After his breakout role in a vertical microdrama, Nick Skonberg is opening up about his decision to make his next film his last.
“There was definitely a moment after that viral tweet [about my role on Loving My Brother’s Best Friend] blew up that I was like, ‘OK, maybe this is just my full time thing for the next little bit while I’m auditioning for other things,’” Skonberg, 23, exclusively told Us. “Then I think I was kind of taking a step back and looking at the microdrama industry as a whole.”
Skonberg knew he didn’t want to be boxed into one medium.
“How can I form my own kind of voice within this? Because the vertical timeline moves fast. Audiences are expecting an actor to come back every month or every month and a half, which is very different from a traditional acting career,” he noted. “Most actors on a certain level, you’re going to see them once a year. You’ll see them for the two months before that film comes out and then you’ll see them during that film.”
After filming his second vertical film, The Cheer Scandal, Skonberg chose to make a change, adding, “I was looking at what can I do to stand out a little bit. Maybe if I can approach this more like a traditional Hollywood career and am a bit more specific with the [microdramas] that I do and I have a delay in between projects, I can build some anticipation with that.”
He continued: “I’m specific about the movies I do and I feel good about [that]. Especially because there’s some great actors in the vertical scene but you’re expected to do a lot of films. I thought it would be interesting for what I’m trying to do if I kept my numbers small.”
The choice came with some pressure. “But I was also thinking that if there’s a way to make that opportunity really a launch point then that means I have to play it smart and specific,” he explained. “There is definitely pressure. But I really hope people are excited. I’m cooking something that I think will make up for my absence.”
Many TikTok users are familiar with ads popping up on their For You Page for fanfiction-esque shows. From age-gap romances to forbidden love stories, each miniseries feels like a mix between a soap opera and a Lifetime movie. The point of the ads is to drive users to download applications such as ReelShort, CandyJar and DramaBox that host the short shows, which usually last a minute or so per episode and are designed for mobile viewing.
CandyJar’s content — including Skonberg’s Loving My Brother’s Best Friend — went viral as mostly female viewers tuned in to get their romance fix. Skonberg, meanwhile, got his start doing short films. His collaboration with CandyJar marked his first role out of college and paved the way for more opportunities — including him being more involved in his third and final project with the company.
“We’re not officially greenlit yet but we’re pipelining to an official green light for the third and final vertical that I am going to do with CandyJar. I’m writing and producing on this one as well, which is exciting,” he told Us. “I’ve been prepping hard for that the past couple months.”
Skonberg’s swan song with CandyJar will connect more to his roots.
“It comes from my genuine love of the coming-of-age genre. There is a little bit of Risky Business in there. There’s a little bit of American Graffiti and Rebel Without a Cause. There is a forbidden romance,” he teased. ”I was trying to figure out how to add spectacle to this. These characters are like 17 but I think we pulled off some cool stuff. I’m just looking at how we can really make something that feels a little definitive for verticals at this early stage. How can we really like — as a collective — create something that the audience has been wanting?”
Looking back at his time at CandyJar, Skonberg couldn’t be more grateful.
“I’m really excited that the industry at large is taking a look at it. That makes me really confident coming into this third one. It makes me just really happy for all the people there,” he added. “I can’t say enough how good the people at Candy Jar are. It’s just really good people doing hard work.”
Skonberg, for his part, is hoping to do more feature films, sharing, “There’s so many interesting things with the landscape films that are going out right now. There’s a lot of parts that I want to play and a lot that haven’t been written that I wanted to play that’ll hopefully come my way.”
Later this year, Skonberg will appear in his first feature film titled Bloodstained Ivory. He is also hoping to explore more of every genre — including rom-coms — while also expanding into directing in the future.
“I lost 15 pounds [for this role]. I played piano for five months. It was a long process but it’s a film I think that means a lot to me,” he teased. “I also really wanted to play with my height in this role. Something that I wanted to explore was the danger that can exist in a guy that you go to class with or a guy that lives next door. It was about making him really unassuming until he needed to be. It also just made me feel like not myself and I think that was what I wanted for this guy.”
He concluded: “Part of the reason I fell in love with acting was it felt like I was able to have a voice that didn’t have any responsibility to Nick. I love a transformation role. I think it’s where I feel the most comfortable.”
