Jake Allyn Channels His Past Life in The Quad

It wasn’t all that long ago that Jake Allyn, who stars in the new BET series, The Quad was on a very different career path than the one he is walking now.

An outtake on the set captures Allyn suited up in uniform, ”Today I’m getting some football work in which is my favorite part of the shoot, so technically I’m a professional football player because I’m getting paid to play, which is a dream for me.”

Allyn plays Bojohn Folsom, a washed up, should-have-been Division 1 starting quarterback at any of the country’s top schools.

“He is a huge 5-star recruit from Texas,” says Allyn about his character. “At one point he has every college from USC to Texas to Florida offering him full rides to come play football, but he is dealing with emotional issues from a traumatic childhood. He gets in a fight with his high school coach because of his deep anger issues and gets blacklisted from all the schools that were giving him the offers.

The show starts with Bojohn’s life present day, but Allyn skillfully manages to give viewers the idea of what life was like in his earlier years.

Bojohn Folsom is, indeed, a dream role for Allyn. The character merges his two greatest passions: football and acting.  “Growing up in Dallas, all I thought about was playing for the Dallas Cowboys,” says Allyn. After high school he went on a full scholarship to play wide receiver and tight end positions at Cornell University, an Ivy League school in Ithaca, NY.

But after suffering from herniated disks in his back and several concussions during his junior year, he knew that he couldn’t continue down that turf. “When I started to realize that I wasn’t going to be playing football after college, it really set in on my soul. I was Jake Allyn, the football player.” 

But much like Bojohn, Allyn isn’t one to give up. 

“Luckily I found acting and started taking classes at Cornell. I knew that  this was it. “I could be Jake Allyn, the actor. This could be my football. I never thought anything could fill that void. There is nothing like the adrenaline rush that comes before you take the field on game day. But when the camera begins to roll and you become that character, there is nothing quite like that either”

A few other things the actor and his character have in common? They are both Texas natives, would rather be with friends at a small town burger joint than a 5-star restaurant, are both 6’3” tall and can really throw the pigskin.

The Quad takes viewers inside the world of Georgia A&M (GAMU), a fictitious, albeit accurately depicted, HBCU (Historically Black College or University.)

The school is flailing financially and newly hired university president, Dr. Eva Fletcher, played by Anika Noni Rose, has her hands full with saving the school, balancing a messy personal life, keeping her wild-child freshman under control, and navigating her way through the “Old Boys Club” led by the charismatic yet ruthless head of Georgia A&M's prestigious marching band, Cecil Diamond, played by Ruben Santiago-Hudson.

Diamond has fiercely led the marching band to be the crown jewel of the university and the best in the country. His department brings in the most revenue of any extra-curricular on campus, which for him justifies his dictator-like behavior among his colleagues and the band members.

However, he will quickly learn that he has met his match in Eva Fletcher. She is a strong, resilient, determined adversary, and they spar throughout the series.

As her first order of business, Dr. Fletcher is tasked with saving the school financially and she doesn’t waste any time getting started. She quickly sets her plans in motion by reducing the school’s spending budget, canceling frivolous traditions and reviving the drowning football team.

She and Head Football Coach Eugene Hardwick, played by Sean Blackmore, head to Texas to recruit Bojohn Folsom to come to GAMU. Coach Hardwick is hesitant to do so, because he is well aware of Bojohn’s history, but Fletcher doesn’t take no for an answer, “I’ve got to get this school out of debt and I think we can do it with Big Bad Bo. Now let’s go!”

During this visit, Bojohn’s dad quickly shows his true colors. It would be better to be anywhere than under his abusive father’s roof, and Bojohn grabs the only offer he will probably ever get, and goes to GAMU to try out for the team.  After taking some hard hits, both on and off the field, Folsom becomes the school's first white starting quarterback.

“For me, the most powerful part of playing Bojohn was paying truth to his past,” says Allyn. “Throughout the season, he’s very quiet. He enters the campus, he’s already on thin ice, he’s entering an all-black school, an all-black football team and he’s coming in late, so they don’t exactly respect him right when he gets there.

"He’s always looking over his shoulder, remembering how badly he messed up in the past, and he doesn’t want to do that again.” 

Allyn adds, “Those scenes were really challenging but also really rewarding. When you have a part of the character’s history that you might not get to see, but you still have to carry that in the character, that’s the best challenge.” 

One of the secrets to Allyn’s success is journaling about his character and creating the back story, not copying from scripts, but creating real stories about how he imagines his character’s earlier life. Allyn has filled four journals writing about Bojohn.

“If you know your character inside and out, you are ready to go in any direction that’s thrown at you. A lot of people think acting is easy, but it takes a lot of work and discipline. It’s not just memorizing lines.”

Allyn attributes much of the show’s success to the casting and the writing. “We talk about it all the time. It’s such an eclectic and unique cast. Everyone is so different, but at the same time, gels together so well.”

Much of the show’s appeal is its authenticity, including the realistic football routes and a top-notch marching band.  The on-screen football team is comprised of ex-pro, semi-pro and Division 1 football players. 

“When I was going in for this role I thought. ‘ I wonder how they are going to pick the football players.’ Then when I saw the team, I realized they went legit. My roommate on the show, Miles Stroter, is 6’7,” 350 pounds. I was the small one at 6’3”,” Allyn joked.

The Quad is filmed in Atlanta, Georgia at Morehouse College, a thriving HBCU. Morehouse is the alma mater of many African American community and civil leaders, including Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Even though the show is based on a fictitious school, it succeeds in tackling real issues and consequences that happen on most college campuses like over-consumption of alcohol, rated R fraternity parties, hazing within clubs and the stigma of sexual assault. 

BET.com’s The Quad page even invites fans to visit the school’s website. "Apply to GAMU" redirects fans to gamurecruitment.org, a clever, faux website that gives more insight into the “school” that hooks the viewer into the show through its characters’ back stories.

The site features History, Majors and Programs, Campus Life, The Marching Mountain Cats, Athletics, Faculty Bios (detailed histories for the characters themselves) and a link to apply to GAMU, which directs back to the BET/The Quad website, letting the visitor know it’s a promotional site.

The series has received rave reviews from The Hollywood Reporter, L.A Times  and The New York Times, calling it one of the top 15 shows to watch now. 

Allyn is currently writing and starring in two new thriller films, Forsaken and Ex-Patriot. Along with starring in an Indie pic Overexposed, a topical thriller set in small-town Oklahoma.  As to where his work will be released, for Allyn, one of the most important outcomes of any project is to reach the viewers. “Sometimes a Netflix or Amazon release gets seen by more people. I really just want the work to be seen.”

Catch up on all episodes of The Quad at BET.com and watch the season finale on Wednesday, March 29 on BET.