During the third season of When Calls the Heart, I became the unofficial interviewer of the Hope Valley Kids, probably because I interviewed so many of them. And Jaiven Natt was definitely in that group. With his return to the series this year, we have continued to see his skill and character expand and deepen, so I recently had the supreme opportunity of chatting with him yet again, and this time, we had a decidedly different, but engaging interview covering a wide variety of topics.

RH: So nice to chat with you again, Jaiven. And it was really nice getting to meet you at the Joey Awards.

JN: Oh yeah, that was cool!

Congratulations on your Joey Award. All the Hope Valley kids won for When Calls the Heart, and I’m glad I was there to see it. Was that the only award you won?

Yes, but I was up for an award for my X-Files appearance.

Oh, yeah, that’s right! Well, I’m glad you have a Joey Award, and here’s to many more awards in your future.

Yeah, for sure.

So now you’re in your second year with When Calls the Heart. Have you enjoyed the storylines this year?

Oh yeah. I think everyone loved the bear story this season.

Yes, and when I saw you and Jack Wagner together, I thought that was a perfect combination.

It was so much fun working with him. He’s really nice.

Since this was your second season of the show, what was different as compared to last season?

I think last year that everyone was really nice, and I had friends, but it was more like I just came to set and it was fun. We did the shots that needed to be done. But this year it was more like coming home. It was like showing up and seeing my family. There was also more kids, and I knew more people. It was a different vibe, a different feeling for me this year.

That makes perfect sense. So you were one of the kids who had been there, and there were a lot of new kids this season. When the new kids came in this year, what did you do to make them feel welcomed like you had been last year?

One of the new kids that came–he actually went to the high school that’s right by my house that I was going to go to. We got to talking, and I told him that high school was right by house. And so he was really nice, and I was really nice back. I kinda made a new friend.

with Jack Wagner

The Hearties would like to know, “What has been your favorite scene to film?” You can talk about just this season if you like.

I think the scene with Jack Wagner because I think it was just really fun to shoot, and it was cool filming where we filmed. And it was just cool filming with him because in between shots, we’d go around back while everyone was setting up the cameras, and he’d say, “Do you want to just run the lines a couple of times? Just to make sure that we have it?” And I think that’s what made the scene so good and what made it seem so put together. I know it helped me when he said, “Let’s go over it ’cause then it will be even better than it already is.” And that made me feel really good because he wasn’t just there to film the scene. He was there to help me and be my friend.

That is great! I’m so glad he did that for you. {pause} Hearties were also asking….of course, I know you’re probably friends with everyone on the set, but who do you tend to hang out with?

That’s kind of hard ’cause it’s not necessarily one person. There’s three boys–me, Carter {Ryan Evancic}, and Christian {Michael Cooper}. We go everywhere together on set. If those two boys aren’t there, I hang out with Gracyn {Shinyei}.

with Christian and Carter

Oh, that’s fine. I didn’t expect it would be just one person. I kind of figured you three boys were good friends because I see lots of pictures with you three.

Yeah, we like to hang out off set too, not just on set.

So now we need to get a show where you three could be the stars of the series.

Yeah, that would be so cool! We could be three best friends.

Well, you never know. I could see that happening. 

Yeah, The Three Musketeers. {laughs} That would be so fun!

As you three get older and you stay in this business, I do know a lot of actors who work on projects with their friends. They work on web series together sometimes if they can’t work on anything else together.

Oh yeah, you know, I have my own YouTube channel. I haven’t made a video yet, but I’m starting to do some video blogging or vlogging as it’s called. I just walk around and film myself whatever I’m doing. I bring my camera with me, and I’ll be talking with viewers.

That’s awesome! Then what you should do is one of these times have the three of you get together and do a video. 

Yeah, and there’s also these things that are really popular on YouTube. It’s like a bunch of these friends that get together and do funny skits, so we could do those.

