Billy Unger
The incredibly talented and grounded Billy Unger and I chatted about his new show, Lab Rats on Disney XD. Billy has been on numerous TV shows and you may remember him from ‘You Again’ or ‘National Treasure: Book of Secrets’, but is only sixteen. Billy plays Chase, one of the three super-human teens who, with the other three teens, Adam (Spencer Boldman) and Bree (Kelli Berglund) navigate high school while trying to conceal their super powers. The show premieres February 27th at 8:30pm ET on Disney XD.
Arin: What got you into acting in the first place?
Billy: The first time that I ever started acting was in south Florida in a small town called Jupiter West Palm Beach, Florida. And I think the first acting related thing that I ever did was just a really small school play that I did in elementary school. I really fell in love with being on stage and doing that sort of thing. Then that just turned into a love for not so much being on stage, but performing and for a split second, being someone that I’m not and getting dressed up to play someone entirely different than who I am. It was very intriguing to me and I loved to entertainment people at a young age, so I started doing some small town work in Florida; some print shoots, some commercials, a little bit here and there. When I wasn’t doing school, and then people were starting to recognize that I had some talent, and they were like you should go out to LA; and you should really give this a shot. So my family and I packed up and we moved out to LA. And I haven’t been home in six and a half years.
A: Do you have a favorite role that you have played?
B: Absolutely, yeah. It’s definitely Chase from Lab Rats. I think, I don’t know what it is, but usually my favorite character is the one that I currently play, just because I think I’m so in that character even when I’m not working. That where my mind is and that’s kind of how I always feel, my heart’s always with whatever character I’m playing at the moment.
A: What is the premise of your new show Lab Rats?
B: Well Lab Rats is a Disney XD original series about three bionic superhuman children who are being raised in an underground lab by their inventor. Their inventor is a multimillion-dollar creator of inventions and he gets married to this beautiful woman and he has a new stepson. He’s trying to be that father of this son, which he has never done before, and he’s terrible doing; but the son moves in and discovers these three superhuman children living in this underground laboratory. And we all become really close, best friends. Then he starts talking about all these things we’re missing out on like school and friends and sports and texting and talking and going to the mall and doing that sort of thing. So we decided that we want to sneak out of the laboratory for the first time ever because we’ve never experienced anything outside of this laboratory before. And we go off to school with him and we fall in love with the idea of being real children. And at first, we get in trouble because each of us has our own unique abilities. Also as well each of us has our own glitches. So whenever we get too happy or too sad or too angry, we tend to glitch. So it’s hard for us to keep our superhuman abilities under wraps, but as the show progresses, we begin to gain control over ourselves and before you know it, we’re living like actual children.
A: What is your superhuman power?
B: Chase’s superhuman ability is that he’s super intelligent; he has super bionic senses, so he can hear conversations from across the room. We even did an episode where he controls his brother’s and his sisters’ mind. So the thing about Chase is he’s kind of the leader when it comes to missions; he’s the one who kind of lays the plan and says this is what we’re going to do; now lets make it happen. And what I love about the character is that even though he’s the youngest of the three, he’s the leader; he’s the one that they all look to, to figure it all out. Again not only is he super intelligent with super bionic senses but also he is really athletic. So I get to do a lot of martial arts, which I love because I’ve been doing martial arts forever.
A: If you yourself were a superhero, what would your power be?
B: I would definitely want to be as athletic as Chase is, because the athleticism that Chase has was actually inspired by me. Because originally Chase was just super intelligent, and the writers were like we should take advantage of Billy and his martial arts capabilities. So that’s what they ended up doing. I would want to be super athletic, but I would definitely, if I had one superpower I would want it to be teleportation.
A: What is your favorite episode of the show?
B: My favorite episode: so far there’s one episode where my older brother on the show and I, (his name is Adam on the show, his real name is Spencer), the two of us kind of go at it because we both decide, I decided, that I’m going to run for student of the semester. And I’m not so good at running because since I’m so intelligent I’m all about healthy living and healthy foods. And I take out all the vending machines and put in broccoli and carrots and all the stuff that no one cares to eat. And Adam comes in and he’s like ok, well this is what kids want: they want junk food; they want extended recess time; they want this; they want that; and I’m like no, no, no, that’s not what they want. They want this and he decides, because I’m shunning him, that he’s going to run against me. And all the sudden I’m taking on his ideas. I’m like ok, you want cheeseburgers, I’ll give you cheeseburgers, whatever it takes .I just want to win, but he ends up wining in the end because I let him. But there’s a twist in there. That’s my favorite episode because a lot of times when it’s just the two of us really go at it in the scenes. It’s just really fun because the two of us goof off in the middle of the scene, and it’s just fun to watch and fun to play.
A: What other hobbies do you have outside of acting?
B: Well my number one hobby is playing guitar. I play guitar every chance I get. Even when I’m on set, and there are scenes I’m not in or during my lunch break the first place I go is to my dressing room to play guitar. I love playing guitar. It’s a passion of mine and I really only picked it up just a little bit under a year ago and I really, really love it. I also love to surf. I love motocross. I’m really just an outdoorsy person. I’d much rather be outdoors working out or riding a bike or doing something like that, then sitting inside and playing inside and playing video games all day.
A: Do you have a favorite song to play?
B: Yes, Sweet Child of Mine by Guns and Roses. The Guns and Roses is my favorite band.
A: Are there any charities or nonprofits that you are involved with or want to get involved with?
B: Well I actually am in the process of starting my own. I’ve gone to a lot of events that have to do with charity: Red Cross events, stuff like that, toys for tots. I just kind of took what really spoke to me, and I decided that I was going to do something about it and do something of my own. So right now I’m in the process of creating one of my own charities. It’s an idea of mine and we’re acting on it. It’s not just something that we’re going to sit on for a while. When it came to me, I was like this is something that I want to do. I want to help. I want to do whatever it is that I can do to help; it doesn’t matter the age, or boy or girl, there’s always something you can do to help; and everyone has a heart, so that’s definitely something I’ve taken an interest in.
