If you need a new comfort show to binge-watch during the holidays, look no further than Netflix’s My Life With The Walter Boys. This coming-of-age series is based on a novel by Ali Novak, who first published the story on Wattpad. The show follows Jackie Howard (played by Nikki Rodriguez), a teenager who moves from NYC to a small town in Colorado after her parents and sister die in a tragic car accident. While in Colorado, Jackie moves in with the Walter family, which consists of 10 boys. Throughout the show, Jackie must find the strength to move on after suffering such a life-altering loss while adjusting to a new home and high school. She learns many lessons about change, hope, and friendships along the way — especially through a love triangle with Cole Walter (played by Noah LaLonde) and Alex Walter (played by Ashby Gentry).
Before their auditions, Rodriguez, Gentry, and LaLonde hadn’t read the book that the show’s based on. Gentry didn’t even know what Wattpad was. Still, they immediately found several qualities in their respective characters that they could connect with. For Gentry, it was Alex’s love of Lord Of The Rings and Star Wars. For Rodriguez, it was “the Type-A perfectionist side of Jackie,” Rodriguez says in an exclusive interview with Her Campus. “She’s the type of person, if she got an A- she would be upset, and I’m definitely that way as well.”
LaLonde’s process of stepping into his character was a bit more multi-faceted, as there were some parts of Cole’s personality that he identified with more than others. “I leaned into [Cole’s] soft and caring side first, because I didn’t know firsthand about cocky and confident,” LaLonde says. Hockey played the same role in LaLonde’s life that football played in Cole’s, and he related to Cole’s journey of figuring out what to do with his life post-injury. “The months to years of adjusting to life after hockey was the first jumping-off point for me as connecting to Cole.”
Part of the show’s charm is the way it develops the three lead characters as individuals. Jackie’s moving in with the Walters helped Cole move forward in life after losing his ability to play football due to a severe leg injury. “We’re all in our own worlds, so when Cole’s loss happens, he feels it as the crumbling of the world around him. Sometimes, to get out of that bubble, you have to see somebody else going through something that objectively is a harder thing, like losing your family,” Noah LaLonde says in an exclusive interview with Her Campus. “I think that’s one of the things that attracts Cole to Jackie. Seeing her persevering, seeing her will to get through this loss. It kind of pulls him out of his darker days.”
After starring in My Life With The Walter Boys, Gentry, LaLonde, and Rodriguez have closely connected with their characters, who develop as the show progresses. Looking back, the actors can see just how far their characters have come and offer some advice for Alex, Cole, and Jackie.
“I would say, just chill Alex. Just be Alex,” Gentry says. “Don’t be afraid to feel what you’re feeling and confide in people you trust. If you don’t, you could end up hurting them,” LaLonde notes. “Follow your dreams and listen to what your heart tells you,” Rodriguez says.
My Life With The Walter Boys is currently available on Netflix.