Dylan Sloane Talks ‘Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies’ and Why Viewers Shouldn’t Be Quick to Judge His Character [Interview]

Dylan Sloane grew up watching Grease on a regular basis, so being a part of Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies carries a bit of extra nostalgia for the actor. It also gave him a chance to focus on his love of both singing and acting.

On the prequel series, Sloane plays Neil, one of the jocks at Rydell High School. I recently had the chance to chat with Sloane about his role on Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies and what we can expect from his character this season.

Sloane said there were only a few days in between the moment he learned he’d been cast on the show and his first eight-hour dance rehearsal.

“It was a whirlwind. For me, it was just seven months of go, go, go. But it was amazing,” Sloane said. “There were so many talented performers that it was like a great adult summer camp. It was everything you wanted from a film set.”

Sloane described his character Neil as a “loud-mouthed high school bully.” 

“He’s not the nicest guy, let’s just say that,” Sloane said. “But he’s a lot of fun to play. There’s something about playing a bad guy that is just so fun to just let go and not have to care about anybody else’s feelings and just say whatever you want to say.”

As the series moves forward, though, we’ll see that there’s more to Neil than meets the eye.

“He is a sosh, but he’s not like all the other soshes in terms of wealth. He doesn’t come from the wealthiest family. So I know he is very insecure about that. So I think that’s where a lot of his insecurities come from,” he explained.

“You can’t always judge a book by its cover,” he added. “There’s always a reason why somebody’s acting out in a hurtful way. There’s usually a reason behind that. So I think people will see as the series goes on, what the deal is, why Neil is the way he is.”

Sloane’s history with the original Grease film goes back to his childhood, but he developed a recent love for Grease 2 as he prepared for his role on Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies.

“I was a fan of the original movie. My mom is a big movie buff, so that used to be our thing. Every Friday night, we’d go to Blockbuster and get movies and then go watch movies in the living room. And she loved musicals. So I’d seen Grease quite a few times growing up.”

“I watched Grease 2 for the first time in preparation for the audition process. And I hate to say it, but I think I might prefer Grease 2 over the original Grease,” Sloane continued. “I’m a big Michelle Pfeiffer fan, and the motorcycle scenes are just amazing in that movie.”

One of Sloane’s favorite things about being a part of Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies was being able to portray someone in that time period.

“My favorite part about it was finding the music of the early ’50s and getting into that and seeing what kids would actually would’ve listened to in the dancing,” he said.

“And then realizing that my posture is not that of a ’50s kid,” Sloane explained. “It’s too modern because I’m on my phone all the time and my posture isn’t that great. So that’s a big thing I had to work on in order to look like I fit into the time period.”

Sloane’s biggest challenge, though, was getting the dances down.

“I’m not necessarily a trained dancer, so getting through those rehearsals and not them totally completely cutting me out of the dance was amazing,” he said. “I’m very proud that I was able to get some screen time doing some dancing.”

However, he said the process was made easier because of his fellow co-stars.

“Everyone’s pitching in, everyone’s helping you. If there’s a little sequence you’re not getting, if you’re on break, you’ll have five dancers come over and help you break it down. So it was difficult, but it was also, you’re so well supported, that it made it easier.”

The music and dancing are also part of what Sloane feels sets the new series apart from the original films. 

“I hate to be that guy, but I like our music more,” Sloane said. “Justin Tranter and his team, they’re amazing songwriters, and I think people are going to be blown away by the music that they hear in the show.”

Because this is a television series, there’s also more opportunity to flesh out each character, which Sloane also said sets the series apart. “With every character in this show, the arcs really are amazing, and you really get to see people change.”

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Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies streams Thursdays on Paramount+.

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