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EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Brent Rivera and Marcus Scribner Dish on ‘Alexander IRL’

Nowadays, it feels as if a great teen-centered film only reaches the surface once in a blue moon. However, Alexander IRL is here to save the day!

Alexander IRL is the latest release from YouTube Red starring famed YouTuber Brent Rivera amongst the likes of Nathan Kress (iCarly) and Marcus Scribner (Black-ish).

The teen comedy revolves around the story of two brothers that have nothing in common, but are forced to work together to achieve their goals as their parents head out-of-town for the weekend. Alexander (Rivera) wants to throw an epic house party and impress his dream girl with the help of his best friend Darius (Scribner).

Meanwhile, EJ (Kress)–Alexander’s brother–is hoping benefit from the house party to impress his boss. Ultimately, they quickly realize how important it will be for them to work together instead of argue during this crucial time.

Celeb Secrets spoke with Brent Rivera and Marcus Scribner about their roles in Alexander IRL and what fans can look forward to when viewing the film. So, make sure to check out our exclusive Q&A because the boys did not hold back!

Alexander IRL is available now on YouTube Red.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wQJO6ys3h0]

Celeb Secrets: It’s felt like time has passed since a good teen comedy has hit the surface, so what can you tell us about Alexander IRL and your roles in the film?

Brent Rivera: “Yea, so, Alexander IRL is about two brothers who have nothing in common. But, they need to work together when their parent leave them alone for the week. It features my character—Alexander—and my friend Darius—Marcus—in the movie. We kind of have to work together and I also try to get my dream crush, my love. So, we have to deal with a couple of things.”

Marcus Scribner: “I feel like Alexander IRL is definitely a throwback to like classic eighties teen comedies, and I feel like there aren’t too many of those out there as you said. Being able to create something like that in the current age, something so modern that’s so pertinent to today’s issues and things that all teens our age have to deal with is a blessing and we’re able to tell a fun story as well. My character Darius, he’s definitely something—a little bit uptight, a little bit strict. But, I feel like there’s a lot of teens out there like that and at this moment there are a lot of people like myself who are huge nerds, and don’t like having fun. But, I think he definitely adds an interesting dynamic to the comedy formula and we definitely had a lot of fun shooting the movie—it’s got some important issues that we touch on as well. It’s all-around a great project.”

Celeb Secrets: What had made you both want to be apart of Alexander IRL?

Brent Rivera: “Well, you know, I usually make YouTube videos right, I make Instagram videos, all that stuff. I always kind of like took everything and done it myself. i was the director, producer, the writer or whatever of my videos. I thought it’d be cool to, you know, be apart of something bigger. I think this was the perfect project for me especially to get started because it is coming out on YouTube Red which is my home and where I grew. So, it’s kind of cool to have YouTube Red to release my first film.”

Marcus Scribner: “I think that, in a way, my situation was very similar to Brent’s. I just do normal acting gigs, I do television shows…guest star rolls, commercials, things like that. I never really had an opportunity to show what I can do on the big screen and I felt IRL represented the perfect opportunity for this. Not only that, but it also touches on environmental issues which are very and important and I hold very close to my heart, and Being able to utilize this platform of YouTube Red to show this to an audience that’s my age and people who care about the same things I care about—I know I’m on YouTube 24/7, watching Brent’s videos. So, yea, for sure, doing Alexander IRL was the perfect project, with the perfect time, and the right people—it was just a fantastic time all-round.”

Celeb Secrets: How would you describe your experience working alongside each other, Nathan Kress, and the rest of the cast?

Brent Rivera: “For me, it was definitely awesome because I’m not used to the normal pace of mainstream media, which I haven’t really experienced before. It was cool working alongside people who have shows like Marcus, like Nathan Kress. I really enjoyed it!”

Marcus Scribner: “I was happy to work with Brent. I was like, “Oh snap! Brent Rivera in the house. What’s good?””

Celeb Secrets: What would you say were your favorite highlights or memories from your time working on set? Were there any on set pranks?

Marcus Scribner: “I think that my favorite part was definitely getting to work with our amazing director, Asher. Asher’s brilliant, he’s a visionary, a scholar—I’m only saying this because he’s in the room. But, my favorite part was  definitely getting to work with a bunch of people my age, doing the same thing I’m doing.”

