Illustrations by Isabella Lazeris (@twiztedankl on Instagram)

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

When Nick Skonberg jump scared my TikTok feed with the first episode of Loving My Brother’s Best Friend, I gasped so loud my parents thought I was choking.

If he hasn’t appeared on your feed yet, Nick portrays Luca Finley in Loving My Brother’s Best Friend. Henley, a high-schooler played by Victoria Andrunik, navigates her newfound male attention after a major summer glowup, including attention from former playboy Luca. The show is produced by Candy Jar, a production company known for its short-form media that films in vertical formats to comfortably fit your phone screen’s dimensions.

Nick and I happen to have both trained in the same studio in New York for a couple of years. Despite this, it still didn’t prepare me for his online debut as a professional actor. My perception of the guy was closer to that of a brother, and to see him portraying such a radically different character had me speechless. Nick is also a serious cinephile, often talking about actors like James Dean, Gena Rowlands (his Instagram profile picture as of January 2026) and Matthew McConaughey—actors not known for starring in productions that don’t require such a long attention span from both the artist and audience. These led me to assume that Nick was against starring in vertical-formatted media entirely. I texted him congratulations, still stunned from the traction both he and the show gained on X (formerly known as Twitter). We had a short back-and-forth, and the conversation naturally fizzled out, but I was still curious about the relatively young format of vertical films and how the new attention has been affecting his career.

I chose this as the perfect moment to catch-up with Nick to see what’s been going on since we graduated last year, and to hear more about his time working on Loving My Brother’s Best Friend. This interview was conducted on FaceTime, with Nick in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and me in Melbourne.

So, Nick, tell me about the audition process—how did you discover Candy Jar?

I didn’t know what a vertical film was until probably two weeks before the audition. The term would come up on Actor’s Access when you were searching through jobs that are going to pay and exploring what else is out there. So, I kept seeing auditions for these kinds of vertical films, and I ended up talking to a good friend of mine who works in production design, who just moved back from LA. She was talking about working on these sets, letting me know that they were “nice to actors” and a “good way to make money while you’re trying to work towards the rest of your career”. So, I got the clearance from her and found Loving My Brother’s Best Friend, which seemed more tasteful than some of the other ones I’d read, and Candy Jar seemed legit.

The audition was a couple of rounds. I sent them my material and then got requested for a self-tape—and it was probably the worst self-tape in my life! I did it 15 minutes before the deadline without a reader and my backdrop wasn’t up, so I just sort of put my camera in the corner of my living room and filmed the lines out to the ether.

They then wanted to do a virtual callback with the directors and the producers and sent the script a couple of days later. After I received the script, [Candy Jar] wanted me to do a chemistry read with the then-prospective actress for Henley. I was going to be travelling that day, and it just so happened that the selected scene was one of the more, I guess, verbally intimate ones. And I was at the airport! I ended up booking one of those sleep rooms because I just didn’t want to be doing it in the middle of the terminal. And thankfully, I ended up booking the job!

That sounds very efficient!

Yeah, it’s very quick. Both times I’ve done [virtual films], you go over [to the set] pretty quickly before it happens—but enough time to prep. Candy Jar is a very organised company.

Was production quick as well? How long was the shoot?

Five days. I only booked the audition maybe two weeks before I ended up in LA. They have pretty fast turnarounds and the sets are quick. I would say the harder aspect of these things is just how fast they move. You know, you’ll shoot about 11 pages a day, which is a lot compared to a normal film set. Normally, you’re shooting around 5 and if it’s a smaller scene day, 2. So, especially if you’re one of the leads, you get your makeup in the morning, you’ll shoot a scene and then [immediately] rehearse the next one and come back. It’s a pretty fast set, but they know how to keep [it] moving, which is nice.

How would you say the treatment of actors is by vertical production companies as compared to the horizontal ones?

I will say that I haven’t done any verticals outside of this company, but a couple of the other actors [in the show] had been in a lot. They were discussing the scene and kept joking that this one’s sort of like the Cadillac of vertical companies and that they treat actors well. Candy Jar flew me out and back to LA. They had me in a hotel, and I had Uber credits to go to and from set. The food was incredible on set, so they really take good care of you, which is nice. Everybody who works in that group is great and really looks out for us.

So, with working in a vertical format, did you ever feel restricted in terms of how much physicality you can bring to performance?

I mean, these are films where you're in really close proximity to the other characters at all times, whether you're happy with them or mad at them—there's not really a lot of times where you get to use space. It's actually kind of interesting. Acting on camera, you really get to know the framing quite quickly, and I think there was an extra level of learning that came with a vertical frame. I never felt too restricted, though. I thought it was cool because you're getting a lot closer up, which is interesting in scenes that require a level of intimacy. It just made the scenes feel more connected.

