Actor, fitness guru, and fashionista Rhoyle Ivy King is making his mark as the first Black non-binary character on The CW. King (He/Him/They), stars as Nathaniel (She/Her/They) in the network drama All American: Homecoming. The once mid-season series makes a quick comeback for its sophomore outing, premiering October 10.
This past summer, PopWire spoke with the actor, where he discussed non-binary representation in the media, the one scene that was a standout for him, his close-knit crew, as well as his hopes for what he would like to see brought to screen in Season 2.
“I think the best way to summarize it is it’s an honor,” King tells us about being The CW’s first BIPOC non-binary character. “I feel like everyone needs someone — especially for the young people that are growing up — some character to look towards as just a reflection of who they are.
“My hope is so many young non-binary people can see someone like Nathaniel and make them go, ‘Ah, there’s a lane for me; there’s a path for me.’ Because even in her journey, she’s really starting to trailblaze a path for herself, and I’m hoping that non-binary people are seeing someone that is also laying down the grounding for their dreams and the things that they want to go into as well.”
Rhoyle reveals that in order to portray Nathaniel’s story as accurate as possible, he worked closely with All American: Homecoming showrunner Nkechi Okoro Carroll, who strongly felt from the start that it was important for the character to be authentic.
“We weren’t writing a character that’s going to be this queer character,” King says. “She’s more than that; she’s just a person who so happens to be queer. I feel like so often on TV we’re depicted as a stereotype or just fly, fabulous all the time. What I really like is that the showrunner has really put more thought into this, has put more truth and love and life behind her, that she gets to just be a human.”
The truth, love, and life behind Nathaniel are just some of the great qualities she possesses. And Rhoyle says that the most important thing about her right up front is her loyalty. “It’s one of her top priorities and top characteristics that above all else, she’s loyal to her friends and the people that she holds close,” he says.
“She is just one that really likes to help her friends navigate their experiences in this coming-of-age moment in life. I think some of the things that she stands up for when it comes to her friends and her family are very telling of the things that she truly cares about and that she wants to have a play in this world.”
That loyalty with her friends is reciprocated. But in the episode “Love and War,” good friend Keisha’s (Netta Walker) pure intentions to keep Nathaniel safe and comfortable in school unintentionally oversteps. What follows is emotional scene where they both sit down and have a serious talk where Nathaniel explains that she can fight her own battles.
“I will never forget reading that scene,” King says. “I could not get through that scene saying the words out loud without losing it, even on my own. I remember the rehearsal. I was like, ‘Whoo, I gotta hold it together. We gotta get through this rehearsal so we can get the lighting done. Rehearsal — [I] lost it. Netta lost it. [Cam’ron Moore] the writer [of the episode], he lost it. It was so emotional and that wasn’t the expectation of the scene at all.
“I remember telling Cam, ‘I didn’t realize how much truth you put into this.’ It was a moment for me that I didn’t have to put on or necessarily rehearse too many choices. It all just flowed and I was just able to deliver it. And working with someone like Netta who was so, so giving of an actress and so beautifully prepared all the time, it just made that scene all come together. That was probably my favorite scene.”
The Nathaniel-Keisha friendship is just one of the many seen on the show. And as luck would have it, those friendships transcend beyond the TV screen. “Oh, my goodness. I can’t even begin to explain,” Rhoyle gushes. “The majority of the fun we have is off-camera. We eat lunch together, we hang out together, we’re over here talking about a cast dinner.
“It’s definitely something that we from the pilot started to grow very, very close with each other,” he continues. “All of the relationships truly that you see building on screen are really happening in real life. Even down to our family dinners [seen on the show] — that came from us having cast dinners with our showrunner, and next thing you know, it’s in the script. We’re a very close-knit cast.”
That close-knit cast returns for another season this October. Nathaniel’s on-screen presence last season was minimal — and when the show returns, we’re hoping to see much more of the character. Her portrayer echoes that sentiment and shares his hopes on what he would like to see the character explore coming up. “I’m really eager to see where she continues in her career as far as her major,” King shares.
“Like I told the showrunner and the writers, I think it’s so beautiful to see a young, queer professional. That’s something that I haven’t seen necessarily on TV, or at least when I was growing up, I didn’t see that. I would love for young people to see this character carve out a path for herself in the professional world and start to get into the nitty-gritty of her future. I would also be curious to see if she falls in love.”
While we wait to see what’s to come for Nathaniel and her group of friends in the new season of All American: Homecoming, the actor continues to sing his praises that his show survived the wave of cancellations put in place by the network earlier this year.
“The CW did a big cut this year,” Rhoyle Ivy King says of the axes. “So when we got that text from [our showrunner about the renewal] it was just nothing but joy, nothing but gratitude to know that we’re being seen and they love what we’re doing. Because at the end of the day, we all came together to do something so much bigger than ourselves.”
All American: Homecoming Season 2 premieres Monday, October 10 at 9pm on The CW.