Brent Rivera: “Everyone was our age, so it was just fun to work, and talk, and like laugh—it was a great time!”

Celeb Secrets: So Brent, since this film was your first major movie role, what did you take away from this experience? Has it made you want to go out for more movie roles in the future?

Brent Rivera: “Yea! It definitely kind of motivates me to especially with starting on YouTube. It was a really, really cool experience—I’m so thankful that it happened the way it did, it couldn’t have went better. I think this film is perfect for especially my style of comedy, it’s perfect for my fans on YouTube and Instagram. But yea, it’s a really, really good movie especially for my first.”

YouTube Red

Celeb Secrets: And Marcus, you are known for your starring role in ABC’s hit series, Black-ish. In your opinion, what did you find to be different when working on this film project and your television show? 

Marcus Scribner: “I find that it’s very different specifically in this case because usually on Black-ish I’m working with a lot of adults, and we got a family vibe. We tackle a lot of important issues on the show and it’s not that different because in Alexander IRL we’re also tackling environmental issues. We’re also getting to tell these amazing stories and really just have a time to make people laugh at the same time. Working with everybody on the movie definitely gave me a different perspective because I feel like we’re all at the same place in our careers, and we’re all working hard to get better at what we do. It was just a good time hanging out with people my own age, [and] it was definitely a different vibe than working on a TV show—it was a blast.”

Celeb Secrets: Do you prefer working on TV roles more than movie roles?

Marcus Scribner: “No, not really. I mean, there’s definitely pluses on each one and each outlet definitely has its own unique flare. Working on a movie is definitely something very different from working on a TV show. They’re not really comparable, in my opinion, because working on a movie you have a different vibe because you’re telling this elongated story and you have a certain amount of time to do it whereas on a TV show you can flesh out stories, and you might diverge from a topic more often than usual. So, Alexander IRL was probably the best film I could’ve worked on for my first one.”

Celeb Secrets: Why should Celeb Secrets fans check out Alexander IRL?

Brent Rivera: “I think people should watch the movie because it’s definitely something that has never really been done before, especially with social media people combining with big mainstream people. I feel like it’s a really good combination and I don’t wanna toot my own horn here, but it’s a really funny movie!”

Marcus Scribner: “I definitely agree with Brent. I feel like a lot of the fanbase that both of us have are on YouTube. So, putting it on YouTube Red and having one of these teen comedy films that hasn’t come out for a while and I feel like really should be coming out right now because it’s the perfect time, there’s so many new teenagers out there that would really love a film like this. So, I feel like putting it on YouTube allows people to see it. It’s just the perfect opportunity for us.”

Celeb Secrets: Since we are Celeb Secrets, what’s a behind the scenes secret from filming that fans would not know when watching Alexander IRL?

Brent Rivera: “A lot of our dance scenes were actually improvised.”

Marcus Scribner: “I don’t know if you know that we didn’t have choreographers on set. We improvised our own moves—”

K. Asher Levin (the director): “That is not true! I choreographed all the dances.”

Marcus Scribner: “Our director Asher choreographed all of our dance moves.”

Brent Rivera: “There was a lot of big taste testing, especially with food, because they had great food on set.”

Marcus Scribner: “Too much ice cream!”

Celeb Secrets: Lastly, besides Alexander IRL, are the two of you working on any other upcoming projects that we can look forward to?

Brent Rivera: “Yea, I’m going to keep on working with big brands. I have something with Men’s Warehouse that I’m doing for prom season, which is cool—I worked with them last year. You know, I’m just going to keep on making my videos, develop my craft, and try to grow my audience.”

Marcus Scribner: “Same, basically. I’m just going to keep on working on Black-ish. So far, I have a bunch of voiceover and animation things that I have in the works right now, a couple of TV shows that should be coming out pretty soon—those are really exciting. Right now, I’m working, I do voiceovers on the show Home and some of the other stuff I can’t really say. But, I’m also on Black-ish currently, which is a lot of fun. So, week to week I’ll be doing that as well, focusing on my homework because I’m a junior, looking at college. I don’t know, just normal teenager stuff!”

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