Name: Alexander James Payton, but he usually goes by A.J.

Age: 24

Gender/sexuality: Male; Heteroflexible

Where are you from?: A.J. was born in San Antonio, TX and spent most of his childhood and young adulthood thereabouts. It wasn't until after high school when he decided to pursue a career in acting that he moved to LA.

What do you do? (occupation): A.J. is an actor who had minor success on stage and in commercials before getting his big break in his starring role in the young adult drama, "The 20th Year", a TV show about demons and angels in a war, the seemingly mild mannered young woman caught in the middle of it and the good-looking and stoic half-demon bodyguard that protects and serves as love interest for her (which is A.J.) Basically, the sort of teen drama where the guys and girls both look great with their shirts off and the acting is kind of hammy but it has a solid fan-base among its chosen demographic.

What kind of place do you live in?: Despite his modicum of fame and success, A.J. is a simple sort of guy at his core. As such, he doesn't live in a high rise penthouse or a gated home in Beverly Hills. No, he lives in a simple, but comfortable apartment, the sort of place you'd expect a guy in his twenties to live in. A bit messy, but well-cared for and decorated by somebody who still finds it fine to put up a poster from a video game he likes on the wall instead of some piece of contemporary art he doesn't fully understand.

Appearance: Given the fact he was cast for the role he was in the show, it is perhaps no wonder that A.J. cuts an attractive figure. He stands at 6'2" and his body is an athletically built one, taut musculature etched in sharply defined relief into the sun-kissed tan of his flesh. His hair is dark enough to be nearly black and is kept in a carefully designed mess when he is on set or at official appearances and in a much less designed mess when in a casual setting. His features are softly angular, giving him the "pretty boy" look that is one of the main reasons he was cast for the show at all, the dusting of facial hair upon his jaw giving him a hint of mysterious bad boy (or so the make up and hair crew on set say). His eyes are a clear, deep blue and are his most striking feature some say, though part of that is due to many camera close ups upon his brooding stoic stare being a common part of the show.

A.J. holds his well-built form with easy confidence, his body language fluid and touched with surety of movement in everything he does. His stride is measured but unhurried, the gait of somebody who doesn't feel the need to rush anywhere, believing all things will come in due time. This can also be reflected in the easy smile that is often ever-present on his face, the lazy upward curve of his lips hard to shake from his expression unless, of course, he is in character as his character, Ryan, is often brooding and smiling is the last thing he does. Which is strange to A.J., but an actor does what he must.

When it comes to fashion, A.J. doesn't think much of it. Of course, when there's interviews or other official public appearances for the show, he is advised what to wear and is always adorned in what properly accentuates his body and look. When left to his own devices, however, A.J. is more than happy to be wearing an old t-shirt, jeans torn from wear and tear rather than fashion and his favorite pair of Vans that he's kept since high school and that have definitely seen better days.

   

Personality: Quite unlike the brooding and pensive character he portrays on the show, A.J. is an easy-going  sort of guy. He is very easy to get along with and is, some would say, completely unshakable and unflappable. Very little gets a rise out of him or makes him angry and some would say his temper is non-existent as, outside of when he's acting, nobody has seen him angry or even raise his voice above the low and lazy drawl that he usually speaks in. He is, for all intents and purposes, the laidback Southern boy he actually is.

He is a very friendly sort of guy, always happy to make friends and converse with people at length even after a first meeting. This makes him quite affable when it comes to meeting fans or greeting the press (though he isn't quite famous enough to warrant paparazzi following him around) and has made him something of an open book for those sorts. Which is less interesting than those that seem to be hiding something and, as such, he tends to be left alone in that regard. Which is fine by him, but not much isn't fine by him.

A.J. is fiercely loyal to those he calls friends and would lay down his life for the people he cares about. When he loves, he loves with all his heart and all that he is and that has led to some troubles when it comes to relationships as it is very easy for him to get his heart broken when he invests so much of himself in his partner. He tends to leap head and heart first into those sorts of things and he has been taken advantage of due to this. As such, he now tries to keep things as casual as possible at first...though it is a difficult thing for somebody like him who wears his heart on his sleeve.

Interests/hobbies/likes/dislikes/pet peeves: Besides his obvious love of acting, A.J. also is an avid athlete, having played football and basketball through most of his youth. In addition to this, he is a fan of many different genres of music, though he lacks the ability to play an instrument himself, and has sung in stage musicals he was cast in to varying degrees of success. He once entertained thoughts of being front man for a band, as many teenagers do, but realized his calling was elsewhere in the end.

A.J. likes athletic pursuits, such as playing football or basketball with friends during his days off or heading out to the beach (he's recently taken up surfing though he's still not great at it). Aside from this, he is also a fan of what some would call geekier pursuits, being a fan of video games and anime as they were his first windows to the escapism that could be found in taking on another role and losing oneself in another world. He actually thought about being a voice actor for one of the companies that dubs such things, but he was picked up for more conventional acting jobs due to his looks.

