NoHo/Toluca Lake Notables Skyler Samuels and Alyssa Diaz Star in 'Chloe King'

Two actresses from North Hollywood and Toluca Lake are among several local actors starring in the new ABC Family series The Nine Lives of Chloe King. Skyler Samuels, who plays the title character, lives in Toluca Lake; Alyssa Diaz, who plays the badass Mai warrior Jasmine, was born and raised in North Hollywood.

The Mai are a supernatural race of beings with the powers of cats. Chloe discovers she is a Mai on her 16th birthday, and the powers of balance, super hearings and claws lead to action-packed adventures. Jasmine is another Mai who uses her powers to protect Chloe from danger.

Patch visited the set of Nine Lives on the CBS Radford Studios stages on July 5, with a group of television reporters. They were filming the final episode of the season, but we’ve only seen three so far. Get to know our latest local stars as they shared secrets of upcoming episodes and recalled their school days. The Nine Lives of Chloe King airs Tuesday nights at 9 on ABC Family.

PATCH: Tell us about yourselves. How did you start acting?

ALYSSA DIAZ: I fell into it. I was in elementary school and I loved reading. This teacher’s like, "Okay, do you want to take a cooking class or the theater class?" It was an elective. I was like, 'Well, what do you guys do in theater class?' I never was exposed to it as a kid. I see all these kids reading aloud from books, I’m like, "I can do that. That’s easy." I did my first play and my parents were like, "Do you want to get into this?" And I’m like, "Sure, why not?" It just started from there and hasn’t stopped.

PATCH: Was that a Noho Arts District play?

DIAZ: No, it was in elementary school. It was a school play and I played Huckleberry Finn. That’s just how and my parents were very supportive. They were never pushy, which is nice. They were like, "Do you want to do this?" I’m like, "Yeah, I do. I like it."

PATCH: Which elementary school featured your debut performance?

DIAZ: I went to St. Bridget of Sweden, a school in Van Nuys, tiny little elementary school in the Valley.

SKYLER SAMUELS: I’m really passionate about school. I’m looking forward to applying to college and going to law school. I love books and I love class and I love learning, so pro-education is my thing. I’m kind of a big nerd. I’m an L.A. local and I go to a full-time college prep school here in Los Angeles. So I’m finishing up my junior year, I’ll be a senior in the fall so I do homework, mostly on the weekends.

PATCH: What is your favorite book?

SAMUELS: Oh yes, my favorite book is If I Stay by Gayle Foreman. It’s just an amazing young adult novel, and I just ordered the sequel to it. It just came out a few months ago so I can’t wait to read it. That’s on my summer list when the show is done.

DIAZ: I’m reading three books at the same time. I am re-reading Letters to a Young Poet by Rilke. It’s a really great book, but one of my favorite books is The Alchemist. That one I can read over and over and over again. I like books that have a lot of great messages behind or spiritual messages.

PATCH: What physical preparation did you go through for your roles on the show?

SAMUELS: A lot. The physical preparation was really grueling at first but it’s really paid off and I had no idea how much I had learned until I was applying these things. Before we came back for episodic, I was doing boxing, pilates, running and circuit training with the stunt coordinator and learning fights. I couldn’t throw a punch, a kick. I had trouble running all before the pilot. Then everything got amped up when we came back. At first it was like I was dying. There were so many training sessions where like 400 jumps later on the jump rope, I was like I can’t do it anymore. He’s like, trust me, one day this is going to come in handy. Sure enough, there are days I find myself hopping from building to building or kicking bad guys or punching villains in the face and all of a sudden all those things have made sense. Now I’m proud to say I’ve gone through superhero training 101 successfully.

DIAZ: I’ve been training in martial arts for almost a decade, doing boxing, Muay Thai boxing, Wushu and different stuff. So it’s come in handy. A lot of projects that come my way involve some type of martial arts or action. So it was really a blessing to get this opportunity to play Jasmine and work on the show Nine Lives because I get to utilize my other talents.

PATCH: You must be well practiced in wirework and parkour then.

DIAZ: It’s a mix of parkour and wirework in the martial arts. When we shot the pilot, we trained with some wirework which was fun and we all were able to meet one on one with our stunt doubles to do some basic training. I love my stunt double. She’s awesome. She’ll take me hiking. Because I have a martial arts background, we get to work and play. So the stunt team on this show is absolutely amazing. They usually do A list big budget action films. So the fact that we have them is such a blessing.

SAMUELS: We’ve worked with some martial artists and stuntmen who are familiar with that, so they’ve done a little bit and they’ve showed me the basics of the basics. There was one episode where I ran off a pillar which I’m very impressed but it’s really not that difficult. Meanwhile, the guy who taught me how to do it did four back flips and all this fancy stuff. I was like, 'Okay, I’m not quite there yet but I’m working on it."

