DIGITAL COVER INTERVIEW: Spencer MacPherson Talks New Series School Spirits, Peyton List, and More

Canadian actor, Spencer Macpherson, 25, stars as Xavier Baxter in the suspenseful new mystery series and young adult drama School Spirits. The series centers around life after death for high schoolers stuck in limbo as the death of Xavier’s girlfriend, Maddie Nears (Peyton List), slowly unravels. Macpherson is known for his roles as Hunter Hollingsworth in Degrassi, Scout West in Northern Rescue, Charles on Reign and Sparrow on Astrid & Lilly Save the World.

The School Spirits synopsis shares that Maddie is stuck in the afterlife and she’s on a mission to uncover her own bizarre disappearance. She’s on a “crime-solving journey as she adjusts to high school purgatory, but the closer she gets to discovering the truth, the more secrets and lies she uncovers.” Just how Macpherson’s character Xavier plays into all of this drama is the question.

Mcpherson chatted with Glitter about working on the project alongside List and the amazing talent behind the creation of the series. Oliver Goldstick (Pretty Little Liars, Bridgerton) is the showrunner and executive producer and he’s joined by creators and executive producers Nate Trinrud and Megan Trinrud. Max Winkler (Cruel Summer, Jungleland) directed and executive produced the first two episodes and Peyton List also serves as a producer on the series. The series also stars Kristian Flores (Simon Elroy), Milo Manheim (Wally Clark), Kiara Pichardo (Nicole Herrera), Sarah Yarkin (Rhonda), Nick Pugliese (Charley), Rainbow Wedell (Claire Zomer), and reoccurring guests Josh Zuckerman (Mr. Martin), and Maria Dizzia (Sandra Nears).

From travels around the world including Paris and back again to his home in Los Angeles, Spencer, an Ontario native, spoke with Glitter on everything from following in his older sisters’ acting foot trails, his start in musical theatre, and what is upcoming in the next chapter of his life. Read on for more.

JULIA: Well, hi, Spencer. It’s great to meet you.

SPENCER: Hi, nice to meet you.

JULIA: Thanks for taking the time to chat with us here at Glitter Magazine and congrats on your new suspenseful series, School Spirits.

SPENCER: Thank you very much.

JULIA: Very happy to be chatting with you. So let’s take it back a bit to Toronto, where you grew up. When did you decide you had a love for acting and how did you get your start?

SPENCER: Well, both of my older sisters are, really, really good singers and were into musical theater, and I kind of just copied them and followed in their footsteps. So I did musical theater for a long time. And that kind of led to me getting an agent and I started doing film and television. Then from there, I did Degrassi and kind of never looked back and have been doing it ever since.

JULIA: That is so wonderful. So you’ve built up a lot of credits, like you mentioned, since you were young, like Degrassi. Do you have any highlights or favorite moments you can share from essentially growing up in the industry?

SPENCER: Yeah, it’s just so fun to do this job because you learn so many skills along the way. I think a favorite job of mine was a show I did called Reign, where I got to do an accent and ride horses and sword fight. It just kind of felt like this, you know, crazy learning experience, but I feel like that’s the most fun part about being an actor, is walking in all these different people’s shoes and learning all these new things. You take it as you go.

JULIA: Absolutely. So you’re starring opposite Peyton List as Xavier in School Spirits, what can you tease about your character?

SPENCER: Hmm. Well, what we know of Xavier in the first couple of episodes is kind of shrouded behind a lot of walls. He’s kind of a mysterious character. And, uh, Mom’s not in the picture. Dad’s unavailable, and I think that he searches for someone he can be vulnerable with. He searches for that in Maddie, who is his girlfriend, where we meet him at the beginning of the show.

JULIA: Exciting. This series has your costar stuck in the afterlife, wild things are happening. What drew you personally to the script and to want to play this character?

SPENCER: Well, when I first got the script, it was at the beginning of 2022, and I just loved the pilot upon reading it. The character description was really funny to me. I think it said something along the lines of “Xavier is a guy who based his whole personality off of James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause, but he fell asleep 15 minutes into the movie.” I think that kind of sums him up really well. I just loved the script right from the jump.

