Beauty and the Beast: Acting buddies

Jay Ryan as Vincent Keller in Beauty and the Beast and David de Lautour.

Jay Ryan and David de Lautour are still playing up together, writes Leena Tailor.

As 12-year-olds running around Glen Eden's Playhouse Theatre, nothing could stop David de Lautour and Jay Ryan. Having starred together in Oliver Twist, they went on to start their own theatre company, Prime Play, enlisting Ryan's mother to sew backdrops so they could land paid gigs performing for kids at schools.

When that became old, the pair turned to magic tricks, entertaining children at birthday parties. "I didn't think much of it at the time, but looking back it's like, wow ... that's really proactive for 13-year-olds to go and do that," says de Lautour. "We were just on the same buzz, wanting to go and do stuff."

That buzz never left the driven teens as they went their separate ways and almost two decades later, their paths intersected on Ryan's US show, Beauty and the Beast. The episode, in which de Lautour's mysterious beast character, Sebastian Clifton, goes up against Ryan's alter-ego Vincent Keller, airs in New Zealand on The Zone this Friday.

"We hadn't done anything together since we were on stage and doing magic shows so it was weird but really cool to see him be the exact same dude," says de Lautour, who last year played All Black Stephen Donald in the tele-film The Kick and will next lead TV3's Outrageous Fortune prequel series Westside.

"That's his show, so I was really proud to be on set and see him carry it. "And it was cool just being able to hang out with him and his baby, visit Niagara Falls and just catch up."
Aside from Beauty and the Beast, de Lautour - who got his start on Being Eve and Power Rangers - has enjoyed a string of roles on American television shows, including Mom, What I Like About You and NCIS: LA.

Since Neighbours, Go Girls and Terra Nova, Ryan has built a dedicated following on Beauty and the Beast, helping the show take out multiple People's Choice Awards and continue to be renewed despite nearing cancellation.

"We have such a cult following and really passionate fans and you hear about it, but until you experience it you don't realise the power these fans have to keep a show going or to create the storylines they want," says Ryan, who relocated to Toronto for the role in 2012 and has since welcomed a daughter with writer/director partner Dianna Fuemana.

"They really do have a voice and through social media that voice is loud and the executives, networks and studios listen.

"It's great that it's so interactive - almost like theatre, where the audience can yell, boo, laugh or scream and through Twitter the actors and director can hear it."

As season two continues on New Zealand screens, Ryan says Vincent's world will "open up".

"He was in hiding and reclusive a lot before and this season, through the story of Muirfield finally capturing him, they've rewired and almost taken over him in a way.

"So part of the mantra of season two is, 'Who am I - am I beast or am I man?' "He's going to be very much in this pull between serving Muirfield and creating and continuing his relationship with Catherine."

The second season also means a new look for the beast, with Ryan having requested the prosthetics be toned down due to the large chunk of time required in the make-up chair cutting into valuable filming hours.

"The make-up is scaled back, but funnily enough it looks scarier.

"I actually turn into a joker under the make-up. The old make-up I felt like Jim Carrey in The Mask.

"I would turn into this crazy character until they called 'Action'.

"So it'll be interesting to see what alter-ego comes out with the new design."

David de Lautour appears in Jay Ryan's show Beauty and the Beast on Friday at 7.30pm on The Zone.