Avan Jogia On The Bonkers Now Apocalypse And Living Ferociously In An Opinionated Industry

By Trey Mangum


The upcoming Starz series Now Apocalypse is like nothing you’ve seen on television. Created by revolutionary indie filmmaker Gregg Araki and executive produced by Steven Soderbergh, the show follows Ulysses (Avan Jogia), a millennial stoner "struggling to identify his life in the surreal and bewildering city of Los Angeles." The series also stars Kelli Berglund, Beau Mirchoff, Roxane Mesquida, Tyler Posey, and Jacob Artist, all in the thick of their own unapologetic "quests pursuing love, sex and fame." True to Araki's earlier work, there really are also aliens.


For Jogia — formerly of Nickelodeon's Victorious and ABC's Twisted — the sex-positive new series gave him the chance to work with the "legend" Araki and tell a L.A. Story from the perspective of a queer, brown "sexual explorer" like Ulysses.


From left to right: Roxane Mesquida, Beau Mirchoff, Jogia, and Kelli Berglund in Now Apocalypse


MTV News sat down with Jogia shortly before the series's premiere at Sundance Film Festival to talk about this end-of-the-world comedy, his journey in Hollywood, and any time while he thinks actual change is coming to come to the industry.


MTV News: What made you take on this project and why is it different than everything else that’s on television now?


Avan Jogia: I'd done a lot of television. I’ve led like three shows. And that's huge. I'm so happy to have done that. And then I was categorize kind of like… I don't think I wanted to do television. Unless it’s really, really standout, because it takes a lot of time and it’s an enormous commitment, unlike a movie, where you just go in and get it done. So Gregg sent me the script and was like ‘I wrote this part for you,’ and he’s a legend. I had the utmost respect for his work up to this point anyway. We move really rapidly, which I like.


almost every episode has some categorize kind of effect on the second episode, which is rare for a half-hour comedy. [The show] tweaks the genre because you still have that situational comedy vibe where its four characters and you also get to be able to see them interact, however it also has this thrumming beat of what’s going on with these aliens. What is it? Is he crazy? Is his smoking also much marijuana? There's very few half-hour comedies where you come in and you’re guessing what’s next. Our show is unique in that way.


MTV News: Tell us about the character of Ulysses and why key is it for you to portray a queer, brown character on television.


Jogia: He’s a sexual explorer, he’s a friendship explorer. I get a lot of characters who are really driven by a mission or they are super involved with what they’re going to complete and what they're going to defeat. This character's interesting in the way that he doesn't have any of these drives. He has different drives and he's looking for love in a global that more and more doesn’t value love and everything becomes quick and disposable. He's looking for something more and I love that about him and I think that's something we share.


one of the primary leaps that we have done moving forward in television and film is representation. I wouldn’t be here without the people who have come before me. Representation is really crucial. It’s a vital piece of what’s being done right now.


Tyler Posey and Jogia in Now Apocalypse


MTV News: What does the series have to mention as far as making it as an aspiring creative in Hollywood?


Jogia: It’s funny because everyone's first year in L.A. Is really an interesting time. You're consuming personalities so rapidly and you're jumping from friend order to friend categorize so speedily and everything's changing. You just attempt to identify who you are in this city, what you want out of it, and who you hope to be.


MTV News: You starred in two teen shows, Victorious and Twisted. Is the transition to teen to young adult star complicated or tricky?


Jogia: I think a lot is made of that, you know what I mean? I have a unique experience because immediately after Nickelodeon I did Twisted, then I went from that to indie movies that went to Sundance then to Tut. I follow the writing and I work on what I do. I feel like a lot of the time, we’re in an industry that is so much about public advice and why well someone’s gonna do or how it fits in your brand. I have never given a fuck about brand outdoors of living ferociously as myself. There’s no piece of my personality that wants to cater to what I think is going to be acceptable or logical for people. And that's not me being like "fuck the system," yet I just find it easier to do opposite.


in case you work on your craft and be good in something, that something will change your perceived industry brand and then you'll be a different actor. And in this day and age, there really are shows being made with influencers. Not to mention anything disparaging about that because, again, if they work on their craft, that's fucking awesome. The multi-hyphenate thing is a real deal. Gone are the days of you do this one thing, that's what do, and you also wait around for everybody, especially once you're, like, young and brown and ambitious. We visualize the doors beginning and the way that they are. And I've Been at those doors for a decade.


MTV News: do you suggest representation in Hollywood is making progress or is there a lot of ground left to be covered?


Jogia: I think it's going to happen a lot quicker than people think. I truly believe that. What's interesting is the next set of films, the next kind of film once people don't have to create films based on their race... Like your merit as an artist isn't just what you wear in your face. Like, I can go make a movie about a 50-year-old straight white corporate guy and his divorce from his spouse. I can make that film. I may write that film. That to me is any time we've really blown the doors off. Change will come once creators of color are seen as such artists that their artsy merit goes in back of what they present as.


I just hate the rules. Forget hierarchy. I hate the rules of people who mention you could only tell these kinds of stories. We have to support with our dollars and we need to alter with the times and stop putting films in a position to fail. In case you want [a project] to resonate with young people, you must get it to young people. They don't come to you? Then you get it to them. Don't reject the change. You think Roma loses artsy value because you must scroll past a Adam Sandler movie to get to it? Fuck you. The more you don’t give attention to getting good, high quality media to young people, the more they’re just going to devour things that are not good. The media landscape is changing drastically, and we’ve got to get more younger voices making decisions. I routinely just laugh because every teen show I've ever been a segment of it, it's all like 40- to 60-year-old males who are writing about 18-year-old females. In case you want it to resonate with young people, hire young people. In case you hope to resonate with brown people, hire brown people.


Right now Apocalypse premieres March 10 on Starz.