[This story contains spoilers from season two of Netflix’s My Life with the Walter Boys.]

Team Alex isn’t ready to give up in season two of Netflix’s My Life with the Walter Boys.

In the 10-episode season that premiered on Aug. 28, Ashby Gentry returns as Alex Walter, who fell in love with Jackie Howard in season one, only to be left heartbroken after she leaves and returns to New York after kissing his brother Cole. The last time Alex interacted with Jackie, he was drunkenly telling her he loved her, so having to reel from that absence impacts Alex both mentally and seemingly physically. The once bookish nerd is now seemingly confident and has caught the attention of ladies at his school.

“When I was 16 and my first relationship ended, there’s almost an over compensation with regards to the freedom that one has,” Gentry tells The Hollywood Reporter. “I think Alex is a suppressor. You see that with the heartbreak with Jackie. ‘I’m fine. It’s fine. We’re good. Let’s just move on. It’s over.’ He’s a pusher. He suppresses his deepest and most potent feelings.”

Despite attempting to make things right with both Alex and Cole as she finds her way once again after returning to Silver Falls, Jackie can’t fight her feelings and her and Alex end up giving things another go — however keeping their romantic reunion secret from everyone. Of their reunion, Gentry admits he wasn’t surprised but also didn’t necessarily agree.

“If this was my friend, I would be like, ‘Bro, what are you doing? What is wrong with you?!,’” he tells THR. “But I was not surprised, because Alex, he’s stubborn and determined. I think he’s going to be dead, buried six feet under before he gives up. I was more surprised she took him back personally.”

As one corner of the show’s love triangle, Gentry admits he initially didn’t understand how people couldn’t be team Alex during season one. “Then I watched the show, and I was like, ‘Oh, that’s how.’ They’re cute together. So I get it,” he says of the chemistry between Nikki Rodriguez’s Jackie and Noah LaLonde’s Cole.

But Team Alex is in full force in season two with Gentry crediting his character for being “the person who’s willing to sacrifice what he has to sacrifice for the people that he cares about.”

“I just wonder if those people deserve him truly,” he says.

Gentry spoke with THR about studying for cowboy camp (while walking through a graveyard), Alex’s other potential suitors and his reaction to that confession in the finale.

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We ended season one with a shocked and heartbroken Alex. Going into season two, what were you hoping to explore with Alex this season?

We don’t really know what’s going to happen until very close to shooting. I received scripts for some of the episodes that we’re filming in a few weeks and so over the hiatus, which was a long hiatus because we finished shooting season one August 2022 (the show didn’t come out until December 2023), we didn’t start shooting again until August 2024. So in between working, there was a two-year period where I had to wonder what was going to happen, much like the audience does.

My mind went in a lot of different directions, because I think what happens is formally traumatic, meaning that it’s a big disruption. She leaves and that’s traumatic, very sudden, and it changes things forever after that point. There are a lot of different ways you could respond to that. I brainstormed about those. It’s tricky to work before you’ve really seen material, because I don’t want to make assumptions about what’s going to happen, and then have to alter those assumptions once I get the script. But of course, I definitely had some ideas.

What were your ideas?

They’re somewhat similar to what happens. When I was 16 and my first relationship ended, there’s almost an over compensation with regards to the freedom that one has. I think that’s hinted at, though not seen explicitly in season two. I think Alex is enjoying his singularity, and figured that was one of them. I had imagined a lot more of the grieving and a lot more of the heartbreak than I think is showed in the show. He is a sensitive guy and there’s a whole plot point in season one about him crying after he found out about his brother and his first girlfriend which is totally reasonable, but we don’t see that in the show. There’s a time gap, and a big period of summer break where he goes to cowboy camp and hits puberty,. So I imagine a lot of the heartbreak took place during that period that we don’t necessarily see, which is nice to have that privately to myself as an actor.

Alex is seemingly camouflaging his heartbreak and giving a 2.0 confident version now. He’s really popular there among the ladies. After learning what was in store for Alex, how he was reacting to everything and where he is now how did you view who this new Alex was?

All three of the characters in season two are figuring out who they are. I think that’s the theme of season two. A season of identity. It’s a season of everybody discovering where they fit, which is what adolescence is; That’s where you learn what you want, what you like to do, who you love, who you want to be with. In psychoanalysis, there’s discussions about authenticity. My understanding of Lacanian psychoanalysis is that even your inauthentic parts are authentic to you. When we see Alex behaving in various ways in season two, even if it’s not, quote, unquote, the real him, the fact that he’s trying it on means it is authentic to him. So we get to see him craft this personality that might not be necessarily organic, but it’s so interesting to watch what kind of inauthenticity he decides to portray.

