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Then, all these years later, I’m walking around in San Diego about to play a show. I was just somebody who was in the family, so to speak. “I met Ash when I was 17 years old and, you know, we hit it off right away,” Biersack remembers. “Yes, hard work is a huge element and the most important element of it…but you have to be fortunate, and you have to have these - whatever you want to call them. “I think one thing that a lot of people who succeed on any level are willing or ready to recognise is the coincidental nature, or the lucky nature, of success,” he starts.

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Like Paradise City ’s emphasis on synchronistic moments, he agrees that his life is full of coincidences. He knows where he is going and appreciates the magic of it. Biersack exudes more optimism and confidence than Johnny. But there are a lot of divergent paths, and it’s sort of fun to play this darker version of myself.” Ash knew me for years when he wrote the series, and he put a lot of me into that character. “But I certainly think that there are similarities. He doesn’t smile as often as I like to,” Biersack laughs. Also, I’m someone whose humour is a big part of their life. “There are certain things that are similar, but I like to think that I’m not as openly deceitful as Johnny is. In some cases, at least for me, that was intentional, because I had so much anxiety and I was kind of trying to mask that.” “But I could really tap into the feeling of that first year of being sober, how vulnerable you feel and how difficult decision-making can be, and how cloudy you can be because you’re coming back from years of trying to cloud your own judgment. Now, Johnny is sober, and I’m in a different place of sobriety,” Biersack recalls. “I was newly sober when we shot American Satan, and Johnny was getting addicted to drugs.

Before his sobriety, he used to cover up his anxieties and OCD with drinking, he details. While Rock and Roll is often linked with drugs and sex - temptations viewers observe Johnny deal with over the course of the show - Biersack lives a healthy lifestyle he runs every morning and is many years sober. “I think Hard Rock will see its day in the sun again, and I like to think that Paradise City is one step in that direction,” he shares.

“I know it’s possible for our Hard Rock and Heavy Metal world to find the prominence that has been lacking for a number of years.” After all, Rock is the genre that never really went away, according to Biersack’s biggest inspiration, Alice Cooper. In a modern music landscape where Rock has taken a backseat, a spirit like that can reignite mainstream attention for such iconic music, says Biersack. Cameron’s character embodied with perfection what Rock and Roll used to be to the public consciousness, rekindling a nostalgia for the genre among those who watch the show. In the series, Cameron portrayed Andy’s biggest fan, a run that ends with them taking a picture together - sadly, their last. I hope it will be done in a way that is extremely respectful to the memory of Cameron.” If we do a second season, which I think everyone wants to do, I know that Ash will treat his character with great respect - however that can be done moving forward. “He gave such an incredible performance and, in the show, so much of the storyline hinges on his character.

“He just was such a light on the set, and the times that I was in his presence, he was just such a wonderful person,” Biersack explains. Still, any talk of a second season is overshadowed by the enormous heartbreak over Cameron Boyce, one of Paradise City ’s stars who died of epilepsy at just 20 years old.

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While the series only released at the end of March, Paradise City has already found considerable success. The series is packed with familiar faces - Bella Thorne plays a seductive bassist (Biersack was particularly impressed by a scene where she sings in the studio with him) Olivia Culpo is Gretchen, Johnny’s loving girlfriend The Sopranos star Drea de Matteo takes the role of Johnny’s charismatic agent and his manager Elias is played by Mark Boone Junior, with whom Andy also bonded off-screen.

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Now, the long-awaited TV show gives viewers the opportunity to dive deeper into both Johnny and the characters who surround him. Created by Ash Avildsen, Paradise City expands on the 2017 film American Satan, of which Johnny was a central character. īiersack is at the centre of the show as Johnny, a rockstar trying to navigate his newfound sobriety while dealing with mistakes from the past. Seated in what he calls his “Batcave”, his glow is palpable, a trait that carries over into his recent performance in his new series Paradise City. Andy Biersack appears on the Zoom screen surrounded by black walls and collector’s items - action figures, masks and sports uniforms.

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