There isn't very much that A.J. dislikes or anything he would call a pet peeve. He is pretty difficult to bother and it's very hard to get under his skin, after all. If pressed, he would say that he isn't fond of cruelty or unkindness for the sake of it nor does he abide discrimination or rudeness to people for no good reason, but, he would say, most people are bothered by those things so he couldn't really claim them to be his own personal pet peeves. He dislikes what many people dislike: loneliness, cruel people, injustice. As for what personally gets on his nerves...well, maybe bees? He's been afraid of them since he got stung in the eyelid when he was eight.

Background: Alexander James Payton was born to Julia Montgomery Payton, a young artist turned housewife, and Captain Lawrence Charles Payton, Air Force officer stationed at Randolph Air Force Base. Or at least that was the story. The fact of the matter was that A.J. was born to Julia, but Lawrence, who had been unable to give his wife a child due to medical issues, was not the father biologically. Which, if there had been a donor involved, would have probably been okay, but, no, A.J. was born from an illicit affair that Julia had with another man while her husband was away from home.

Most such infidelities would have probably ended a marriage, but Lawrence wasn't about to let such an indignity like that stand. A respected officer such as himself? Divorced and cheated on? No, he wouldn't let that be the story that was told. So the pair stayed together, though the marriage was much colder than it once had been and their relationship much more distant. This, of course, also extended to the child that was born that looked nothing like Lawrence.

As such, much of A.J.'s youth was spent trying his hardest to win the approval of his father, or at least the only father he had known, and always falling short. He would work hard at school, he would excel in extracurricular activities, he would play little league and try his best to make his parents proud. His mother was supportive, but his father...his father always found him lacking and A.J. never knew why. It ate at him for much of his life, even as he continued to throw himself into whatever he could to try and win the approval of the man who never had anything but harsh criticism for him.

It wasn't until he hit high school that he found something that, for once, wasn't meant to impress his father. No, it was something that was just for him. It was an accident, really, that had him stumbling onto the thing that would become his life's pursuit. A teacher that said they needed somebody as an extra in a school play, just somebody tall and built like A.J. that could say one line because the one who was supposed to do so had become suddenly ill and the costume was already made and there wasn't anybody else already on the cast that could do it. A.J., ever helpful and eager to please, had said yes and found himself in costume and on stage, giving a single line awkwardly, but finding the rush of standing in front of all those people and pretending to be somebody else oddly...thrilling.

From there, A.J. was hooked. He still played sports, still did his best in school, but his heart had found its place. He joined the drama club and, though some were rather doubtful that the jock who had stiffly given a line once could acquit himself to the rigors of the theatre, A.J. threw himself into it as enthusiastically as he did everything he set himself to do. And, unlikely though it had seemed, he found he had a talent for it.

Being able to don the persona of another, to be able to pretend to be somebody else and inhabit that character, was something he found somehow soothing. Perhaps, though he'd never admitted it to himself, there was part of him that needed to hide away from some of the harsher realities in his life. Away from the cold family home he found himself in, the air of tension that always existed between his parents and the constant disappointment of the father that rarely even looked his way. Perhaps he'd needed the solace of a place to hide away from all that...or maybe he just really liked acting. Who could say?

Whatever the case, he managed to snag starring roles in productions put on by the school. His mother showed up to every single one, clapping louder than any other when they came out to bow at the end. His father...well, his father was a busy man. But, for once, A.J. didn't care too much about that. For once, A.J. was doing something just for himself and it felt good. It felt like something he wanted more of, something he wanted to keep in his life, something he could dedicate himself to fully.

So, with the help of his drama teacher and his mother, he put in applications for scholarships and ended up accepted to UCLA, getting both an athletic scholarship and academic scholarship. It would be a lot of work, fulfilling the requirements for both of them, but he was determined. He knew what he wanted in life and he would work for it as hard as he had to. That was simply the sort of person that A.J. Payton was.

He left almost as soon as he graduated, wanting to get started as soon as he could. His mother gave him words of support, a tearful goodbye and some money that she'd been saving up for him for this very day. His father had grunted something and didn't even look up from his newspaper when A.J. left. To this day, A.J. isn't even sure his father noticed he'd left or even knew where he was going, but he tries not to think about that too much and didn't at that moment either.

He moved to LA, living in a dorm for the first two years of his life in California. He went to class, played football and took part in productions put on by the theatre department. But A.J. was a proactive sort so, even as he went to school, he found out all he could about how to get into acting. He got head shots and sent them out to agencies to try and get representation. He went to open auditions for commercials and minor walk on parts. He took part in local theatre productions and worked himself to the bone to try and prove himself and learn all he could about his chosen craft and the profession he was trying to break into.

