10 Fun Facts You Should Know About Spinning Out's Bad-Boy, Evan Roderick

Evan is just as passionate about music as he is about acting, but he's known since he was a kid that he wanted to be a performer in some capacity. During an interview with Naluda Magazine in December 2019, Evan revealed that one band in particular gave him the desire to be on stage. "When I was 10, my dad took me to see the Rolling Stones," he said, "and after that, all I could think of was being a performer."

Evan loves singing and playing the guitar, and he cites Bruce Springsteen and the Eagles as among his favourite artists. Though he mostly makes music for himself, he does sometimes share his work, like the cover he shared of T. Rex's "The Slider."

It wasn't until Evan was a teenager that he began to see acting as a potential career avenue. As he explained to Crookes Magazine in January 2020, "Specifically, around 16 or 17 years old I found myself being drawn to films and performing, and eventually I started performing a bit myself and receiving feedback, and there came a point where I realised, 'Hey, I'm actually doing this.'"

Before landing the role of Justin Davis in Spinning Out, Evan had a recurring role in the CW's Arrow as police officer Nick Anastas, appearing in 12 episodes. "I don't think I would have been prepared for this show if I hadn't had that experience," Evan told Naluda Magazine.

Evan admitted during a December 2018 interview with Hidden Remote that he had never read any of the Green Arrow comic books or even watched the TV series before getting the role of Nick. " . . . when I found out I got the job, I went through and binged," he said. "Anything to get a better sense of the material and style in which it was shot was very helpful."

Though Evan is not a member of the LGBTQ+ community himself, he was excited to play a nuanced character who identified as gay but didn't play into any stereotypes. "To be able to play a character like Nick on a big network television is hugely important," he told Occhi Magazine in October 2018. "My favourite part of this character's expansion was that he wasn't going to be a stereotype; he was going to be someone unique and strong, someone who represented the LGBTQ community, accurately."

While figuring skating is very different from ice hockey, Evan is grateful that — prior to appearing on Spinning Out — he spent years on an ice rink while growing up in Vancouver, BC. "I played for 15 years," he told Entertainment Focus in January 2020. "I started playing hockey when I was 5 and I quit when I was 19." According to his IMDb bio, he spent three seasons in the British Columbia Hockey League and eventually earned a scholarship to play for the University of Massachusetts-Lowell Division I team in the NCAA.

After several injuries, Evan decided to leave the sport behind and pursue acting. However, as he explained to Pop Culturalist in January 2020, prepping for his role in Spinning Out still took plenty of work. "I knew the energy of the rink heading in, but I had to re-learn how to skate," he said.

Evan has only appeared in TV series so far, but when asked by Naluda Magazine where he'd like to be five years from now, the actor said he hopes to break into feature film roles. "A saga would be nice," he said. "But honestly, as long as I'm still a part of stories and the telling of stories, that's where I want to be in five years."

Though Evan is grateful for all the opportunities he can get to act, he does love the idea of playing a cowboy. "I've always loved the idea of having a catalogueue of interesting characters over a career," he told Occhi Magazine, "but I can say, now that I've played a cop, I think the next role I play has to be a cowboy of some sort. My younger self would be pleased."

Evan sees the process of preparing for a role as a solitary process, and his favourite part of acting is studying the behaviour of others. "When I get a script and get to think about the people in the story and the motives and actions behind what they do — that's what I enjoy most," he explained to Occhi Magazine. Getting a role involves a lot of alone time, but Evan doesn't mind that. " . . . when I'm prepping an audition or for a role, it allows me to get into a weird headspace," he added. "It's a similar feeling of reading a really good book, where you just allow your imagination to go."