After two decades in the entertainment industry, Avan Jogia has definitely learned a thing or two.

Getting his start in Hollywood early on Nickelodeon’s Victorious and later the teen drama Twisted, it was a bit of a whirlwind getting spit out of the “kids’ television program machine,” as the 34-year-old actor describes it. Though it took some time, Jogia eventually realized he has full control “to navigate where I want this ship to go,” choosing roles and directing films that truly resonate with him.

“[After] 20 years of having been making stuff, I might be arriving at what my boundaries are,” he tells The Hollywood Reporter. “It takes a long time, not just time elapsed, but inside yourself to be like, ‘Maybe I do deserve to decide how I want to make and what I want to make.’ And so I’ve arrived at that part of the play.”

Jogia’s now diving into projects that lean into world-building and allow characters to exist beyond “the very narrow window of human expression,” he says. That’s exactly why the Prime Video romantic psychological thriller 56 Days caught his attention and saw him star opposite Dove Cameron earlier this year. And it’s why he jumped at the opportunity to work with Kane Parsons on his Backrooms film, which released Friday.

Below, Jogia opens up about transitioning from kids’ television and into more mature roles and directing, what it was like working on Backrooms, the success of 56 Days, collaborating with his fiancée, Halsey, on their new movie and more.

Going to go back to the beginning, what made you initially want to pursue a career in entertainment?

I really liked the concept of being able to be seen as a professional and be taken seriously and also to be able to professionally play, which is what I do for a living. And so I started talking about it when I was like six. Once I understood what it was, my parents held off as best they could and I bugged them until I was like 12 and then they sort of were like, “OK, let’s go to this acting class and sort of like satisfy this thing.” And because of that, I got a lot of commercial work. … And then I started taking more narrative parts in Vancouver, Canada.

Then I dropped out of high school, which I recommend to no one. And I tell this story very rarely because of what I ended up doing, which was kids’ television. You end up being the sort of de facto ambassador and co-parent for every single person of an entire generation or two. And I dropped out of school and drove down to California and lived in a trailer behind someone’s house for $300 in the valley. And then I got the show called Victorious, which is this sort of cultural phenomenon.

We were kids who were a little bit more driven and so we were plucked out and put into this kids’ television program machine, and once it spits you out, as it did for me, it spit me out in my late teens, early ’20s. And I was fortunate enough to go onto the second intermediary step on the ladder, which is teen television. I was on the ABC Family (now Freeform) show called Twisted, which is a beloved cult show for many people because around the time it was one of those shows that was in that pack of Pretty Little Liars and all the other ones.

Having got your start in acting, when did you know you wanted to transition into directing?

After that show [Twisted] was done, it was sort of my choice to navigate where I want this ship to go. And though that’s the year that I did the two Sundance films and I had the mini-series I did with Sir Ben Kingsley come out, Tut, it was this sort of like, OK, so this is approaching the reason why I came to the party in the first place. I love acting and I will continue to do acting my whole life. Then you get started in one thing and you realize the journey of life, and if you’re listening carefully and you’re not just accepting the first truth that you learnt, you can alter your life in the way that you want.

So I directed a film that I wrote. I wrote the film when I was actually 23, out of frustration that I really didn’t like the parts that were available, and so I wrote these parts for other people, the kind of parts that I wanted to do and I grew up wanting to be in. I like frenetic, energetic movies where characters get a real opportunity to be characters, to be extreme, to not exist in the very narrow window of human expression.

Backrooms is your newest project, and since audiences don’t technically see you on camera in the film, how did this role come about?

Kane’s [Parsons, director] so smart. I’ve liked him since he was 16 years old making his videos, and he got this opportunity and I was happy to be involved in anything to support his vision for what this thing is. I love the world building. That’s the kind of film that I wanted to be able to be in when I got out of the machinery of kids’ television and into my 20s.

Me and Kane, I don’t know what it was. We kept on talking. We talked way more than I think a part like this normally would merit, because he’s a world builder and I just love that stuff. So am I. And there’s no part of this film, when watching him work, that isn’t important to him. He’s got lore and he’s got myth and he’s got depth for every aspect of it and that’s how you make things that I like. We had many conversations and I think there was a bunch of different versions of how I was going to be in this, but he just was like, “You’re in it. I don’t know in what capacity.” And it was because I said to my agents and managers, “Whatever the capacity is, I’m a gamer. I want to play ball.”

It was recently announced that you’re going to be directing and co-writing the film Replacer with your fiancée, Halsey. How did the idea come about and how excited are you to be collaborating together?

One of the joys of my life is being able to live and collaborate with someone who I think is immensely talented in every medium that she’s exploring. And we work really well together. We have a similar writing sensibility, which made the writing process super easy, and I’m just excited to watch. Again, I want to watch actors have fun exploring something larger than themselves or larger than the everyday, the mundane and the rote. I want actors to come in and swing on a person and on a character. And watching her be able to do that, I mean, I wrote it with the attention that in your 20s, she was busy being wildly successful in a very, very hard field. So she didn’t have time to do movies like this. And so I was like, “You should have had one of these, so let me write it.”