I wanted to talk more about the technical side of acting with you. We both trained at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute, and that place really emphasises Method Acting. Does your acting technique stem from the Method, or do you use other teachings, for instance, from your days at the Experimental Theatre Wing (ETW)?

I haven't ever used [the Method] too much, even when I was working there. It's a technique that I think… There are aspects of it that help me a lot in the prep process of a character, but I guess, within performance, I never really lean on it. It doesn't work for me as much, and while I respect it and loved studying it, it just doesn’t work for me in the way other techniques do. I think for me, a lot of my techniques stem from the physicality of characters. That's something I've learned that I can lean on and trust a lot more than sensory [work from the Method]. It's something that produces results more efficiently, more authentically and more consistently than Method has done for me.

Physical and non-verbal behaviour is really important to me. You know, there are a lot of different ways to phrase it. I think McConaughey phrased it best, comparing it to “finding your guy”. Whatever process for me is so character to character and film to film, and I really like that I don't have one thing I do every time. It keeps it a lot more fun, but I think the baseline for me every time is “figure out your guy”. Considering what their outlook is, how do they act, what is their opinion of everybody, what's their opinion on what's happening to them? And then I just trust that whatever he would do in said scenario will happen if I've built that framework enough. On top of that, you can add different prep processes—if you want to gain weight, lose weight, learn something, or change something, it's still just: make that framework tight and trust the reactivity from there.

Yeah, very fair. Are there other performance formats that you’d like to experiment with (techniques or media formats)?

Not to be basic, but I'm such a cinephile. I've always grown up that way, and so anything and everything I do is all working towards a film career and a career as an actor in films. That's the medium that means the most to me and that I care for the most. So it’s working to graduate into film, as much as I've enjoyed the time in the vertical scene. That's what I really hope these things can become. I think that the gradual next step for this [vertical] format, at least on the actor end, is to have actors graduate into bigger work.

That will then allow it to be a more, sans stigma, acceptable way for an actor to start. You think of any change in the industry, like when TV first started, and then soaps began, evolving into teen shows—there was a time when it was frowned upon to originate there. Then a couple of actors graduated from those scenes into larger things, and it became a way that actors could make their money and a name out there before their career was kick-started. And again, I've just graduated, and I don't have any major credits, but it's allowing me a foot in audition rooms. It’s allowing me to finance, which I would instead have to earn in another industry, whilst giving me time and experience in auditions and my studies. I’m excited to figure out how to use this as a stepping stone and help pave the way. Theatre is another space I would love to explore in my career as well. But, until I get there, I’m just excited to use this as a launching pad.

With all this momentum building, what’s next for you?

I did a second Candy Jar production! I think people will like [it]. It’s called Cheer Scandal. I play a basketball player. It’s an exciting one that I had a lot of fun working on. I also have a feature (Bloodstained Ivory) that I shot two years ago, which will ideally be coming out by the end of the year.  It's about a pianist in his final year of music school and the dark ways that his anxiety, fears, and ambitions sort of take him away. It was the most I’ve had to prep for something. I trained for five months on classical piano, I cut 15 pounds, and I worked that script to the bone. I’m very proud of that film, and I'm proud of everybody in it. I feel like I did what I set out to do, and I've met some incredible artists doing it, so I'm very excited for it. I've been fortunate that this whole moment for me online is, in a way, helping that film find a place. I'm just so thankful for everything Loving My Brother’s Best Friend has given me, and I’m so excited to see where it goes. I'm thrilled for so many people in the vertical film scene.

Absolutely, I’m so excited to see all those works. Nick, thanks so much for doing this interview with me. I’m looking forward to seeing what’s next for you.

Thank you for having me!

I’ll admit that going into this interview, I associated vertical acting with TikTok acting challenges and parodies of “serious films.” It always felt more like ironic commentary on the craft rather than the craft itself; production companies I’d seen producing it also leaned into comedy, which only deepened that impression. Nick dismantled that for me the same way he dismantled my prejudices of him, once again making me reflect on myself. If Nick Skonberg is locking in on a phone screen, maybe it was never as casual as I’d made it.

Looking back on my undergraduate days, I’m reminded of my first impression of Nick in 2022. It was right before our first Movement class started, and he hollered my name (“Junaayyy”) as if we’d already been properly acquainted. I responded back, “Niiiick”, which led to our first proper small talk. His attitude to the work and general passion exuded so much of the practising artist that I aspired to be (I was frequently ill during this time and barely made it to most classes) and it made me question if everything he did or was, was an act. I can’t remember the specifics of our first chat, but I do know that he broke down my prejudices effortlessly through his consistent dedication to the craft and quickly became one of the sweetest friends I’d made during drama school.