It was hard. There was a lot of rejection. There were hundreds, thousands, of young men like him trying to break into acting and most of them were more experienced, more talented and more hardened than he was and he was competing with them all. He got a few breaks here and there. A small agency that wanted to represent him. A few commercials and stints as an extra. A background actor in a teen sex comedy or a low budget slasher film. Nothing big, but he did his best all while still trying to maintain his grades and fulfill his athletic responsibilities. It was close in some points, there were sleepless nights and energy drinks chugged to keep himself going. There were highs and lows, but he hung in there. It was too important to him not to.

He graduated when he was 21 with a BA in the arts with a major in theater and then he was out in the world. He'd managed to save up a bit of money from the few acting gigs (and the part time jobs he'd had to take to survive here and there) and rented an apartment and kept on going forward. He worked and went to audition after audition. He ended up on friends' couches once or twice in that time, money being short and rent being beyond him, but he never gave up. He couldn't. He wouldn't.

It was just a year and a half ago that he got what could be called his big break. A drama aimed at young adults where everybody was good-looking and the plot was a little convoluted but really just there to give the excuse for love triangles and to see pretty people with their shirts off making out and engaging in melodrama. It wasn't high drama. It wasn't Shakespeare or artistic cinema. But it was an acting job and it was one that could lead to more. And, more than that, it was the chance to act and that's all A.J. wanted.

He'd auditioned for a minor part, but they'd had him read for the male lead as they said his look was perfect for it. He read for it and, much to his surprise, he got the part. He was cast as Ryan, the brooding half-demon sent to protect the unassuming young female lead that was secretly royalty...or something like that. The story felt a bit all over the place, but A.J. didn't care much about that. He was able to act, able to take on a role, and that's all he'd ever wanted.

Surprisingly enough, the show's initial season found an audience (probably mostly due to the abundance of young attractive men fighting with their shirts off and voluptuous young women in various states of undress more than the plot) and a modest fan following and the show got picked up for another two seasons. They are currently in the middle of the second season and A.J. is as happy as could be, though he's finding it odd to be recognized by people on the street sometimes and to have people want him to take pictures with them or sign posters with his image on them. The whole thing is odd to him. Odd, but also more satisfying than he could have imagined. Life, A.J. has found, is really very good these days. Very good, indeed.

Expected posting frequency: I can post usually at least once a day, maybe more on my days off.


Extra Information

The Twentieth Year
A TV show in the vein of Vampire Diaries with a dash of Supernatural, Riverdale and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Brief Synopsis: Angels and Demons are real, but not like the stories of religion would have you think. The two sides have been in a cold war with each other with humanity in the middle since before time began. Until nearly two decades ago when something happened that threw things out of balance and cold war almost became actual war. Twenty years later, a young woman awakens to power and birthright hidden from her until her 20th birthday (hence the name of the show). From there she enters a world of supernatural danger and intrigue being torn between the side of the Angels and the side of the Demons, all while her half-demon, half-human guardian seeks to keep her safe from both sides.

Cast of Characters

Katie Hayes - Female lead, a young woman that barely turned 20 and awoke to a power and bloodline hidden within her. Being pushed to lead the Demon faction. Bright, optimistic, pretty, average yet not. (The character has been accused of being a little "Mary-Sue" on online forums) Found out she actually possesses both Angel and Demon blood at the end of Season 1's cliffhanger season finale.

Ryan Parker - Male lead, a half demon born to serve and protect Katie who he refers to as "His Queen". Dark and brooding. Prone to lapses of far-off staring into the distance while emo music plays. Skilled at fighting. Always seems to tear his shirt while in fight scenes. (Played by AJ Payton)

Jake Leonard - Male Co-Lead, a human that was once Katie's platonic best friend until he was possessed by an Angel seeking to also protect and serve Katie. Arrogant and snobbish. A bit anachronistic (easily confused by technology). Has a dark secret that has yet to be revealed.

Abby Thomas - Recurring antagonist. A demoness inhabiting a human body. Trying to seduce Ryan away from Katie. Trying to kill Katie for as yet unknow reasons. Has a past connection to Jake that has yet to be revealed.

Detective Tom Lake - Recurring antagonist/possible protagonist later on in the show, maybe? A human cop who found out more about the world in the shadows around him than most liked. Called crazy and ostracized by his fellow officers, he follows leads on the weird cases. Often crosses paths with Katie, Ryan and Jake.

Various other characters - The show seems part drama and part action so there is often a large and varying cast of guest stars or passing cast members who are Angels and Demons who are part of the political structure of both, Angels, Demons and other supernatural creatures trying to kill Katie that eventually have to be fought or defeated, or just humans who cross paths with them. The first season of the show was more "monster of the week" with the main plot of Katie, Ryan and Jake on the move to keep Katie from being tracked down by those who would hunt her. The second season (as they have been picked up for at least season 2 and 3) has started getting deeper into lore (which is a little convoluted but it's what fans wanted) with a mix of Supernatural or Buffy the Vampire Slayer style monster fighting mixed in.