In the CW series THE CARRIE DIARIES, Sebastian Kydd (Austin Butler) is the ultra cool boyfriend of Carrie Bradshaw (AnnaSophia Robb). Recognizing that life poses impossible choices, the series gave two conflicting temptations for Carrie: to pursue her high school life with Sebastian, or to pursue her love of the glittering lights of the big city and all the excitement it offers. Fortunately for Sebastian, the choice is not so easy for Carrie and it gives him a fighting chance in winning Carrie’s heart. In an exclusive interview, co-star Austin Butler gave some candid insight into who Sebastian is and what he loves about working on THE CARRIE DIARIES.
How would you describe Sebastian in one word?
AUSTIN: In only one word? I always have a hard time labeling characters. Leather, for some reason. He wears a leather jacket. That’s the first thing that comes to mind. As far as a personality thing, it’s so hard because he’s back and forth all the time.
He’s a mystery man. He always seems to be caring his emotions under the surface, like he’s hiding something. Does he have a secret or is that something you’re imbuing in the character?
AUSTIN: I definitely think he starts out with a lot of secrets, and there’s still definitely a lot more that he holds inside. He’s a guy that doesn’t like to — especially with Carrie — he doesn’t want her to be hurt by information. That’s a big thing with him. So I think he holds stuff back because of that.
He just wants be more protective of her. Is that it?
AUSTIN: Yeah, he’s protective. That’s him.
That’s a pretty admirable quality. What do you admire most about Sebastian as the person who inhabits his skin? What do you think is cool about him?
AUSTIN: He surprises me by his ability to — like he’s more grown up than I would expect him to be sometimes, and is a man about things. He understands things about human nature that I think is cool. I think that is a big thing that I like about him.
So then what does he see in Carrie? Does he see a similar old soul in her?
AUSTIN: Carrie’s thing is that she will over-think things. That’s usually the thing that he gets the most frustrated about — because things don’t just flow organically with her. So she might over-think things and that gets frustrating. But for the most part, her thinking is something that attracts him. Because she really is deeper than the other girls and I thing that’s cool.
One of the things I appreciated was that they have humor in their relationship, which is one of those qualities that makes it work.
AUSTIN: Yeah, for sure. They always seem to. And one of the things is that they find the humor in something when they are dealing with something hard.
In this last episode they went search for Carrie’s missing sister Dorrit (Stefania Owen). That was actually a pretty touching episode as they kind of bonded and pursued the search for Dorrit in their own ways, yet came together in the end. Do you think Sebastian now sees Dorrit more as a person opposed to just Carrie’s younger sister?
AUSTIN: I think Sebastian understands Dorrit, maybe even more than Carrie does. We really didn’t see that until that episode ’cause we really hadn’t interacted. Just in the ability to think like she does. Carrie doesn’t even think about her going to the Chelsea Hotel and Sebastian pegs it right away. He puts together the clues. So I feel he and Dorrit have a lot of similarities.
That’s interesting. I hadn’t thought about it that way and that’s probably why he gets her.
AUSTIN: Totally. Like I picture him when he was younger and how he dealt with issues with his parents and how he dealt with rebellion and all that kind of stuff. I think he’s gone through it more than Carrie has and that’s why he connects with Dorrit.
For you, what has been the most fun aspect with regards to working on THE CARRIE DIARIES?
AUSTIN: Personally, I think it was being in New York for six months because I had never done that before and really getting to become sort of a local there. That was awesome.
THE CARRIE DIARIES also seems like it subtly wants to push boundaries for its time period. Has there been any storylines that have surprised you?
AUSTIN: I was glad to see that they touched upon the storyline of Larissa (Freema Agyeman) doing ecstasy and all that; plus that was a fun episode to film. Even though Sebastian wasn’t involved, it was fun me at the table reads and getting to hear them do those scenes. It was really fun.
It always looks like Sebastian’s hair is absolutely perfect on the show. How long does it take to look that amazing?
AUSTIN: (Laughs) My technique is sort of that when I was there I would get out bed, take a shower and put on a baseball cap. Then I would go to work and when I would get there, then they would put a little bit of product in it. That was kind of it. The baseball cap was the trick. Thankfully it’s not too time-consuming. 
To see more of the cool adventures of Sebastian Kydd amidst the crazy world of THE CARRIE DIARIES, be sure to tune in Monday nights at 8PM on the CW. (10PM on The CW in Canada)
Tiffany Vogt is the Senior West Coast Editor, contributing as a columnist and entertainment reporter to TheTVaddict.com. She has a great love for television and firmly believes that entertainment is a world of wondrous adventures that deserves to be shared and explored – she invites you to join her. Please feel free to contact Tiffany at Tiffany_Vogt_2000@yahoo.com or follow her at on Twitter (@TVWatchtower).