Team V Factory

http://www.entertainment-focus.com recently interviewed Jared Murillo about SCD that starts on BBC1 tomorrow! (friday). You can check out the interview below.

Last week we brought you interviews with two of the three new Strictly Come Dancing professionals; Robin Windsor and Artem Chigvintsev. Today we’re bringing you an exclusive interview with the show’s final new professional dancer 22-year old Jared Murillo.

We caught up with the US dancer to find out how the rehearsals for Strictly are going, talk about his partner Tina O’Brien’s progress so far and find out more about him.

How are the rehearsals going?
They’re going great. I actually just finished rehearsals for the day and we have the routine all finished. Now it’s just a matter of perfecting it and getting it right every single time and getting it drilled into the head.

How did you feel when Tina was announced as your dancing partner?
I felt great. Actually I kind of new that I had her anyway. When I saw that she was going to be on the show I was like ‘that has to be my partner’. I could see the potential; she’s 5’ 4”, she’s really petite and small. They had to put me with someone that small. It wasn’t going to be someone 6 foot tall you know? I kind of figured that I’d have her but when they announced it was her it just kind of confirmed that I was right the first time.

How has she been to teach?
She’s been great. She picks it up really fast, really well. She’s a very good learner and she picks it up really well when I explain something to her. I don’t have to explain it in a difficult way. I explain it to her and she gets it right off the bat. It’s been great teaching her choreography because if we do it a couple of times she just gets it down.

What kind of teacher are you?
I’m quite lenient. I’m not strict like ‘you’ve got to do it right everytime’ but I encourage her. I want her to have fun because I feel like people learn better if they’re having a good time as opposed to being scared or if they get it wrong I’m going to scold them. I’m more that kind of person that wants people to learn and have fun at the same time.

Tell us a little bit about how you got involved with ‘Strictly’ this year.
I was back in the States and my agent called me up and said ‘hey there’s a show in the UK called Strictly Come Dancing, it’s the original Dancing With The Stars, and they’re looking for some new people. Are you interested in giving it a shot?’ I said ‘yeah, sure of course, meet me’ and from there the rest is history. They liked me a lot and they liked my style and choreography that I’ve done in the past so I got the job (laughs).

Have you started to get nervous yet about the live shows?
Not particularly. I’ve become accustomed to doing pretty big shows. If this was my first big gig then I guess I’d be a little more petrified but I’m actually more excited about doing the shows as opposed to being nervous. From all the experience I’ve had with High School Musical and also with my band back in the States I’ve been used to performing in front of big crowds and even cameras too. I’m excited more than nervous.

What’s your speciality in terms of dance?
I’d say it has to be hip-hop and ballroom; those are my major strengths. Out of everything I’ve done, everything from jazz to ballet, tap and hip-hop and ballroom, I’ve got to say I lean more towards hip-hop and ballroom.

You mentioned your experience on ‘High School Musical’ earlier. How was that experience for you?
It was amazing. I started out doing the first film and then after the reaction to the first film we were going on tour. Then the director Kenny Ortega called me up and said ‘hey can you come on tour with us and be assistant choereographer?’ There was actually a section in the tour where I danced with Monique Coleman and we did a ballroom section because she was actually on the US version of Dancing With The Stars. When we went on tour we did a lot of arena shows and they typically had 8-14,000 people. After the tour I did the second movie and helped choreograph that and I was also principal dancer in it and that’s when we went on the South American tour for High School Musical. We ended up doing stadium shows so had between 45-60,000 people in the stands watching the show. There weren’t small crowds at all (laughs).

Performing in front of 10 million people on TV should be nothing then?
I’m just excited. Obviously it’s something because that’s a lot of people but instead of being scared and thinking about all the people watching I just want to do a really good job and have fun with this. It is fun and you shouldn’t be scared to have a good time and show people it’s a good show.

How does it feel to be one of the new boys on the block on this series of ‘Strictly’?
It’s kind of nice to come into it with two other people so I’m not the only new guy on the block. I know a lot of people will be like ‘who’s this new guy coming in here?’ and miss the old dancers so it was a little nerve-wracking there to live up to expectations of the other dancers that had been on the show. For me it’s an honour to come to a different country and to have that opportunity to perform infront of people that don’t even know who I am. All they know is that I’m this young American boy. I hope they’ll gravitate towards me and like me for who I am as opposed to being ‘oh who’s this American kid coming into town’ (laughs).

Have you prepared yourself for the huge female fanbase you’re going to get off the back of ‘Strictly’?
Yeah. Actually just a second ago I had a fan from the UK who’s been a fan of me for three years that I’ve just met for the first time. She wanted to come by and say hi so I thought ‘come on over to where I’m rehearsing and after I’m done you can say hi.’ We took some pictures and stuff. I’m excited because I like having support and everything and I definitely want to give back. I’m definitely excited for that.

Have you figured out who your biggest competition in the show is?
I’m really not too worried about it. To date, I haven’t really spoken to anyone and I don’t mind that. I like the fact we’re just doing our own thing and they’re doing their own thing. When you get really competitive that’s when you get stressed out because you’re like ‘I know I need to be better than so and so because they’re pretty good as well.’ My philosophy is that you’ve got to be competitive to an extent but you’ve still got to have a good time and if you get caught up being too competitive then you’re not going to have a fun time. I want Tina to have a good time but she’s going to have to work hard. As long as we’re getting to do what we need to do and having a fun time and doing a good job then that’s all that really matters.

Are you prepared for the judges’ comments?
I don’t know what to expect from that actually. It’s been a few years since I’ve actually competed in front of judges. The thing is when you compete in front of a judge they give you marks as opposed to remarks so I don’t know what to expect from them and their remarks. Hopefully they’ll be good and they’ll welcome me to the show.

If they were to say something negative would you take it personally or brush it off as their opinion?
Personality-wise it takes a lot to work me up so if they were to say something negative then I’d brush it off like it’s no big deal. Of course it’s constructive criticism. A lot of the time people think it’s an attack but rather than being an attack it’s ‘you could have done this better’ so that’s how I see it as a positive rather than a negative. You just work harder the next time. It’s not going to do any good trying to argue with the judges because at the end of the day they are the judge and you’re the competitor and pro so you have to listen to what they say. I feel like it’s an uphill battle trying to fight them on their remarks when actually they’re trying to help you. I’ll take it as a positive rather than a negative.

Will you have time to fit anything else in before the end of the year?
It’s all about Strictly for me this year. We’ll be here until December 22nd so there really isn’t room for anything else. I hope at the beginning of next year I can get involved with some other new projects as well and the tour. I heard a rumour that there’s going to be a European tour so I hope to go on tour with them and do that. We’ll see what happens. I also have my band back in the States, called V Factory, and we’re actually working on the second single so I have other jobs cooking up. It’s just a matter of when and where.

So quite a bit then?
Yeah I try to keep myself busy (laughs)

‘Strictly Come Dancing’ returns on Friday 1st October 2010 to BBC One and BBC HD.