PATCH: If you could each have one of your character’s powers, which would you want?

SAMUELS: Oh goodness, I would probably steal the super speed because I could get more done in a day. I would just run everywhere and I would be super efficient. The super hearing is pretty cool too. I love that Chloe has the ability to eavesdrop and listen in. The super hearing power is probably one of the most important as the season goes on because she’s really used it to get herself out of trouble in really interesting ways.

DIAZ: They’re all so cool. She has super hearing, super speed, super strength. I think the agility aspect of it would be really neat to have. I’m not as graceful as Jasmine. I’m a klutz. So if I could be super cool with the movement, that would be fun.

PATCH: How are you most like or different from your characters?

SAMUELS: Well, Chloe and I have a lot in common. We’re both very nerdy, quirky girls. We get really nervous when we talk to cute boys and we have great relationships with our best friends and our moms, but I think the way that we’re different is that Chloe is fearless and takes risks in a way that I never would. Chloe thinks of things and does things that I would be like, 'What? Why would she run along the edge of a building? That’s a horrible idea.' But she’s like, "I’m in." Whether it’s the action or the emotional stuff, Chloe has challenged me as a person to do so much and face so many things that I found scary that she’s really helped me branch out and grow up. I can’t imagine becoming a young woman without Chloe King. She’s changed my life.

DIAZ: I like the fact that Jasmine’s really strong and loyal and has warmth. There’s no jealousy between Chloe and Jasmine. It’s like the yin and the yang. They balance each other. Chloe with growing up human and that type of lifestyle, being a teenager and Jasmine growing up with this hard mother constantly training her, teaching her the ways of the Mai and the culture, it’s a beautiful balance between the two. Jasmine’s really smart and she kicks butt. She doesn’t play. I’m definitely a mama bear. I feel that way with my family, with my friends. Not so much for me, but if someone is giving a loved one, a friend a hard time, I definitely step in. It’s instinctual.

PATCH: What are three beauty tips to get Chloe’s cute look?

SAMUELS: Okay, well, let’s see. The first best beauty tip I have for Chloe and Skyler’s look would be use olive oil. I know that sounds insane but it’s really good to put in your hair to keep your hair looking soft and fresh. And it’s really great to take your makeup off with. So it works both ways for two completely different things. So that’s key. Then I never go anywhere without some kind of cherry tinted lip stain gloss. Love it, and mascara. I don’t think I could leave the house without it, me or Chloe.

PATCH: And for Jasmine, how can girls have a wardrobe like her?

DIAZ: I love the wardrobe. They’ve definitely given Jasmine a lot more fashion as the episodes have gone on which is fun. I get to wear a lot of cool, leather jackets and J brand jeans which I love. If you are a curvy girl, which I am, they are the miracle jeans. I love J brand jeans. They’re awesome. Jasmine’s very sleek. She wears a lot of J brand, which I love, very form fitting jeans and cool Ts and black leather jackets. It’s a very sleek look that she has. It’s a little rock n’ rollish too which I like. Rock n’ roll glam-ish.

PATCH: Chloe has two friends who are dating each other. What advice could you give readers on how deal with an argument between two friends?

SAMUELS: Well, I think the most difficult thing, especially in high school, is when you have two friends who are dating because it always kind of puts you in the middle. I know that Chloe found herself torn between the two. Yeah, Amy’s her best girlfriend but she’s known Paul forever, so it’s really hard when the two of them are fighting. I think the best thing is to be there for both friends, but never take sides. Golden rule, don’t do it. Just to be supportive of both of them and encourage the two people to talk to each other. That way you’re helping but you stay out of the mess. You don’t want to get involved there.

PATCH: Especially if they make up and share what you said.

SAMUELS: Which Chloe kind of finds out herself was not a good idea. Chloe learns that she’s got to stop giving advice, especially to Paul. Sometimes boys take things out of context the way they shouldn’t. It’s hilarious the way he does it but Chloe learns lessons all the time.

PATCH: Is it new for you being asked advice?

SAMUELS: Yeah, a little. I’m the middle of five so I’ve always grown up asking my older brother and sister for advice. My sister especially, I love having strong female role models like my mom or my sister or friends of mine. I love having people to have advice and to share stories with. Now to play Chloe, her experiences though sometimes set in supernatural circumstances, there’s something very real about them. The morals and the values that are all at the core of this are all very basic. They happen in everyday life so it’s been really nice to kind of share those experiences via Chloe but also to talk with people about my own experiences and have them look up to me. I can’t wait to be a role model. I’m excited that that could even happen. I live for that.