal crazy, over-reactive way.

Q: I wanted to know, how do you see the relationship between Kat and Bianca evolving over the season?

L. Shaw Actually, this season feels so much more sisterly between Kat and Bianca. I don’t know why. There’s either a deepening of our understanding of each other’s characters or just us being closer having known each other for this much longer. Yes, they really just take on this deeper sisterly vibe, and it gets more away from the banter and more into the fact that these are two sisters who can see what’s going on with the other and try to lend advice no matter how removed they feel. I really like that. I really enjoyed that. Meaghan [Martin] and I really get a chance to take that to another level, so it was great.

Q: The last time I talked to Lindsey we addressed this topic, but Ethan, it’s your turn. Apparently, you have fans that think you should’ve been Edward in Twilight. What do you have to say about that?

E. Peck I don’t have too much to say about that. I have actually never seen it, and so I can’t tell you whether or not I would’ve done a better job than who did it, and it sounds like he did a pretty good job, Robert Pattinson, so I have no problem having missed out on that.

Q: Ruby and the Rockets got canceled, and that came out the same time 10 Things came out. Were you guys ever nervous that you weren’t going to get renewed?

E. Peck Yes.

L. Shaw Yes, absolutely. The last scene that we shot of the first ten episodes, Meaghan and I had the last scene together, and I just kind of looked over at her when it was done, and I started crying and sort of lost it only because if that’s the end of that experience for you, that’s really emotional. Yes, it only became a hiatus like months into it.

E. Peck Yes.

Source: ABC Family