That’s a pretty grand romantic gesture to be like, “Let me write a movie for you.”

Yeah, that should have been something that happened, but it didn’t because you took this different dimension jump, but there’s a dimension where you could have been doing this and doing this and doing this. And part of loving someone is also being able to see all the different versions of them that could have been or that might yet still be.

You mentioned that you were avoiding romantic lead roles at one point in your career, but then you just starred in 56 Days, which became a hit on Prime Video. What made you want to join this project, as well as what was your reaction to how it resonated with fans?

It’s a romantic lead, but there’s so much there. There’s meat on the bones. There’s something for me to perform. There’s a constant tension that’s there that I can do it really, really sweetly, or I can do it with the weight of all the internal stuff that Oliver’s going through. Also, not for nothing, it was quite a physical part because I had my shirt off all the time (Laughs), which, insert massive sigh about how it’s a lot of work. But that was something to do. I’d done a couple of those, but I hadn’t really done something like this.

And then of course it’s a number one show situation, which is amazing and I’m so humbled by that, and people have been really, really nice about it and kind. I don’t think anyone expects a show to be a cultural moment. I think you would have to be quite mad as a person to be like, “Oh yeah, No. 1.” But it’s always a nice thing. It ended up being sort of a choice for me because once you do a show like that, what happens subsequently is you get a million more opportunities to do that sort of thing and people are intimating that you should keep going on this train even if it takes you further from what you want to do. And because I’m oppositional defiant, I was like, “Let me go direct a movie.” (Laughs.)

Fans have also been fancasting you to potentially portray Xaden in the Fourth Wings Prime Video adaptation. I know your focus is on directing at the moment, but would you be open to doing that role if presented the opportunity?

Everything has something interesting to it, not for nothing. I’d love to do fantasy. When you’re a little boy and you’re growing up and you want to be an actor, you have a list in your mind of things that you would love to do. I saw The Lord of the Rings and was like, “I would love to be able to one day be included in fantasy.” And I grew up. I’ve played every large-scale fantasy video game that there is to play. I’ve spent tens of thousands of hours of my life living in a fantasy world. I would love to be able to be in a movie or a TV show that has fantasy elements to it. I would love to be a pirate. That’s what I’m saying when I say acting. What I got into this to do is to make myself as a child happy by playing in worlds that have always excited me since I was a kid. And so the concept of dragons and a fantasy world like that, that sounds awesome.

If you had to describe what makes Avan Jogia, Avan Jogia, what would you say?

I’m passionate. I’m curious. I love creative collaboration. In a world where there’s so little community, film set, the pirate ship, the us all go to sail and we find whatever this thing is out in the open ocean, that community of people that I get to work with every day, that is what I’m always looking for. That creative community of ideas where we’re all rolling up our sleeves and we all believe in a thing and we’re all doing it together is way more important than what the result ends up being. The result is a byproduct of the time spent with a community. … I’m someone who’s always made for the sake of making and then sometimes I lose my way. But I think [after] 20 years of having been making stuff, I might be arriving at what my boundaries are. Like I said earlier in the conversation, it takes a long time, not just time elapsed, but inside yourself to be like, “Maybe I do deserve to decide how I want to make and what I want to make.” And so I’ve arrived at that part of the play.

Lost in the shuffle of the NHL and NBA Playoffs, and MLB labor talks is the fact that the WNBA has started its season and games are in full swing. We still don’t have most teams done with a quarter of their season, so it is still early, but we are starting to see some of the teams take shape. I love the league and basketball, so betting on the WNBA is one of my favorite things. Tonight, we do it as the Sparks play the Mystics.

The Los Angeles Sparks are a team that has a lot of potential, but haven’t looked great through six games this season. The team, led by Kelsey Plum, is looking to capitalize on its scoring superstar. In basketball, it is very common to succeed if you have one really good player and surround him or her with decent talent. The problem is that Plum will be out due to an ankle injury. That means if they only have decent talent around her, someone needs to step up.

Los Angeles Sparks forward Cameron Brink defends against the Phoenix Mercury during the first half of a WNBA game at PHX Arena in Phoenix, Arizona, on Sept. 9, 2025. (Mark J. Rebilas/Imagn Images)

The candidates for improved performance over the next few games are Dearica Hamby and Nneka Ogwumike. Both are already averaging 15 or more points this season. I also should mention that both are probably better than “decent” players. They are strong contributors who make a difference on every team. Someone like Cameron Brink or maybe Ariel Atkins will get more opportunities without Plum on the floor.

Caitlin Clark breaks WNBA assists record to a chorus of boos as Valkyries spoil the milestone

The Washington Mystics are still trying to figure it out. They have some good pieces, but they don’t really have everything they need to be true competitors. I’d actually be fairly surprised if they make the postseason. As of right now, they are 3-3 with some inconsistent games. It is still early, so I don’t want to put too much judgment on this team or what they could be. But, I’d classify the Mystics as rebuilding or at least building, compared to the Sparks, who are more championship hopefuls.

