Finding Her Edge Stars Madelyn Keys and Cale Ambrozic Talk Braydriana, Love Triangles, and Getting A Season 2!

“Oh my gosh, what a dream, right?” enthused Madelyn Keys about leading Netflix’s new romance Finding Her Edge. The sizzling ice dancing romance premiered in January and took viewers by storm with its balance of love triangles and family drama. Now the Russo family will return for a highly anticipated second season. Speaking with Pop Culture Planet’s Kristen Maldonado, Madelyn Keys and Cale Ambrozic opened up about their fiery chemistry and getting picked up for season 2.

Keys shared that she got a last minute call from the Finding Her Edge showrunner Jeff Norton telling her about the exciting season 2 news. “I wouldn't typically expect a last minute call so I had a bit of an inkling that something could be happening. Then we told the whole cast a few days later on a big Zoom call and that was so fun to be able to share the the moment with everyone,” she explained. “Being a part of this show was the dream itself and it has just kept going. I'm overwhelmed by all the wonderful things that have happened. I'm amazed, really, and the response has been so wonderful. Shout out to all the fans who made this happen.”

This is Keys’ first lead role, portraying middle sister Adriana Russo who comes out of competition retirement to help her family keep their legacy family rink. “In terms of in terms of character, it was very helpful because [Adriana’s] taken two years off the ice and she's convincing her partner Brayden Elliot to skate with her. In one of the earlier episodes and she says, ‘I will work harder than anyone else. I will be competitive again,’” she told me. “I really think that was the mentality that I brought into it.”

She put her all into every scene, getting as much ice time and being as collaborative as possible. “There's a lot of people here who have put a lot of trust in me to do this job. There's going to be people who have maybe more figure skating experience than me. Maybe they have a longer resume. Maybe they have more followers and, for whatever reason that I'm very grateful for, the team chose me to take on this role,” Keys said. “I really just felt a sense of, really, responsibility to do a good job or as best as I could and and want to make them proud.”

“As an only child, those girls are the sisters that I never had,” said Keys about the sisterly dynamic at the heart of Finding Her Edge. “There's the love triangle in the show between Adriana, Brayden, and Freddie, but there is also a familial love triangle happening between the sisters at all times. I think that is one of the underlying strengths of our show is the fact that these girls are so important to each other despite their differences and the things that they have to overcome.”

Of course, fans have been absolutely hooked by the show’s love triangle, especially the electric chemistry between Adriana and the bad boy of ice Brayden. “The Braydriana fandom is strong. We see you. We appreciate you,” she shared. “I think Brayden and Adriana share such similarities in their characters at different extremes. They both are very driven. They are both very opinionated and they want to do things their way. At times, they butt heads, but I think that's also where some of that magic comes into play.”

“That was a pretty crazy moment,” said Ambrozic about realizing just how popular the Braydriana ship has become. “We both came to set and we had a great conversation right off the bat that we wanted to just bring our best performances, our best selves, and we really pushed each other. We were 100% committed in every scene and I think that shows. I'm just really grateful that the fans see it. [They] see our hard work and really appreciate it and are really connecting because, as an actor, that's what you pray for. You pray for people to watch your art and connect with your art because you put so much effort into it. And, working with Madelyn, she just brought it. I'm grateful to her.”

“For Cale and I, we really got thrown into this. I am so grateful for the compassion in the relationship that we have together in terms of making sure that we were always comfortable with what was happening, especially [in] some of the more physical scenes,” said Keys. “But truly the first day that we met was the day that we were rehearsing the train dance sequence from episode two. It was very quickly ‘Hi, nice to meet you. I'm going to get very close to your body right now.’ I think in a sense that took away some of the nerves and allowed us to find a comfortability in it quickly.”

Ambrozic had the challenge of toeing the line between heartthrob and troublemaker, citing the collaborative environment on the show for setting him up for success. “Everything that I did was on the page and that's credit to our amazing writers and our directors really pulled that performance out of me,” he explained. “They strived for Brayden to be a guy who was very deep and they pushed me to limits that I had never been pushed before. It was really, really exciting to find it with them and not just by myself. We really collaborated as a team and, at the end of the day, Brayden was a very complex character, but I don't think I could have gotten there without everyone's help.”

