New York-bred actor Connor Paolo has starred in the hip series “Gossip Girl” and now ABC’s “Revenge,” but he’s decidedly not trendy when it comes to digital communications.
Indeed, Paolo isn’t into the whole social media scene and would rather actually talk to people.
“I don’t like it, it makes me uncomfortable,” Paolo says of the digital landscape. “I feel like it’s completely fake, I feel like it’s a lie.
“We’ve been made to believe this is all a lens into our souls,” he adds. “We say, look at us, we’re all comfortable. We can show them our lives. It’s not true.”
Paolo, of course, is unusual in his thinking because so many celebrities turn to social media as a way to interact with fans, post their inner thoughts, and expand their brands. Factor in he’s just 21 and the concept of skipping most of social media is, well, as horrifying as one of the women on “Gossip Girl” wearing knock-off Louboutins.
“Everything you’re getting on social media is done with intent,” he says. “It’s all cold. It’s all technical. It’s reduced to soundbites.
“I can only imagine how short people’s conversations are these days because they’ve put it out all over the Internet,” he says. “People in Istanbul already know. And yet, people believe this is true. They believe because they have your Twitter or Facebook, they know you.”
Paolo plays Declan Porter on ABC’s “Revenge,” which returns with new episodes Wednesday at 10 p.m. The show revolves around Emily VanCamp, who plays a woman who returns to the Hamptons seeking revenge against those who framed her father for murder.
Besides “Revenge,” Paolo played Erik van der Woodsen on the CW’s “Gossip Girl,” and has been acting since he was a child. He’s appeared in stage productions in New York, been in the films “Stake Land,” “Mystic River” and worked on “One Life to Live” and “Law & Order: SUV.”
Production just wrapped on the season of “Revenge,” and like many in Hollywood he’s awaiting word on a renewal for next season.
“I think as a show, it evolved very much,” he says. “It was like we saw someone who started on a bunny hill and now I really think, we’ve turned into a triple black diamond.”
And, now, they wait. The networks reveal their fall schedules in next month.
“It’s like asking someone to the dance in middle school,” he says of the waiting game. “It’s hard, actors live with rejections, we’re used to it. It doesn’t mean we’re not invested in the things we love. But, we’re always a little bit on pins and needles. You make relationships, you fall in love, it’s like you’re waiting for that girl to say yes.”