Before diving into his relationship with Jackie, I did want to touch on Alex and Kylie, because this season they’re seemingly not as close as they once were. Alex also still seems to be oblivious to her feelings towards him. Do you think that Alex truly is truly unaware of her feelings for him? Do you ever see him seeing her as anything more than a friend?

I’ve met a lot of people, and have been close to a lot of people who are like this. Though, I wouldn’t necessarily say I’m like this. I think Alex is a suppressor. You see that with the heartbreak with Jackie, he’s fine. [He’s like] “I’m fine. It’s fine. We’re good. Let’s just move on. It’s over.” He’s a pusher. He suppresses his deepest and most potent feelings. I would be shocked if there wasn’t something suppressed. But do I think he’s consciously aware of any sort of romantic Inkling between him and Kylie? No I don’t.

So he really is just that oblivious?

Yeah! I really do. I wonder about her though. It’s been brought to both of their attention. It’s brought to Alex’s attention by Skylar in season one, episode four, and it’s brought to Kylie’s attention by Cole in season one, episode 10, right? Both of them deny it. Both of them are like, “You’re tripping!” And so I do think it’s suppressed.

We see Alex train for what you called “Cowboy camp.” What was the preparation you had to do for that this season and was it different, in any way, from what you did for the first season?

I learned about cowboy camp in the break before shooting. I just researched as much rodeo as I could. Obviously a lot of the preparation for season two was physical stuff. He’s supposed to look different, so there was all of that. I live in Brooklyn, and there’s a park nearby, but before you get to the park, there’s a graveyard that you got to walk through. I would walk through the graveyard every day, walk to this park and then back to my house and I would listen to podcasts about the history of rodeo and about bronco riding, and how that works. [I’d] just watch a bunch of cowboy videos. And there’s actually a series on Netflix called How to be a Cowboy, which I watched. It’s all it’s kind of special for me. So it was fun!

Learning about cowboys while walking through a cemetery is the best preparation apparently!

Hell, yeah. That’s my style. You got to prepare like Ashby Gentry!

Alex seems to be maybe oblivious again and continuing to break hearts after having a connection with his rodeo mentor, but he turns her down after realizing he still has feelings for Jackie. What did you make of Alex and Blake’s dynamic?

I very much feel like Alex is almost a little brother to me, where I’m like, “What are you doing?! Why? Like, dude!” With the Blake stuff, my personal response to that was, “You idiot! You are fumbling this beautiful girl who likes you a lot on speculation that the girl who kissed your brother is gonna want you back.” That being said, though he’s a good gambler, because he was right. But I was still frustrated.

This season, it’s clear Jackie is still dealing with feelings for both Alex and Cole but acting more on her feelings for Alex. What do you think was the point where Alex stopped denying his feelings and wanted to open his heart up again to Jackie?

I have a very confirmed answer to this. Okay, when Alex goes to the arcade to play darts, it’s the same arcade that Alex went to with Jackie in season one. And he sees the racing game there and is reminded of her and the time they spent together, and he can’t get her out of his head, even when he’s kissing Blake. That’s why he fumbles Blake. When he gets back to the barn that night, pre-lightning, I think that’s the moment that he realized that he still loves her. I know this is true, because we filmed that stuff. It just didn’t make the final cut.

Were you surprised Alex and Jackie gave it another go?

Yes! Oh my God. And okay, was I surprised? No, no, I wasn’t. Did I agree? Also, no. If this was my friend, I would be like, “Bro, what are you doing? What is wrong with you?” But I was not surprised, because Alex is like a bull. He’s stubborn and he’s determined. I think he’s going to be dead, buried six feet under before he gives up. I was more surprised she took him back personally.

Why’s that?

I think because I got to witness the way her and Cole interact. I mean that’s clearly strong. It’s so funny. When I was doing season one, I was very much of the school of thought of like, “In what universe could you not be team Alex?” It just didn’t make sense. And then I watched the show, and I was like, “Oh, that’s how.” They’re cute together. So I get it. I was a little surprised she went back to him because I thought maybe she was gonna figure things out with Cole.

Do you think she maybe went back with Alex out of guilt?

I think that totally has something to do with it. I don’t think it’s like a pity relationship entirely. I think she loves Alex. I think she’s figuring out who she is and I think she decides that she does not want to be the person that cheats on her boyfriend with his brother and then leaves him in the dust. And so I think it’s about her own retribution in a way.

