INTERVIEW: Quincy Fouse talks Legacies, Marvel, and Miles Morales film
What to expect from MG in season 2, plus the inspiration that spawned his short film
Quincy Fouse, who’s starred in films like Logan (as Nate Munson), currently stars as Milton “MG” Greasley on The CW’s hit show Legacies (a second spinoff of The Vampire Diaries after The Originals), currently in it sophomore season. MG is a teenaged vampire enrolled at the Salvatore Boarding School for the Young & Gifted, running up against all kinds of supernatural challenges—and monsters—with his classmates.
What’s special about the series is that it taps into its actors musical talents, even dedicating an entire episode to a talent show at the Salvatore Boarding School in season 1. Quincy was able to show off his musical talents alongside his costar and former Hamilton cast member Chris Lee, who plays another vampire named Kaleb.
Music, art, and tapping into the creative side of himself isn’t just something that Quincy loves doing in Legacies, but something he carries in all facets of his life. Quincy hails from Indianapolis, IN (where I am also from and currently reside) and in our chat we discovered I live two miles from where he went to high school, Broad Ripple High School. Sadly, this school closed in 2018, but Quincy was one of the students championing its dedication to the arts and community.
Quincy takes this passion to both his personal and professional projects (like the Miles Morales short film he wrote/directed/produced Miles Away From Home), and in this interview we dig deep into what motivates and drives him to always be opening opportunities for himself. (Side note: We also spent a ton of time talking about how Mace Windu is the best Jedi ever, as well as the best pizza spots in Indianapolis.)
Check out the interview below, and be sure to follow Quincy on Twitter and Instagram for updates on his future projects.
PURE FANDOM: MG and Kaleb are my favorite duo on Legacies. I love, love your scenes together. It was almost going TOO well between the two of you, and then Kaleb’s sister Kym (played by Ebboney Wilson) got thrown in the mix as a possible love interest for MG. Will we be seeing more of her?
QUINCY FOUSE: Oh, definitely. Ebboney is really dope, and I feel like this situation is one that’s very fun to play with. Especially with the dynamic characters we have with MG and Kaleb, and Kym is also a dynamic personality herself. Just to watch this thing unfold, with MG trying to respect Kaleb’s boundaries, and you know, part of me slips here and there… it’s going to be a very interesting thing that will play and develop between [the two].
What struggles can we expect to see with MG this season? Last season he lost his family, and while he’s gained a new one with Kaleb, this attraction with Kym could cause a rift.
Before, [MG] really had his head in the clouds chasing after this unreciprocated relationship with Lizzie, and he was also learning the truth about his family. So now it’s almost like all the cards are on the table, and he can see how far life is and he can see who’s really there for him. I think this is kind of MG being at ground zero and working his way up and figuring out what path is genuine and what path is not. That’s going to continue to develop as we get further into his storyline with Kaleb, and we’ll see where it takes him.
Do you think MG should be relentlessly following and supporting Lizzie with her passions, like with Sebastian?
(Laughs) As far as Quincy’s concerned, Quincy would be like, “Nah, let that go! Go live your best life! There’s so many beautiful women in this supernatural, wonderful school—go holler somewhere else!” (Laughs) But, then I’m putting on my MG brain, and it’s not easy to shuck off a goal. [Even] though Lizzie was never for MG necessarily, she did give off such an electric presence that gave MG such a strong attraction [to her]. I’m sure there are some aspects in Lizzie that MG needed implemented his his life that were just missing from himself. I think it’s less about what MG and Lizzie had together, and more about what Lizzie stood for and how MG understood and valued that.
We can’t not talk about Marvel! Not only are you a massive fan, you played Nate Munson in Logan. What was your favorite part about working with Hugh Jackman in his iconic role as Wolverine?
