Nick Fink on MTV’s ‘Sweet/Vicious’ [Exclusive Interview]

MTV’s Sweet/Vicious is unlike any show on TV right now. It draws from the superhero genre and features determined, kind, and fierce women who fight back against sexual assault.

Tyler, played by Nick Fink, acts as the hero’s love interest in this tale. The thing is, he doesn’t fade into the background and act as a prop for the hero. He’s a full-fledged character with dreams, worries, and complexities that make him stand out in this circle of strong females

I recently had the chance to speak with Fink about Sweet/Vicious, his role as Tyler, and his relationship with the vigilante Jules.

From the start, Fink knew that this show was different.

“It’s really just an incredible show, and it does so many different things and does them all so well. I think it makes for a really unique viewing experience,” Fink said. “I know we have started a lot of conversations and I hope we keep going down that path.”

Even before Sweet/Vicious premiered, Fink was excited for people to see the project he’d become a part of.

I’ve been sitting here, loving this show so much and shipping Juphelia so hard before anyone even knew it was a thing. I’m such a fan of this show, our two leading women, and our creator. We’re so fortunate.”

With every episode that passed, Fink felt that the show became more significant to him, and that they were doing something important.

He recalled that, “Throughout this entire process, and now that we’ve gotten a chance to watch it, it continues to mean more and more to me. And that was the case when we were shooting it. It became more important to me every single day, every week, every script we were reading. These ideas and what we were talking about. It just became our everything. And we wanted to talk about it in the most honest and respectful way. And I think we got there.”

Tyler, who plays Jules’ love interest, is a likeable, artistic, and down to Earth character. It’s been a little hard playing someone like this for Fink.

“One of the biggest challenges is just being the guy that he is and taking on what that means for the show. There’s a lot of not so great guys on the show. Then there’s Tyler. He’s super charming, and he’s confident around Jules, and seems to know how to talk to her,” Fink explained.

“I’m not necessarily ‘that guy.’ So I think that it might seem simple, but it’s a big responsibility to step in those shoes and to do it right.”

Shortly after meeting Jules, Tyler’s step-brother Carter goes missing. Unbeknownst to him, Jules was involved in the death of his step-brother and is participating in a lie that Carter skipped town to avoid accusations of sexual assault.

When asked about how far Tyler would go to find his step-brother, Fink said he would go all the way.

“Part of him really doesn’t like the guy that Carter is. But at the same time, it’s his step-brother. They’ve grown up together, shared all these experiences, and so he’s trying to be there for him. A part of him isn’t going to stop.”

This search isn’t going to change the kind of person he is like it might for other characters. Tyler will continue to be the man he is around Jules while on this search.

“I don’t think the search will really turn him into a different person, get rid of that likeable quality he has. But if he were to find out things, I’m sure that he wouldn’t be too thrilled with what he’s hearing,” Fink stated.

For Fink, Tyler’s relationship with Jules is something he’s enjoyed exploring.

“Tyler and Jules are so great together, and I hope they get to spend more time together.”

Not everything’s going to be easy for these two love birds. Especially since she was involved in the death of his step-brother.

Fink noted, “Even if people are perfect for each other, there’s still gonna be issues and I have my own stuff going on and she has her own stuff going on. So I guess I can say that the path isn’t always a nice paved road. It can get a little bumpy sometimes.”

According to Fink, Tyler sees something unique in Jules and finds her to be an incredibly strong and badass woman he can’t help but be attracted to.

“He really likes who she is. And I think he sees these sides of her that maybe not everyone else does, and maybe that’s because she’s starting to let her walls down for him. I think he senses that there’s maybe something, or pieces of her that he doesn’t really know everything about. I think he respects that and understands that maybe he’ll learn about these things in time. And he’ll have to earn them, which is a great thing. I think he’s fallen so hard for her, and he’s only going to keep doing that.”

The road to love hasn’t been without a couple of bumps and fun times during filming. In Episode 3, Tyler approached Jules from behind and she ended up clocking him in the throat.

Fink laughed and explained that series creator Jennifer Kaytin Robinson knew that scene would make a great gif from the moment she wrote it.

“Jenn was like, ‘When I wrote this, I knew it would make a great gif and I was right.’ She is right. We had to do that scene quite a lot of times. And it’s one of those things that’s harder to cheat than a punch. You can punch in front of someone’s face, but with this you have to hit full force into someone’s throat. The goal was that Eliza (Jules) would aim a little lower that my throat and hit me in my sternum.”

It didn’t go as planned with how excited Eliza was to do the scene. “She’s amped up. She’s whipping around and just hoping for the best. There were a couple that were, I mean I was all about committing to it so it was fine, but there were some [hits] that other people found really funny. But maybe not myself. I was not laughing,” Fink joked.

Naturally, it’s only a matter of time until Tyler finds out about Jules’ abilities, but Fink isn’t too worried about it.

“He’s seen some of [Jules’ fighting skills] already, and I think that stands out to him as something that most people won’t be able to do — at least at that speed and with that kind of velocity. I don’t think he even really needs to see more, but I think if he does, it’s more in how Jules carries herself than in physical acts.”

When he’s not binge-watching or obsessing over Juphelia (Jules and Ophelia) Fink is catching up on his favorite shows and working on new projects.

“I watched Westworld, which was just jaw dropping, week after week. That cast is phenomenal. I also watched Game of Thrones and really loved Expanse on Syfy. I read the books and thought this was a cool step for Syfy.”

Like with his role on Sweet/Vicious, the characters drew him in and made him an instant fan.

As for his own projects, Fink was enthusiastic about his new indie film The Great and The Small and the web series Tagged.

“I have a really cool and beautiful indie film coming out called The Great and The Small towards the end of February. I think we’ll have a limited release and then it’ll be out on demand. I’m really looking forward to people seeing that side of me. I also have this web series called Tagged, that Awesomeness TV does, and we shot Season 2 of that this year.”

Be sure to catch Nick Fink when Sweet/Vicious returns Tuesday, January 3, 2017 on MTV.

You can also follow him on Twitter or Instagram to keep up to date on all things Nick Fink.

*Featured image credit: Ryan West

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