“The surface is never the whole story,” he said about what he took away from playing Brayden. “He comes across as this very cocky, brash, talented human being, but under it is a broken, angry, sad human being. That’s something that I really want to bring in all my characters is, why are they the way they are? I really learned that playing Brayden.”

With roles on We Were Liars and the upcoming The Body, this isn’t his first time playing a disruptor type… but he enjoys it. “I do,” Ambrozic laughed. “It’s someone who’s so different than myself. I’m not a disruptor at all. I’m the youngest of four boys, so I kind of follow the leader. So getting to play a character who is the main character in his own life and he thinks in everyone else’s life is really enjoyable to play. I just find they bring something to the screen that sometimes the good people don’t ad that’s always fun to explore and to sink my teeth into.”

There were memorable moments in the show for Ambrozic that he felt really got to the core of who Brayden is outside of having a facade up. “The two scenes that I really, really enjoyed and that I'm very proud of are: the one in the gym when he breaks down to Adriana, not looking at her, but doing that back-to-back; and the locker room scene after they don't make Worlds,” he shared. “[Those] were two that were just so different and really got to lean into why Brayden is the way he is. I cherish those scenes a lot.”

For Keys, both Brayden and Freddie (Olly Atkins) reflect different sides of Adriana. “Brayden represents this opportunity to be someone entirely new. To have the adoration of the public, to be someone who is desirable, to be passionate and driven, and selfish in a sense, which I don't think she is often in her daily life,” she explained. “Her relationship with Freddie has such a past to it. I think about how the time that she spent with Freddie, at least before the end of their skating relationship together, was probably the last time that she felt really happy, really safe. Her mother was still alive. There was a lot going on. I imagine she didn't have quite as difficult a relationship with her father and with Elise. I think Freddie is a reminder of all of those good things. He's also someone who even when he is upset with her is kind to her. She values that stability and the empathy that she can trust he will always have.”

The secret to tapping into all that teen angst? Olivia Rodrigo. “Gosh, I was trying to get into the headspace of a teenager with a lot of feelings going on, so Olivia Rodrigo was playing always in the car when I was getting ready in the mornings,” Keys revealed, while Ambrozic said that he got into his angry scenes with help from Metallica.

There was one specific item Keys took from set that has become a staple in her life. “We're recording this, huh?” she laughed. “My most favorite thing that I have taken home have been my figure skates because I have been using those. I never stopped skating once we wrapped the show. I got my myself in lessons. I wanted to make sure just in case we got renewed, but also because it has been a pastime that I have loved. I have loved being a part of the sport and also knowing as part of the show we're representing ice dancers. I want to make sure that we are doing a good job of that and showing the fans […] and the skaters that this is something that is as important to us. We're taking seriously. So taking home my skates and really having skating become a part of my life as well, not just Adriana's, has been the best thing I've taken away from it.” Ambrozic didn’t steal anything from set, but said he’s eyeing the white fleece sweater he wore before they got on the bus to Worlds now that the show is returning for another season.

So now that a second season is officially confirm, what do they want to see next? “What I've been saying is like if I had any really good ideas, I would have to tell them to the writers. If I tell them to the press, they can't happen, right? So I do have to keep some of it to myself,” Keys teased. “But what I hope is that we see the hearts of these characters even more strongly now that everyone's true motivations and their desires have been realized. So I think that it's going to lead to some more clashing of heads. I think it's going to lead to some more dramatic moments, likely on every episode and act break. I hope that we get to see these characters learn a bunch more lessons.”

“I'm really hoping that Brayden can have a moment with his parents, you know? I think it'd be really interesting to see what their family dynamic is like,” said Ambrozic. “I’m hopeful that there's a lot of drama. I hope there's a lot of skating. I just want more, more, more, more, more in all aspects for every character. I'm just really excited that now we're not really pinned to a book anymore. We have full creative prowess on all fronts and there's no blueprint that we need to follow. There is just open pasture, so I’m really excited to see what the writers come up with. […] It's a very collaborative front and I'm just really excited for people to watch season two because it's going to be a lot different than season one, that's for sure.

Stream the first season of Finding Her Edge now on Netflix.