[This story contains spoilers from the two-episode season six finale of All American.]
Two couples in the vortex, as the group of friends at the center of CW’s All American call themselves, have forever changed their relationship statuses from will-they-won’t-they romances to ‘til-death-do-us-part bonds in season six of the sports drama.
After Jordan Baker (Michael Evans Behling) and Layla Keyting (Greta Onieogou) tied the knot in a ceremony officiated by Spencer James (Daniel Ezra) in the penultimate episode, “Victory Lap,” the pro football hopeful and Olivia Baker (Samantha Logan), dubbed “Spelivia” by fans, finally made their way to the altar, despite extenuating circumstances that threatened their big day during the season six finale episode “I Do (Part II).”
“By the time we got into our middle seasons, it just felt like there was no other way to go,” Ezra tells The Hollywood Reporter of Spencer and Olivia finally getting their happily ever after in the conversation below. “The beauty of television is you kind of have to go up and down and will-they-won’t-they, all those things. We definitely put them through the wringer as a couple, but that’s how it goes.”
James faced his own personal tests this season as his hopes of playing in the NFL were seemingly shattered in the episode prior, “Draft Day,” when word of his frustrations with the pro combine process led teams to determine he was too much of a liability to draft him, despite his prowess on the field. In the finale, however, James receives a call that one team has in fact decided to take a chance on him, and his dream of making it to the big leagues has been realized.
As a pro athlete, James’ world will inevitably be distanced from the lives of his friends in Crenshaw and Beverly Hills, which explains the June announcement that, going forward, Ezra will no longer be a series regular on All American, which has already been renewed for an abbreviated seventh season.
“I still plan on keeping Spencer’s presence alive,” Ezra says of James no longer being a lead character on the show. “But it’s time for us to send him off into the world as the man that we all watched him turn into.”
Below, Ezra chats about All American’s nostalgic season six finale, his career growth alongside showrunner Nkechi Okoro Carroll, and achieving everything he set out to as Spencer James.
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In season six, two weddings took place. When THR talked to Michael Evans Behling at the 100th episode celebration, he said no weddings had been filmed yet. Maybe he was lying to get us off of the trail —
No, he wasn’t, he wasn’t lying. He wasn’t lying (laughs).
When did you find out these two big moments were happening this season?
I knew that Jordan and Layla’s wedding was coming at some point. I didn’t know exactly when. And then the Spencer and Olivia wedding, I kind of had a feeling. We didn’t know if it was going to be a proposal or a proposal and a wedding, so that was still something that was being decided while we were filming.
Olivia and Spencer’s relationship journey has had quite a few ups and downs over the seasons. Did you foresee them ending up at the altar at some point?
Not in the beginning. By the time we got into our middle seasons, it just felt like there was no other way to go. The beauty of television is you kind of have to go up and down and will they, won’t they, all those things. We definitely put them through the wringer as a couple, but that’s how it goes. But at the beginning, it was like a love triangle with Spencer, Olivia, and Layla. And I was just as interested to see where it was going to go like everybody else. I really didn’t know. Then, obviously, it became clearer over time.
Spencer and Olivia’s first dance is a standout moment during the wedding reception. This isn’t the first time we’ve seen you nail choreography on the show. Do you consider yourself a dancer?
I am definitely not a dancer, 100 percent not a dancer. Those are always some of the scariest moments on the show. I kind of realized once we got started in season two, three that probably at least once this season they’re going to make me dance. It’s scary, but it’s always fun once we get into it. I always have a good time. Everyone’s so supportive. The crew’s always so supportive. You always get that kind of performance anxiety in the beginning. I think the scariest moment is always when Rhapsody, our choreographer, shows us the dance first, or she’ll show it to us with her dancers, and my jaw always hits the ground. I always turn to her without fail saying, “How are we going to do this?” And then she kind of talks me off a ledge and we just start doing it piece by piece by piece. It’s the same as when you get a giant monologue and you think, “I’m never going to be able to learn this in time.” And then line by line, piece by piece, you kind of chop the tree. These have slowly become some of my favorite moments, but there’s always the fear in the beginning.
The season six finale overall feels very nostalgic with the mix flashbacks and the return of earlier characters. What was it like filming the episode and have you watched it yet?
I haven’t seen it yet. You’ve seen it before me. But filming it was exactly that. It was very, very nostalgic. We all found ourselves kind of getting emotional. I remember reading the moment with Spencer and Coop on the swing, which has kind of become their iconic meetup place whenever one of them or both of them is going through something, and I was so impressed by NK [Nkechi Okoro Carroll] for taking us right back to where they were when they were kids. This time, now one of them is getting married, and taking them back to that moment, which is just two kids on a swing from South Central LA, was one of those moments that really, really hit me when reading them. And then, of course, filming them. There’s the moment where Spencer is with the male figures in his life, his therapist, his coach, et cetera. They’re very small, very quiet moments. They weren’t the big, crowd-pleasing moments, but very small, quiet moments, that really, really moved me, kind of unexpectedly, because those were the big signposts of how far this character’s come and everything he is now. I think we did exactly what we were supposed to do with that episode.