One of the things that really stands out about you, Jaiven, is you have really good comedic timing. In other words, you’re good at delivering comedy in just the right way. It’s something that a lot of people have a hard time learning to do. It’s one of those things that you either have it or you don’t. Sometimes people can learn it or get better at it, but you already have that skill. Like with you, Robert is always the class clown character. They might not remember your character’s name, but they remember you.

Jaiven Natt (Robert) Credit: Copyright 2016 Crown Media United States, LLC/Photographer: Eike Schroter

Oh, yeah. I know that it used to go like this, “Remember, Robert?” “Who?” “Remember….skunk?” “Oh yeah! That kid!!” {laughs}

Exactly! And I think the writers realized that you are really good at delivering comedy. And that’s probably why you and Jack Wagner worked so well together and you enjoyed that scene because Jack is another one who is very good at comedy. And that takes a lot of skill. Many of the kids I’ve interviewed love drama. They like to do comedy, but they’re not as comfortable with it. But you seem really comfortable with it.

Thank you, yeah. When I started acting, I thought I was always gonna do better with drama ’cause I always seemed to do better with drama monologues. A lot of my roles were dark like The X-Files and Arrow. Then I was happy to get the role of Robert because then I realized I was pretty good at doing the comedy side of it too.

And that is an important skill to have, especially as you get older. I can say there are a lot of actors who are really good at drama. They are fantastic at doing these really intense scenes. And you’re able to do that too. When you had to apologize to Opal, you were able to handle that heavier scene. But not all actors can easily do comedy. Most people think comedy is easy, but it’s really not. But in your case, you’re a natural.

Oh, thank you.

You’re welcome. So, in our remaining episodes, are we going to see Robert?

To be honest, I’m not always sure. Because they don’t always shoot everything in order, it’s hard to know what episodes I’m in. Like, they filmed my “bear” episode near the end of filming.  I’ll definitely be in the episodes. I’ll have a couple lines here and there, but I don’t know how much. But I’ll be in there somewhere.

Well, that’s good. I’m sure your big scene this year was about the bear, and I’m so glad they chose to feature you like they did.

It was pretty cool. At first, my mom was telling me that she heard I had a scene with a bear. I thought that was cool and that it was just going to be one of my normal scenes. Like just one of those five-second short scenes with a bear. Then we got the lines, and I was like, “Oh! This is throughout the whole thing!” I actually had a bigger part in this one episode, so that was cool for me.

Do you have anything else upcoming that you can talk about?

Well, I’m just waiting for When Calls the Heart and hoping we get another season. I’ve been put on hold a lot, and I’ve been going out to a lot of auditions. And I’m thankful I’m getting these auditions. But nothing right now to announce.

Well, that does happen, and we’ll keep our fingers crossed for you. But you seem to handle it well. It would be easy to look at your friends and think how they’re involved in so many great things. 

There’s some roles I really want, and when I don’t get them, I’m kinda sad. But I see my friends, and I’m so happy for them that they’re getting stuff. And yeah, I’m kinda hoping that I get stuff too. But I always know that another audition will come. It’s not the end of the world. I’ll get something some time. And when it comes, it comes. I’ll film it, and then I’m moving onto another audition. It’s just quick like that in this business.

That’s the best way to handle it. You’ve got a really good attitude about it.

Thank you.

You’re still taking dance lessons, right?

Yeah, I’ll always be dancing. Right now, I take four hours of dance lessons per week. Last year, I was taking five hours, but I reduced the hours this year.

Do you sing also?

Well, I can sing, and I like to sing. Some people say I’m good at it. I don’t show a lot of people my singing, and I don’t take lessons or anything. I just sing for fun.

Do you rap at all?

Yeah, I like rapping.

I knew it!

I prefer rapping, I think.  In fact, I like to write my own little raps. There’s a rap I’m trying to learn ’cause it’s really hard. It’s called The Alphabet Aerobics. You have to do a couple of words that start with A, then B, then all through the alphabet. I can go all the way to F right now. It’s really hard to go all the way to Z because it’s really, really, really fast. Even though the part that I can do is slower, I like to speed it up. I like to rap faster.

