PS: You recently did an intriguing photo shoot in partnership with Swim Social which focuses on storytelling through images. Tell us more about the concept behind the project and the character you play.
JE: I portray a guy who's completely devastated and heartbroken on Valentine's Day. The photo shoot represents a deconstruction of love. I think we all had moments where we've been single on Valentine's Day, or your Valentine's Day went the wrong way. I've had friends who've broken up on Valentine's Day. The photos represent the gesture of putting an outfit together, and getting flowers, but then you end up sad and disappointed. In each photo, you watch the deconstruction of all these roses, which are representative of love deconstructing in that moment.
PS: I noticed in a lot of the shots that your character is throwing the roses at the wall. Is he angry? What's going on?
JE: [Laughs] I think there's anger. To know anger is also to know pain and disappointment. So I kinda feel like it was a roller coaster. It wasn't just this one thing. There was something that was really cool about capturing all of those emotions into those roses and into the action of what he's doing with them.
PS: Speaking of Valentine's Day, do you have a valentine this year?
JE: I do have a valentine. Hopefully I'm not gonna have a disappointing Valentine's Day. I'm hoping I'm not gonna be trashing flowers around anywhere. [Laughs]
PS: What's the worst Valentine's Day you've ever had?
JE: I had one where I did not put in any effort and she was not happy about it. We ended up in a big argument. I was in my apartment. She was in her apartment. There was a good three or four hours of us not talking. There was probably midnight texts of "I'm sorry. Can we just talk? I miss you." But that was a very long time ago. My valentines as of late have been very happy! I'm grateful for that.