Coop and Spencer’s friendship is one of the cornerstones of the series. What’s it been like working so closely with Bre-Z over the years?
Bre-Z is one of the funniest people you’ll ever meet. She’s so calming. Her presence makes you kind of just giggle and relax. It’s very hard to be stressed and uncomfortable and annoyed around Bre-Z because she has such an infectious energy. She and I have become very, very close over these last six years, and there’s kind of an ease to our scenes that’s very hard to come by or manufacture. There’s a flow and a rhythm that we get into that we worked really hard on over the past six years.
This was a big season for you in a lot of ways, starting with directing the 100th milestone episode. How did that come about?
I directed in season four and I directed in season five, so this was my third episode. But definitely the most significant episode I’ve directed because it was the 100th episode. I was more than honored. NK called me before we started filming, and she’d already told me I was going to direct again. I just didn’t know it was going to be this one. And she said, “we think it’s only right that you direct our 100th episode.” But, funnily, she said, “you can back out if you want,” because usually they will deliberately make me a little bit lighter in the episodes I’m directing, so I don’t pass out from exhaustion. But she was like: It’s the 100th episode and it’s our championship game. So you’re not only going to be directing, but you’re also going to be playing football. And again, it’s the 100th episode, so there’s no real way for me to make it light. So if you want, you can do the one before, you can do one after. And I couldn’t do it. I’m a bit of a glutton for punishment, I guess, but I was like, it’s too late. You can’t take it back now. So we just got to it, and it was amazing. Those are some of the bonus moments that I’ve got from this show that have made this whole journey extra special.
Are you looking to direct more now?
Yeah, I’ve definitely caught the bug. I’ve fallen in love with it, and I’ve been writing my own things and directing my own things outside of this. I definitely want to do more of it.
This is also your last season as a series regular, which shocked fans. What do you anticipate your role in the show looking like in coming seasons?
All we know for sure right now is that I’ll no longer be a series regular; I’ll no longer be the lead of the show, the face of the show. But I still plan on being there, as much as they have me. I still plan on directing, for sure. I still plan on keeping Spencer’s presence alive. But it’s time for us to send him off into the world as the man that we all watched him turn into. It’s hard to kind of say specifically because nothing’s been written yet and it’s all still being decided. The direction the show goes from here is still being percolated on by NK. But we’re definitely sending him off into the league with love. He’s not dead or anything like that (laughs). There’s good reason to believe that we’ll see him again and he’ll be around. If we know Spence, we know he can’t stay away from Crenshaw for that long.
Was this a hard decision for you to come to, or did it feel like a natural step for where you are in your career?
Both. It felt natural, but that definitely didn’t stop it from being hard. I couldn’t have asked for more from this show, and I think that’s what helps it feel natural. We have completed his journey. Everything I set out to do, that we set out to do when I was first cast in this role, I’ve done, including the bonus stuff, directing, Shakespeare, dancing, and all the other amazing stuff that I didn’t expect to be able to get the chance to do with this project. I’m a big believer in kind of getting out while you’re ahead. So many actors can’t say that they’ve exited a show on this good of terms with this much accomplished and having checked every box that they set out to check. I feel very lucky and fortunate.
Nkechi told THR she’s surprised that the show doesn’t receive more hate mail because of the way it sheds light on issues within the high school and college football system. What kinds of reactions have you gotten from viewers over the years?
It’s usually about the relationships. I think when we don’t have football in the episode, that’s when fans get mad. They’re like, “this is supposed to be a football show, where’s the football?” But I’m a big believer in shows not preaching a message necessarily but opening the doors to conversations. So, I’m hoping that all those moments that we took to address issues going on in the world, whether it was racial discrimination, relations between the police and the Black community, whether it was the NFL, whether it was sports, whether it was NIL, all the kinds of things we’ve touched upon— drug use, drug addiction, et cetera—we’ve given a really strong lens into what may be occurring in those worlds and leave it up to the audience to kind of make their own decisions about it.
What’s on the horizon for you as you move into this next phase of your career?
I’m going to be wherever the stories are. I’m looking for that next great story. I have the most amazing team. I’m reading scripts right now. I’m having tons and tons of meetings; I feel like the world’s my oyster and I’m really excited to see what’s next. There are obviously things I want to do, but in this industry, the best thing is usually unexpected so I’m being open. There are some really exciting things on the horizon and I can’t wait to share them.
