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- "My Life with the Walter Boys"' Ashby Gentry Says Alex's Season 2 'Glow-Up' Felt Like a 'Backhanded Compliment' (Exclusive)</p>
<p>Julia MooreAugust 28, 2025 at 1:00 AM</p>
<p>Courtesy of Netflix</p>
<p>Ashby Gentry as Alex in 'My Life with the Walter Boys' season 2 -</p>
<p>Ashby Gentry's My Life with the Walter Boys character Alex goes through a major glow-up in season 2, which premieres Aug. 28</p>
<p>The actor had a mixed reaction to the storyline, as he tells PEOPLE, "It was a lot of pressure, and it did make me feel like s--- about myself at times"</p>
<p>Given that "the season hinges on me being hotter," Gentry reveals he tried "four different hairstyles," got in "really good shape," and "made sure my skin was very on point"</p>
<p>My Life with the Walter Boys season 2 hinges on a major glow-up for Alex Walter — one that, presumably, leaves Jackie (Nikki Rodriguez) unable to stay away from him when she returns to Silver Falls after fleeing her new home for a summer in New York City.</p>
<p>For Ashby Gentry, who plays Alex, that glow-up storyline was a double-edged sword.</p>
<p>"Without sounding cheesy or pretentious, it did feel like a physical transformation as an actor," Gentry, 26, tells PEOPLE of his prep before he returned to Calgary to film season 2 after the meteoric success of season 1 in December 2023. "There was a lot of stuff I did."</p>
<p>When he first learned that season 2 would see Alex return from the summer as a "hotter" version of himself, Gentry had mixed feelings.</p>
<p>"It is definitely difficult to not interpret it as a backhanded compliment," he says of his initial reaction. "Especially when there are lines in the show directly saying that I've gotten hotter, when I'm like, 'I look the same. I did not change.'"</p>
<p>Courtesy of Netflix</p>
<p>Ashby Gentry as Alex and Nikki Rodriguez as Jackie in 'My Life with the Walter Boys' season 2</p>
<p>The news was delivered to him by Melanie Halsall, showrunner of the series, which is based on Ali Novak's 2014 book.</p>
<p>"My showrunner called me and was like, 'You're going to have a glow-up,'" he recalls. "And I was like, 'But I look the same. So how does that work?' And then she was like, 'Well, we're going to do all this stuff.'"</p>
<p>To make the glow-up happen onscreen, Gentry, ironically, just maintained more of his normal lifestyle, whereas he'd cut down on exercise for season 1.</p>
<p>"It's not so much that I did stuff this season. It's more so that I did stuff before, in season one," he explains. "In season one, I lost a lot of weight and stopped going to the gym because I viewed Alex as a skinnier ... I viewed Cole as this traditionally masculine figure, and I viewed Alex as — he's a gamer. He is not out here doing pull-ups."</p>
<p>Gentry also changed his hair for season 1, again, to match who he felt the character was. "Season one, I felt like Alex was more of a ragamuffin in a way, and so I put his hair in his face and stuff," he explains.</p>
<p>This time around, he says, "The way my hair is in season two is just my hair. That's just how I do my hair."</p>
<p>Still, he stands by his assertion that season 1 Alex looked good. "I don't think he looks bad in season one. A lot of people disagree with me, which is obviously, part of me, there's a professional feeling about that, and part of me, there's a personal feeling about that, but I disagree."</p>
<p>Courtesy of Netflix</p>
<p>Natalie Sharp as Blake, Ashby Gentry as Alex in 'My Life with the Walter Boys' season 2</p>
<p>"I rewatched season one and I still am like, 'No, you guys were wrong. You guys were just straight up wrong.' I look great in season one."</p>
<p>Though he really just leaned into more of his own habits, he admits that it was "really stressful" that "the season hinges on me being hotter."</p>
<p>"A lot of my research and prep for season two was very physical," he shares. "It was researching glow-up stuff. I tried, over the summer, four different hairstyles to see which one I liked. I went to the gym. I got in really good shape. I made sure my skin was very on point."</p>
<p>"It was hard for it, at times, to not just feel like a beauty pageant. And I was like, I am not qualified for that. I'm not signed to IMG," he admits.</p>
<p>"So it was hard and it was a lot of pressure, and it did make me feel like s--- about myself at times — though I disagree— but I'm happy with how it came out."</p>
<p>David Brown/Netflix</p>
<p>Ashby Gentry as Alex and Noah LaLonde as Cole in 'My Life with the Walter Boys' season 2.</p>
<p>It "wasn't all bad," he promises. "In spite of how I felt about it initially — that initial reaction of like, 'Oh, well, why do I need a glow up in the first place?' — it was very fun. It was a very fun and interesting thing to do, and I got to do a lot of cool stuff on set because of it — with the costumes and with hair and makeup."</p>
<p>He continues, "And I learned a lot about how to stay in shape. I already was in really good shape before I shot season one, but I learned more about that, and I have some glow-up tips and tricks that I got from Nikki that I keep now, and I'm like, 'Oh, I can use these whenever I want to feel good about myself.'"</p>
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<p>My Life with the Walter Boys season 2 premieres Thursday, Aug. 28 on Netflix.</p>
<p>on People</p>
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