There’s a scene where we [the Munson Family] are at the dinner table with Logan, Professor X, and Laura, and we’re all eating. [The crew] needed some roll of audio before the actual scene, and they let us play and improv out of scene. And it was dope because it wasn’t just me improving with Hugh, my character’s relatively new, so it was like Nate improving with Wolverine!! You know what I mean?! It was kinda weird to know as Quincy who this guy [Wolverine] is and the things that he’s referencing and being vague about, “Oh yeah, we were at this school for troubled youth,” and [in my head] I’m like, “That mutant school!” And then I have to tell myself, “You don’t know that [as Nate], calm down!” (Laughs) Working with those guys, to see veteran [actors] that want to be vulnerable and raw in a scene, it’s something that taught me a lot. It created a pocket of creativity that I can go to in my mind whenever I act now. It’s definitely such a gift from them. It changed my world forever. That would be the biggest moment I got from that.
I watched your Miles Away From Home short, and honestly if you don’t get cast as Miles Morales in the live action film I’ll start a petition myself. Why do you love this character so much, and can you talk more about the powerful meaning behind this film?
Before I even wanted to act, I saw the whole thing go on with everybody wanting Donald Glover to be [Spider-Man] Peter Parker. And coming up I saw Donald be himself through his creativity in a world where I thought the non-stereotypical black guy didn’t have a place in expressing himself creatively. He really opened that door for me to see [I could tap into my creative side professionally], seeing that he was being unapologetically himself in the business—and it was working. That started me having faith in myself as a creative. Snowball that into [Miles Away From Home] happening, and it’s as almost like everything that Donald Glover had meant to me, and then along with wanting to be a superhero. I started reading the comics, and I saw myself in this character from the jump. I had been thinking about acting, and then as an actor I had an actual opportunity to get in that scene. That instantly became a goal for me—I will be this character. Even looking at the character of Miles Morales, he was telling the story of the simple kid with nothing really special about him. He wasn’t too smart, he wasn’t too fit, he was just a boy that had effort to give, and he put it in the right place. That’s just something that I resonated with him as a character.
Coming into the short film, I was put in a place were I was feeling really helpless with all of the police brutality. And the way that I love, I always like to look at both sides of a situation and acknowledge that good and evil exist everywhere. There are good intentions that exist everywhere. There are bad circumstances, there are bad people. In order to almost express myself, and how I felt, and my fears, and what I saw to be the solution, as well as progress the narrative to vie with this character that I wanted to play, I put all of those passions into one project. Because how often do you get the opportunity to put something together like this? So I did that, and this is the script I ended up writing for this character that showed the honest truth that I wanted to express out of this narrative. And also show that not only can I act, but I have the physicality to play this character.
OK, now it’s time for the lightning round!
Favorite MCU film?
Logan’s not technically MCU, so… believe it or not, I’m stuck in between The Winter Soldier and the first Ant-Man. I though the first Ant-Man was hilarious.
Paul Rudd is the best.
Yeah he is, he’s so dope! Don’t make me choose!
Agreed, Winter Soldier doesn’t count, because it’s everyone’s favorite.
Mmhmm.
Star Wars or Star Trek?
Star Wars. No disrespect, but I can’t betray what I grew up on.
Favorite Jedi?
Mace Windu, off top!
I was with someone recently and told them that Samuel L. Jackson demanded a purple lightsaber and had BMF inscribed on it.
(Laughs) Dude that’s so dope. I went in and looked into more, and he even created his own fighting style?! Give me a spinoff!
Pizza or ice cream?
Pizza for sure! My favorite pizza is a BBQ chicken pizza, no pork, with pineapples and black olives and onions. And everybody hates me for it, but I love it.
(We then talk about our favorite local pizza shop in Indianapolis.)
CW show you’d like to guest star on?
Definitely Black Lightening. Every once in a while we’ll get together [with the cast] and we’ll have dinner and talk to teach other… they have such good energy. And they really get into the action on their show, too, and that’s something I’ve been a fan of. That would be dope to get over there and rough house with those guys and whip out some acting chops! (Laughs)
Watch Quincy’s short film, Miles Away From Home, below.
Legacies airs Thursdays at 9pmEST/8pmCST on The CW.
Featured images: Ryan West Photo
