The star of Bad Together, a new queer drama, offers a perspective on friendship and romance…
By Jamie Booth
Growing up, there were signs that Andrés Ericksen would one day be an actor. “I took a liking to theatre in third grade and pursued it in school every year after that,” he recalls. “I’m honestly not sure what attracted me to the stage and screen, because I was typically pretty shy and had a lot of social anxiety.” After graduating high school in Oviedo, Florida, he made his way to Atlanta because it was the closest film hub to his family in the southeast.
Today, a typical day consists of waking up, having coffee with a side of existential crisis, and hopefully remembering to breathe.
In that way, he’s a lot like Robbie, the character he plays in the new series Bad Together. When we first meet his character, Robbie has just been dumped and is in that vulnerable where do I go from here? stage. In walks Cameron (Queer Niro), a life-of-the-party type who appears to be everything Robbie is missing in life. But you know what they say: appearances can be deceiving. We spoke with the actor to find out more.
I loved the story that is told in Bad Together. How did you land the role?
Jono Mitchell, the series writer and director, sent me the script. His first 20 choices must have turned him down.
Upon receiving the script, you must have known right away that you wanted to be a part of this film.
I appreciated Jono telling a story centred on a queer friendship as opposed to a romance. That’s not something you typically see in media, and this specific dynamic felt refreshing to read.
I agree. It’s an important film about friendship and how while, most often, birds of a feather flock together, sometimes opposites attract.
For their own reasons, Cameron and Robbie are both pretty lost at the start of the film. Both are in search of a genuine connection, and they both happen to be in the right place at the right time – or the wrong time, depending on how you look at it.
Why are they so bad for each other?
I don’t think either of them fully understands what they’re looking for when they first meet, but they assume it’s each other. Over time they try and push each other into their own personal boxes that the other never asked to be put in. It’s a quality that young romantic relationships sometimes have, but friendships are not immune either.
Do you have a best friend?
You mean in real life? I do! We met one summer when our moms were both volunteer teachers. At the end of the day, we’d go to our moms’ classrooms and wait for them to take us home. I think one day we both realized we were tired of waiting, so we went downstairs to the indoor gym and began smacking a kickball around. Then we went to his house and I destroyed him in Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 4 on the Gamecube. The rest is history.
Is your friendship forever?
I hope it’s forever!
If it got to a point where the friendship was causing you pain for some reason, would it be worth fighting for?
He’s like a brother to me, so I don’t think there’s anything that could permanently sever our relationship. I definitely think it’d be worth fighting for if there were some wrenches thrown in.
Would you answer the same way if we were discussing a romantic relationship?
That’s a good question. I do think there’s a difference. With friends, it’s easier to take time apart if needed. You aren’t going to bed beside them every night. They don’t have the same kind of grip on your heart that a romantic partner does. Of course, romantic relationships are never eternally easy. There will always be battles to fight through together. Committed love like that takes work. But if there is some serious pain harming the people in the relationship, sometimes it’s wiser not to fight for it.
What can we learn from Robbie and Cameron’s rollercoaster relationship?
That, like romantic relationships, friendships take work to survive. And like romantic relationships, it’s important to know when it’s one worth fighting for.
Bad Together is streaming now via Dekkoo Films, a subsidiary of the Dekkoo streaming platform. It is available for TVOD rental across numerous platforms including Apple, Amazon and Google.
JAMES BOOTH is a freelance writer based in Boulder, Colorado. He describes entertainment writing as a pleasant distraction that takes him to places unknown and fulfills his need for intellectual stimulus, emotional release, and a soothing of the breaks and bruises of the day.
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