When Jackie tells Alex about what happened with Cole, he doesn’t seem surprised and almost seems relieved because his instinct about there being something between them was right. Then even knowing about them it still doesn’t stop him from wanting to pursue things with Jackie again. What did you make of how he reacted to the reveal of what happened with Jackie and Cole? Why was he so forgiving this time?  

I think that’s probably one of the most redeeming points in Alex’s arc of the character, because he’s kind of being gaslit the whole first season. He knows there’s something going on and is made to feel crazy and is made to feel clingy and overprotective and neurotic. And then he’s right in the end! Then, not only is he right, he’s lied to about it by his brother and his ex-girlfriend for half of the second season. And then is finally brought to justice, and even says, “At least now I know I wasn’t crazy!” Though the even more mature way of handling the situation is he says, “It doesn’t matter, because I still love you.” I think that even though it frustrates me as an audience member, that’s how people work through this stuff. People make mistakes. “I don’t care, because I still love you, and at the end of the day, I still want to be with you.” That’s what matters to me, which I think is a very redeeming part of his story, even though it is simultaneously so frustrating.

In contrast to last season, Alex and Cole don’t necessarily dislike each other but seem cordial despite there being in the elephant in the room with their feelings towards Jackie. In a love triangle, people can get so caught up in their teams but forget that these two are actually brothers and a relationship can be impacted there. What did you make of their new dynamic this season?

You know I’ve been in this situation a few times in my life, and with the other guy, it’s always like, you don’t necessarily get over it ever, or at least I haven’t. But at the same time, I also don’t hate them forever. In a weird way, it’s almost like a dialectical relationship, where the contradiction is the truth in that in a subconscious way, bond over the thing you have in common, which is the fact that you both love the same person. So I think with Alex and Cole, he gets it. He can’t blame him. He loves her, too. It makes sense. So I think, in a way, that eases the tension. Whereas if he had God forbid done Jackie, wrong in a malicious way, because he hated her, I think it would be much more easy for Alex to write him off as this evil person. They’re brothers, so they have a history there, but I think the brother thing just increases the literal familiarity between them. It’s so much easier to fight with your brother than it is to fight with a friend. It’s easier formally, but it’s harder in the actual content of it.

It’s going to make for some awkward family gatherings that’s for sure.

No kidding! I’m like how are they going to have dinner after this? You know how much I think about that? They have these big blowout fights, then it’s like “Bro I can’t go into the bathroom right now cause Cole’s in there right now.” Like that’s awkward. They got to drive together in the same car! It’s so weird!

Well speaking of awkward, this season ends on a cliffhanger once again with Alex hearing Jackie confess her love to Cole. Where do you see them go from there?

I’m gonna guess to the hospital! That’s the bigger problem that we also see at the end of season. But where do I see them go from there? I don’t know. I mean, I do know, right? I’m not gonna say (Laughs.) I just feel like, geez that’s gotta suck as an audience member. Like round three, dude. It’s round three. I barely give a second chance. This guy needs to do some serious soul searching to rationalize his life existence. Because I’d be like, I should just like, move. I should just run away from home, because the humiliation that I would feel in that situation is absolutely crazy! I’m really interested this year in exploring where Alex goes for himself. And this is just Ashby. That’s what I care about. I care much less about where him, Jackie and Cole go because I think the interesting thing is, how do you as a person swallow a pill like that for the third time in your life in a period of two years?

I think anytime there’s a show or film where there’s a major love triangle, fans are quick to pick teams of who they prefer be together. What’s your pitch for why Alex is the one for Jackie?

My pitch for why Alex is the one for Jackie is because can you imagine not giving up after that? I can’t! Well, I did have to. That’s my job (Laughter.) I think Alex is just willing to do the hard thing for her. And that’s rare, and you’ll find in life that people that are willing to do hard and inconvenient things are the people that are the most valuable. Unfortunately in contemporary life, most people are often few and far between, even amongst your close family. And that’s my critique of Cole. If Cole really loved Alex, he would get over it. He would squash it. He would do the right thing, and he would not infatuate with his brother’s girlfriend (laughs) which to say out loud is actually an insane thing. Alex is the person who’s willing to sacrifice what he has to sacrifice for the people that he cares about. I just wonder if those people deserve him truly. That’s my oddest honest reaction to the show so far.

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My Life with the Walter Boys is now streaming on Netflix. Read THR’s interviews with Nikki Rodriguez, Noah LaLonde and showrunner Melanie Halsall.