Rapping is not something I can do. I am a singer and a musician, but I cannot rap. So some time, you should write a rap and get that up on your new YouTube channel. I bet you’re pretty good at rapping.

Thanks, I’m pretty sure I’m good at it too.

You should write a rap about When Calls the Heart. 

{laughs} That would be so fun! I should totally do that.

You should. Then you could get Carter and Christian in there. I don’t know if they’re any good at rapping.

Oh trust me, they’re good. Christian could do a little singing part. Christian is really good at singing too. And Carter can rap so fast. He knows a lot of good songs. He’s really good at that.

If you did one for When Calls the Heart and why you want season five, the Hearties would love it! And a lot of young people watch the show too. My daughter is thirteen and loves it. 

The time I noticed I could write good raps and make good rhymes was one time last year in grade five, near the beginning of the year, we went to a corn maze as a field trip. When we got back, we had to do a little project about how the corn maze was and the teacher decided you could make a dance or sing, but it had to be about the corn maze. I chose to make a rap. So my friends were in the back making a beat. It was really good. And I was just writing it quickly on a little sticky note, and someone asked if I could demonstrate just a little piece of my project. So I started rapping and everybody started clapping to the beat. And I thought, “I can do this!”

That’s great. All those skills are going to make you a better actor. When I talk to other actors, they’re into music, they’re writers, they’re involved in sports. 

Hope Valley Kids sing-a-long with Jack Wagner

Yeah, Jack plays guitar.

When you get older, you can write your own scripts and get your own series going. You are so accomplished at the age of twelve. You have a lot of skills, and you’re excited about it. You’ve got that energy behind it. And you still have all these activities that you do with your friends while at school.

Actually, I got to do something pretty cool a couple of weeks ago. For three years in a row now, some of the classes at our school get to go to this Performing Arts High School, and a bunch of classes perform dances. We were practicing just a week or two before Spring Break, and then we had a week after Spring Break. We went to perform just a couple of weeks back. There are three dancers in my class, and I’m one of them. Me and one of my friends led the dance, so we made up the moves. We kinda made it so it was boys versus girls. Like my group of boys was dance-battling the girls. We did a bunch of songs, and I cut the songs. I put them together. We did three different songs, and I put them together so it sounds like you’re changing stations on the radio. So it was like in the middle of a song, it was like the girls changed the radio station. People were watching and saying we were doing so good! And while we were walking back to our bus, we were giving everyone high fives. It was like we had a bunch of fans!

You’re a leader in that kind of stuff. That is so great! You’re not stuck-up or prideful, and I love that. Some kids could be. I know your parents have a lot to do with that.

Oh, yes, I have a very supportive family.

Thanks so much for a nontraditional interview, Jaiven. I had a blast talking with you.

It was so fun! I have so many ideas, and you do too, so thanks, Ruth.

This interview with Jaiven is one of the reasons I love to interview young people (and actors in general). While I couldn’t begin to insert the amount of enthusiasm Jaiven brought to each and every response, there is no doubt that this young man radiates an abundance of ardour in everything he does, especially when it comes to entertaining the masses. He is a natural entertainer (take a look at the YouTube videos that are already there from his various dance performances), and he is incredibly comfortable with comedy, drama, and any other opportunities that are sent his way. If I don’t miss my guess, one of these days, he’s going to become insanely successful in his chosen profession, and we Hearties will be able to sit back and say, “We knew Jaiven Natt when….” And as long as his family keeps him grounded and he remains humble and teachable, I don’t think we have a thing to worry about when it comes to him remaining on the straight and narrow path towards his ultimate dream. Please be sure that you tune in to the final two episodes of When Calls the Heart (April 16th and April 23rd) on the Hallmark Channel, and watch out for this curly-top wonder who is capable of inserting comedy into every scene in which it is required with effortless precision. Also, be sure to check out all his links below, and watch out for all of his updates as Jaiven is quite fan-friendly and appreciates every ounce of positive support he receives!

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