JULIA: Is there anything supernatural happening with your character?

SPENCER: My character and a lot of the characters that exist in the world of the living are more so dealing with grieving. They’re grieving in their own ways. It’s a cool setup because it really juxtaposes the two sides of Split River.

JULIA: The synopsis reads ‘lies and secrets’ revealed. So who’s doing all of this lying? Hopefully, it’s not your character. Does he have any personality issues we should know about?

SPENCER: Oh, it’s tough to say. I’m not, I’m not totally certain what I’m allowed to say, but he’s definitely a tough one to read. I think Xavier has developed a really, really good ability of lying, and that will kind of be unfolded and you’ll kind of see why that is, I guess, as the show takes on. But he’s a very unpredictable character, which is extremely fun to play because you kind of get to toy with the information as to what the audience knows versus what I know, and finding that kind of like middle ground, which is exciting.

JULIA: So, we love your costar Peyton at Glitter, who’s also graced our cover. What was it like working with her and did you know each other prior to filming?

SPENCER: It was my first time meeting Peyton, and she’s absolutely incredible, like such a professional, just a really, really excellent actress. And beyond that, like, an insanely cool person as was all the cast, we instantly all just got along and it was a pleasure.

JULIA: That is so wonderful.

SPENCER: Thanks.

JULIA: So Xavier seems to be a persuasive character and without spoiling anything, what tactics does he use to get what he wants?

SPENCER: Yeah, he’s a very fast talker, which was something that I discussed with Nate and Megan Trinrud, the creators, going into it. I think it was important to see what Maddie likes about Xavier. Which is that he’s persuasive, charming, and cunning and he’s also very rebellious, which I think in high school is something that certain people are drawn to. The idea that he doesn’t really care about fitting into any sort of group or archetype. He’s a lone wolf type.

JULIA: Nice. Following that, what are you most excited for viewers to experience with this slightly dark series?

SPENCER: Well, I know that while we were shooting it, every script we got, we would lock ourselves in our rooms and just obsess over reading it. I can genuinely say that we were always on the edges of our seats and I think that the viewers will be, too. It just goes in some incredible directions and I’m just really excited for those kinds of watercooler conversations that people are going to have week to week and their predictions because I know we had a ton of predictions going through it.

JULIA: There are some amazing showrunners on this series from Bridgerton, Cruel Summer, to Pretty Little Liars. So our expectations are high. What was it like working with the team?

SPENCER: So Great. This was such a huge opportunity for me. I was just very humbled to get to be a part of it, and everyone was just at the top of their game and I just kind of held on and, you know, kept my head down trying to do the best work I could. But yeah, it’s such a great team and I know my sisters actually were big Pretty Little Liars fans, so when they got that information, they were excited.

JULIA: So whatever your character’s motivation, the opposite of that is also true; when there’s hate, there’s love, and so on. What opposites would, you say are at play for Xavier?

SPENCER: Interesting. That’s a really good question. I think that a lot of that kind of touching back to what I was saying earlier, exists in the mask that he shows the world. It’s going to be a very polarizing character because I think that there’s definitely unlikable elements to him and only those who kind of see who he allows to see under the mask. I guess I kind of know the other sides to him. So, I think that, you know, while he has a lot of, while he’s very withholding and at times, you know, intense, there’s a lot of like vulnerability and humor that exist in him as well. And I think as the show progresses, you, you hopefully get to see a couple more of those those those colors.

JULIA: Yeah. It’s such an interesting contrast. That’s exciting.

SPENCER: Yeah. Yeah. I’m so excited for people to see it.

JULIA: And what does he discover about himself through these episodes, would you say?

