Why You Should Be Following Shawn Ashmore

Killer cults. Sexually confused kidnappers. Creepy-ass Poe masks. What is a nice Canadian boy like Shawn Ashmore—who plays baby-faced FBI Mike Weston—doing on a show like The Following?!

TV Guide Magazine: OK, this show is messed up. Has it made you more paranoid about meeting people on the street?
Shawn Ashmore: Yes. Because it's never the ones you expect! [Laughs]

TV Guide Magazine: Since your twin brother Aaron is also an actor, do you get recognized for work you haven't actually done?
Ashmore: Oh yeah. This is the first TV series I have done in 10 years — I did a Nickelodeon show called Animorphs and the Disney Channel's In a Heartbreat. It's my brother who was on Smallville and Warehouse 13. But we both did Fringe, and that was an amazing experience to work together.

TV Guide Magazine: What's like working with Kevin Bacon?
Ashmore: He has a presence. Not only is he a movie star, he's also a great actor. And those don't always go hand-in-hand. When you are doing a scene with Kevin Bacon, you know it.

TV Guide Magazine: We've learned from executive producer Kevin Williamson's Vampire Diaries that he has no trouble killing series regulars. Have you been warned not to get too comfy?
Ashmore: That hasn't happened, knock on wood. [Laughs] But it's always a possibility. This is the kind of show I like. When you are all of a sudden aware that a character that you love could be killed, or potentially be a killer, the stakes are high. So when a gun is held to a regular's head, you don't immediately think they will be OK. You never know.

TV Guide Magazine: And you guys really don't, right?
Ashmore: I still get scripts and am like 'whoa!' They're jaw-dropping. As an actor on a show like this, when we finish shooting an episode, it's a cliffhanger for us, too.

TV Guide Magazine: Given how scary the show is, is horror you kind of genre?
Ashmore: I can take violence. Slashers, monster movies, no problem. Ghost stories, I'm terrified of. I don't mess with the supernatural stuff. With a serial killer, I have a shot. You can't fight a ghost! [Laughs]

The Following airs Mondays at 9/8c on Fox.

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