For every high schooler who spends weeks panicking over who they'll take to prom, or works up the courage to invite a long-standing crush, there's also the couple that's been together so long that prom is a guarantee-- just another step in their long, happy life together. In Disney's movie Prom, which opens this weekend, Mei Kwan and Justin Wexler are that couple; played by Yin Chang and Jared Kusnitz, they're seniors who are already looking ahead to attending the University of Michigan together, though what Justin doesn't yet know is that Mei has other plans for her future.
Both Yin and Jared have years of acting experience behind them, unlike much of the Prom cast, and both have recently played high schoolers on television, Yin in a recurring role on Gossip Girl and Jared in a recent role on Secret Life of the American Teenager. When I talked to them on location at John S. Burroughs MIddle School, where Prom was filmed, I asked them the difference between playing a high schooler on TV and at the movies, how they created their intense couple bond to play Mei and Justin, and what advice they might have for real-life high school couples trying to decide what to do after graduation.
I'll be bringing you interviews with all the stars of Prom throughout the week-- you can already watch my interview with the Prom King and Queen played byKylie Bunbury and DeVaughn Dixon, the trio of hopeful sophomores played byCameron Monaghan, Danielle Campbell and Nolan Sotillo, and the three funniest characters in the movie played by Joe Adler, Janelle Ortiz and Nicholas Braun. You can also read the first half of my interview with the film's screenwriter Katie Wech. Prom is in theaters this Friday.