SPENCER: Hmm. It’s such an interesting show, the way that it’s laid out because so much of it is for the audience to discover as it goes. So I’m not sure how much I want to reveal, about what sides of Xavier may become more apparent as it goes on. I think that the whole fun in him is the like the unpredictable nature of him. I think maybe he’s a little bit aware of that, uh which, which can be a little bit of a, I don’t know, like an interesting characteristic. He almost enjoys the idea that you can’t really put him in a box. So maybe I don’t want to either so the audience gets to perceive him maybe the way that he would want to be perceived.

JULIA: That’s so neat. That being said, what do you like most about him?

SPENCER: I definitely like his humor. In a lot of projects I’ve done prior, I feel like I’ve played a lot of kind of dark characters. Maybe at a glance, you may assume that of him, but as we were going, it was just really exciting to find all of these humorous beats in the scenes because they’re there and he’s very quick. That stuff’s really exciting because I feel like that’s a kind of a side of performance that I haven’t really gotten to show a lot of yet. I found that every time that a day would come and I’d see on the sheet that we’re doing one of these more, you know, comedic scenes, I’d get really excited and I’m excited for people to see that because I feel like that’s a new side of me.

JULIA: That is exciting. How fun.

SPENCER: Yeah.

JULIA: Can you tell us a bit, a little bit more about what’s next for you, Spencer?

SPENCER: Honestly, I can’t wait to see how people react to this show. I mean, yeah, spending a lot of time with my family, getting together with the cast, ‘cus we’re all friends now, and it’s a very exciting time, you know?

JULIA: Absolutely. To say the least.

SPENCER: There we go.

JULIA: Is there any genre you haven’t done that you would love to be a part of?

SPENCER: Hmm. I think that I’d love to do more comedy. I love Jason Bateman and I love Always Sunny. I love shows like that, that have that kind of dry sense of humor. So I feel like that’s something I would love to work on and hopefully be a part of at some point down the line. Because that’s like probably my favorite genre.

JULIA: Love that, same. So who’s on your playlist right now?

SPENCER: I think my top, my Spotify wrap, my top was, weirdly, The Goo Goo Dolls, which is not that’s not what, an amazing band, it’s just maybe a bit of a throwback. Yeah, I love them. I love The 1975. I actually just went to see them in Toronto and Peyton came and uh, that was awesome. They’re so good live. Yeah, anything in that kind of rock and roll genre is up my street, so I love that. What about you?

JULIA: Pop, rap, to rock. So I like Blink-182 or kind of a little more punky.

SPENCER: Nice. Yeah. Love Blink-182.

JULIA: We see you were recently in Paris, any destinations on your bucket list?

SPENCER: Yeah. Oh, my gosh. I loved Paris. It was so cool. I was out there for the Reign convention and it was awesome seeing all those guys again. And what’s on my bucket list? I’d love to go to Italy. That would be so cool. I’m currently in Los Angeles, which is awesome and it’s nice here. I’m kind of escaping the Toronto Ice Box moment. Yeah, I love traveling. I’d say Italy would be at the top of My God, I’d love to. I’d love to go there. Yeah.

JULIA: Same here, I’d have to agree with you.

SPENCER: Yeah.

JULIA: Yeah, for sure.

JULIA: Okay, So…Star Wars or Marvel?

SPENCER: Oh I’m a MARVEL guy. I love Marvel. Yeah. Marvel.

JULIA: Cooking or dining out?

SPENCER: I think recently I’d say cooking. I love cooking a meal with, my girlfriend. That’s, like one of my favorite hobbies, pastimes.

JULIA: That is so wholesome. Okay. Drake or Ice Spice?

SPENCER: I have to say, Drake, because I’m not sure I know who the second one is.

JULIA: That’s okay, you’ll just have to check her out sometime.

SPENCER: But I love Drake, too. You know.

JULIA: Spencer, thank you so much. It was a pleasure chatting with you and we can’t wait to see what’s next for you.

SPENCER: Thank you so much. I really appreciate the time.

JULIA: Thank you so much.

Make sure to stream the first three episodes of ‘School Spirits’ of the 8-episode-long season on Paramount+ now, with new episodes that will drop weekly on Thursdays.