A Wilson official WNBA Evo NXT basketball with the Commissioner’s Cup logo is shown during the game between the Seattle Storm and the Los Angeles Sparks at Crypto.com Arena on June 17, 2025. (Kirby Lee/Imagn Images)

The main building block of this team is Sonia Citron. She was the third overall pick last year and had a great rookie campaign. She is building off of that this year with 17.2 points per game, 3.8 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game. If they can keep her, she will be the face of the franchise for multiple years. She has had a couple of tough games this season, but the team split those two games. So they are capable of winning despite her struggles, which is a good sign for their future.

In tonight’s game, the Sparks probably have the better overall roster. However, without Plum, I think there are reasons to question how efficient they will be. Plum is a dominant ball-handler who is probably classified as a shoot-first point guard. They should still have the talent to score, but it could have some challenges.

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Washington Mystics guard Sonia Citron celebrates during the first half of a game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis on May 15, 2026. The Mystics defeated the Indiana Fever 104-102 in overtime. (Grace Smith/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

The total dropped quite a bit from the opener after Plum was announced out. However, this Sparks team is playing very little defense this season. The Mystics aren’t that much better. Combined, they are averaging 182.3 points per game allowed. I expect Citron to bounce back after a bad game, and I think the Sparks will be fine getting to 75+ points without Plum. Give me the over 165.5.

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The Boulder Police Department uses its fleet of Flock cameras to illegally surveil people without any probable cause, a class-action lawsuit filed Thursday morning alleges.

Boulder has deployed and uses 31 Flock cameras to scan people’s cars while they are doing everyday tasks such as taking their children to school, according to the lawsuit filed by William Freeman and Gwen Steel, both of whom regularly work in, frequent or drive through Boulder. The department’s camera usage constitutes a warrantless system of mass surveillance, violating the Colorado Constitution’s provision against warrantless searches and seizures, the suit alleges.

In the suit, filed in Boulder County District Court, the complainants allege Boulder Police Chief Stephen Redfearn has deployed the Flock cameras without any safeguards protecting people’s privacy.

“No court has found probable cause to believe that criminal activity is afoot on Boulder’s public roads twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week,” the suit states. “Defendant Redfearn’s deployment of the Flock technology constitutes a dragnet search of the movements of every person who drives in Boulder.”

The suit also named Dawn VanAckeren, a records specialist with Boulder police, because she denied Freeman’s records request asking for all Flock records of his own vehicle, the suit alleges. That denial violated the Colorado Criminal Justice Records Act, the suit states.

Boulder police have used their Flock license plate-reading cameras continuously since Jan. 6, 2022, according to the suit. There are at least nine other Flock cameras in Boulder, run either by the University of Colorado Boulder Police Department or private businesses, but Boulder police still use them to surveil anyone driving in Boulder, the suit alleges.

“With thirty-one cameras strategically positioned throughout the city, BPD has constructed a surveillance dragnet that makes it difficult for any resident or visitor to travel within Boulder without being tracked,” the suit states.

The suit notes that until June 2025, Boulder allowed law enforcement agencies outside of Colorado to see its Flock data, including some agencies known to collaborate with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency, the suit states.

Anyone who drives in, rides in or travels on public roads in Boulder but was tracked by Flock cameras without a warrant is entitled to relief, the class action suit states. The suit says that the number of people who could seek relief is in the tens of thousands.

Freeman and Steel, represented by Andy McNulty of the Newman-McNulty law firm, are asking for undetermined monetary damages as relief from what they call a series of unreasonable searches and seizures, the lawsuit states. The pair also asks that Colorado courts order Boulder to stop using Flock cameras without a warrant, according to the suit.

Boulder and its police department are evaluating the claims made in the lawsuit, according to city spokesperson Sarah Huntley. Future arguments and perspectives about the case will be made through court filings, Huntley added in her statement.

The city of Boulder has had a request for proposals out for license plate-reading technology since March, according to a city news release. The proposal period came after some City Council members expressed concerns about the city’s relationship with Flock ahead of a then-expected contract renewal with the company.

Redfearn, Boulder’s police chief, said in a town hall in January that Flock camera data is not shared with ICE, and that it has helped police find suspects and, in some cases, victims of kidnappings.

“The risk of misuse is far outweighed by the public safety benefits it provides for us,” Redfearn said at the town hall meeting.

Flock spokesperson Paris Lewbel said customer agencies, such as Boulder police, own and control their own data, and that the company takes privacy and data security seriously.

“The complaint against officials with the City of Boulder raises questions about automated license plate readers that courts across the country have considered – and rejected – dozens of times now. Fixed LPR technology has consistently been upheld as constitutional,” Lewbel said in an emailed statement.