by Israel Mejia
Photography by Henry Lou | Fashion by John Tan
jacket KARL LAGERFELD PARIS
Moving is never painless. Packing, taping boxes, opening said boxes to pull out a hastily tucked away phone charger — it’s cumbersome. But moving coasts is even trickier, especially in the middle of a global pandemic. Tyler Barnhardt figured out the logistics and seamlessly transplanted his life from New York to Los Angeles. For the 27-year-old actor, moving involved Amtrak, face masks and a patient girlfriend.
Tyler knows his limits and readily admits them throughout our conversation. He is currently crashing at co-star Ross Butler’s house in LA, as his apartment, which he has only seen through a Virtual Reality tour, is still not move-in ready. After leaving Brooklyn, Tyler and his girlfriend, casting agent Adriana Schaps, decided to spend a week in Miami. “It was an amazing experience because when you go on vacation with your significant other’s parents, you’re on your best behavior. But when you’re going through a pandemic and you’re together 24/7 for four months, it’s impossible to be on your best behavior.” After settling in for the long haul he shifted his perspective from vacation mode to, as he describes it, “Is this just my life now? I need to get out of here and have some purpose in the world because I just feel nothing.”
jacket, top, skirt, pants, shoes COMME DES GARÇONS HOMME PLUS.
That feeling of wanting to find a purpose is what led Tyler to audition for 13 Reasons Why. His agents in his home state of North Carolina first presented him with the script for the role of Clay Jensen upon the show’s announcement in 2015, which ultimately went to Dylan Minnette. “I read the script and I was just like, oh my God. Tom McCarthy and Selena Gomez were attached to this, Brian Yorkey, who’s a Broadway man, this is amazing.” Despite not making the initial cut, Tyler occupied his time with smaller roles and took time to hone his craft. It wouldn’t be until season three that Tyler joined the hit show as Charlie St. George. Tyler describes an ease playing the character, an all-American football player. During the audition process Tyler explains, “I got a call and they were like, ‘We really love you but want to know, because you’re the quarterback in the show, can you throw a football?’” He bought a football, wrangled a friend and headed to Prospect Park with a tripod and, “I pretended I knew what I was doing, but I’ve never played football in my life.”
Due to the unsurprising popularity of Charlie St. George, the showrunners decided to make him a season regular for the fourth and final season. It was then established by the producers that Charlie St. George would eventually come out as openly bisexual. “That was another layer of the cape that was unexpected because at the beginning of season three none of that was talked about,” in regards to the character’s sexuality. “It was only when Brian called me in between three and four, that he said, ‘This is our idea with the character. Are you comfortable with it?’ I couldn’t say yes fast enough.”
jacket, shirt, pants HOMME PLISSÉ ISSEY MIYAKE. belt OK UNIFORM COMPANY NYC.
Tyler explains he felt the character was someone who hasn’t been represented in traditional media: a bisexual, football loving jock. “Many times in TV it’s depicted that the jock culture is very toxic, and if someone was gay they would be hiding it. [Charlie] is so comfortable in his sexuality and so were his teammates. That’s what led Alex (one of the show’s primary characters) and Charlie to being prom kings together.” Tyler is convinced the character and storyline resonated with the show’s young audience around the world.
jacket PRIVATE POLICY. shirt CALVIN KLEIN. top (underneath) HERMÈS.
jacket, shirt, pants PAUL SMITH. boots TOBOOT.
Tyler is not one to just play a good guy on television. Knowing the shows reach and the fanbase, he has taken to using his social media platforms to promote awareness to issues he feels passionate about. Asking him his thoughts on the current protests sweeping the nation in response to the systemic violence against the Black community, Tyler doesn’t hide his enthusiasm in talking about his allyship. “America was forced to take a look at its ugly history. All of a sudden I found myself immersed in the news and trying to educate myself on police brutality.” He didn’t originally want to become a “political voice,” but he did want to be someone who “could be able to talk to people about facts and be able to stand up for what is right.” He expresses he felt, “very humbled, very quickly” after doing a little research.
Yet he remains hopeful, insisting that “We have so much more we can do and progress on. Hope is on the horizon. If anyone hasn’t protested and they have been thinking about it, I encourage you to get out there with a friend, or go by yourself, and experience what it’s like to be a part of a community, fighting for the right kind of change.” I ask him how he, as a white, cisgender male has found himself having to educate others around him. “That’s kind of part of your responsibility when you are educating yourself and you’re not sharing what you learned.” He’s glad to know that his own family in North Carolina and his girlfriend’s family in Florida are, “totally on board” with his own personal views on the subject. Being an active user of Twitter, he does admit he’s gotten into a few back-and-forth with some users, but he confides that instead of getting angry, he makes a donation in their name. “I’ll go to a donation website for a specific political candidate we were talking about and I’ll just donate money to the candidate I support in the other person’s name. I’ll post a screenshot and send it to them and just be like, ‘Clearly we are not going to agree, but I just want to let you know I donated $50 to the local representative in your area,’” he laughs.
jacket, top, pants DAVID HART.
shirt ANGEL CHEN.
When asked about the upcoming election, Tyler emphasizes its gravity. He acknowledges that his fanbase is primarily made up of teenagers, some too young to yet vote, but he encourages those of age to get out and exercise their right. Despite all this, he doesn’t come off as condescending. He knows they follow him because they want information on his upcoming projects, but he still takes time to do his part to be an ally, not just play one.
If Tyler were to pick another actor’s career trajectory it would be that of Matt Damon’s. “They used to call me ‘Frat-Damon,’” he tells me. “I was the fratty guy in the BFA class.” He says he knows it can be a bit cliché, but insists you have to understand his reasoning. He sees similarities in Damon’s life and his own. They both have mothers who are teachers, both have fathers who have had cancer, and they also physically resemble one another. He too would one day like to step behind the camera. “Producing and directing scares the shit out of me, but if I was ever given the opportunity, I would have to do it because I think it’s another way that you can tell a story.”
jacket and shirt OFFICINE GÉNÉRALE.
jacket, pants, shoes SACAI.
Despite his current projects and the characters he’s been taking on, Tyler isn’t concerned about being typecast as your typical jock character. “I’m not worried. I’m young and I’m honestly under the assumption that people in this business put you where they think they want you until you can prove that you can do more than that.” Perhaps this is why in Amazon’s new sci-fi series, Tales from the Loop, Tyler’s character Danny Jansson is not too different from that of Charlie St. George. Danny too is brash and bold, but with a darker side, which makes Tyler excited to explore characters who aren’t always liked. “Who doesn’t want to be the villain and be the ultimate bad guy and get hate mail because people think you’re just a terrible person? That’s exciting.”
sweater ANGEL CHEN.
Grooming by Jessica Ortiz @ Forward Artists