Jaylan Evans ’20 currently stars as Skylar in the Netflix series “My Life with the Walter Boys.” The Elon alum and Greensboro, North Carolina native says it’s a dream come true, but he’s nowhere near done.
It’s always been Jaylan Evans’ dream to be a series regular on television. Now, the 2020 Elon University alum is having that dream come true. Evans stars as Skylar in the Netflix teen drama “My Life with the Walter Boys,” based on the young adult series by Ali Novak.
The show follows the character Jackie as she moves to rural Colorado to live with her godmother, Katherine, and Katherine’s 10 children – “The Walter Boys.” Jackie quickly finds herself in a love triangle with two boys, Cole and Alex. Evans’ character, Skylar, is an academically driven student of Native American heritage who develops a relationship with the character Nathan Walter. Evans, with lineage from the Haliwa-Saponi tribe, saw a lot of himself in the character.
“I felt really connected to Skylar immediately. The breakdown said he was stylish and I’ve always loved fashion. I feel like I’ve always had an eye for it and appreciated it, so it just felt like it was checking every box. It feels so natural to me,” said Evans.
Feeling seen
The first season aired in December 2023 with more than 20 million people streaming, and it was in the Netflix Top 10 in 88 countries. It has already been renewed for a second season which just wrapped production in Calgary, Canada.
“I think it hit me when season one aired, and I had people from all over the world reaching out saying ‘I’m your biggest fan. I love you. I love Skylar,’” said Evans. “I had people feeling seen and represented and just saying thank you for representing our culture. I had little boys who were in love with Skylar and Nathan’s storyline, saying how they just saw themselves and that they’re kind of going through similar journeys and how they just appreciated our relationship.”
“My Life with the Walter Boys” is Evans’ second Netflix series after voicing several characters on the animated show “Spirit Rangers,” another opportunity to share his Native American heritage.
“It was Native American produced and performed, and it was really special,” he said. “I was able to dig deeper and dive into my culture even more and share a piece of me and my heritage through these cartoon characters.”
‘Elon chose me’
Originally from Greensboro, North Carolina, Evans attended Elon’s main stage performances while also a student at the UNC School of the Arts high school drama program. When it was time to decide on colleges, he said the decision was easy: “Elon chose me.” Evans says Elon’s scholarship package, the performing arts department and the proximity to home made a big difference in his decision to attend.
“It just became clear, as much as I wanted to get out of North Carolina and spread my wings, Elon was the best opportunity as far as the most well-rounded training,” said Evans. “The training at Elon was impeccable.”
While at Elon, Evans balanced a heavy class load, a part-time job with Campus Recreation & Wellness and performed in three main stage productions: “Hello Dolly,” “American Idiot” and “Once on This Island.” He was also able to study abroad in London, earning his stage combat certification in armed and unarmed combat from the British Academy of Dramatic Combat.
“Getting the opportunity in London to finesse my classical foundations was needed and appreciated,” said Evans. “Traveling and experiencing life all over the world is so important and something I think every actor should value. Acting is about being able to portray one’s experience under a given set of circumstances so that it’s believable. So the more you travel, the more you see, the more you live, the more experiences you gain, the more cultures you come across, you will only transcend your performances as an actor.”
But, in March 2020, as Evans was preparing for graduation and an audition trip to New York City, the COVID-19 pandemic hit, shutting down film and television productions along with Broadway. Luckily, Elon’s Senior Casting Series allowed him to showcase on campus in-front of agents and casting directors in January and February, along with doing virtual auditions. Evans didn’t slow down; he earned his bachelor of fine arts in musical theatre in 2020 and signed with an agent and manager who guided him through a difficult time in the performing arts world.
“It was tough, and there was a huge moment of isolation and sadness that I think a majority of us went through,” Evans said. “But looking back on it, I can say if it were to happen to any class, it would be the class of 2020 because we were a strong and steadfast, resilient bunch.”
Hard work and passion come together
In 2021, Evans booked his first guest role as Rayon in “Power Book III: Raising Kanan,” the Starz prequel to “Power,” following the early years of Kanan Stark, originally portrayed by Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson. Evans credits his success to the faculty in the Elon performing arts department, including Kevin Otos, professor of theatre; Kim Shively, associate professor of performing arts; and Brian Kremer, associate professor of music theatre.
“Brian Kremer taught me how to sing healthily in many different vocal styles in his contemporary vocal styles class. I never knew I had an inner rock star in me until I took his class,” said Evans, who was able to use that inner rock star when originating the role of Skull in the 2022 musical “Punk Rock Girl,” his first musical production after graduation.
Even though Evans has reached one dream, there are still many more. He aspires to the careers of artists like Will Smith, Colman Domingo, Jeremy Pope and RuPaul and would love to star as Marquis de Lafayette/Thomas Jefferson in “Hamilton,” St. Jimmy in “American Idiot” and originate a role on Broadway.
“I think beautiful things do happen when passion and hard work come together,” said Evans. “My advice for Elon students would be to go with it. It’s nice to take in outside perspectives, get advice from your professors, your mentor, your family and friends, pray about it. You can ask God for guidance. But you really have to go for it. What do you want to do?”
And Evans has answered that question.