Season two of Melissa & Joey kicked off to a great start last night and just in time for premiere week, Nick Robinson took some time out to talk to Hollywood the Write Way about what to expect this season. You may remember how much fun I had at a taping of an episode in season one (read my experience here), so I was more than excited to have this opportunity. Thanks Nick!

So what can you tell us about what we can expect from the show this season and your character, Ryder?
Ryder has a lot of love interests this season and we’ve had a lot of great guest stars. We’ve had all of the Lawrence brothers, Megan Hilty from Wicked on Broadway, and a lot of other great people.

Having experience in the theatre, I’m interested to know which Broaday actors you would like to see guest star.
I don’t know, there are a lot of great shows out there right now. Daniel Radcliffe is doing “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying and to work with Daniel Radcliffe or umm… well, a friend of mine actually did “A Little Night Music” with Catherine Zeta-Jones. It would be great to work with her or Angela Lansbury. There are a lot of great actors out there right now.

You mentioned that Ryder has a few love interests. Can you go more into detail about that and talk about his growth from last year to this year and any challenges that you faced as an actor bringing that to life?
Well I had my first on screen kiss which was fun. Rachel Fox plays my girlfriend and she really talented so that was fun having her own. It was great as a whole to watch the writers develop this character and watch as Ryder develops more. He does come out of his shell more. Before, I think he was very cautious and just trying to navigate his way through and now Ryder is feeling more comfortable with Joey and Melissa so he branches out a bit.

What would you say is your favorite aspect about working in front of a live audience?
It was great for me because I didn’t have a whole lot of film experience. It’s like theatre so it is a nice transition to be in front of a live audience. It’s similar to theatre in that way. You feed off of their energy and they give us a great jump start.

I noticed during the taping that I went to last season, quite a bit of variation in lines from take to take but how much improv do you and Taylor get to do?
I haven’t done a whole lot of improv but Melissa and Joey are great about that. Sometimes when the director yells, “Cut” they’ll keep throwing lines back and forth. Sometimes it gets cut but sometimes what they say makes it in. They are a great example of that kind of back and forth repor.

What have you learned so far this season from both Melissa and Joey?
They have really smart careers. They’ve navigated Hollywood and haven’t gone down the path that the stereotypical child actor has gone down. That’s the path that I want to be on, to stay true to yourself, stay humble… and they’ve also taught me the basics of film like where to stand on my mark and the difference between cameras and stuff like that.

Last season there was a Halloween episode. What holiday or themed episode can we expect this year?
Well, with the love interest story line, there’s a bit of a Valentine’s Day kind of thing. The holiday episodes are a lot of fun so I would expect to see some more later on.

Do you watch the episodes each week or do you not like watching yourself on screen?
I really don’t like watching myself. Sometimes I’ll watch if all my siblings are there and they want me to sit down but there’s just something about watching that weirds me out. It’s kind of like how when some people don’t like hearing their voice recorded, it’s kind of the same thing.

Are you interested in directing or writing later down the line?
Yeah! I think that most actors have to branch out. Your whole world can’t be acting. Expand your interests and see what else is out there, producing, directing, writing. I’d love to get the opportunity to do all of that.

Now since you are from Seattle but moved to LA, what would you say are your favorite aspects about LA?
At first, I wasn’t really sure to think about LA. It was a whole new environment. I’ve been spending most of my time down here but my family still lives in Seattle. But LA, it’s very diverse. There are so many communities that I love like Studio City and Santa Monica. You’ve just got to find your community and stick with it because the entire LA area can be kind of daunting. I also really love that you can be 10-20 minutes from the beach and also close to the desert. It’s kind of fun in that way.

Back to Broadway for a moment, is there a musical or play that you are itching to be a part of? Are you involved in the theatre community out in LA?
One show that I really, really enjoyed when I saw it was Cabaret. It is a great story and that would be fun. Fiddler on the Roof, something like that too. Though I haven’t had a lot of time in LA but I want to get more involved. Most of the work that I’ve done in theatre has been in Seattle but I would love to go to NY at some point. If I could do a play there On or Off Broadway, that would be a lot of fun.

Lastly, what are your other upcoming projects outside of Melissa & Joey?
A couple of months ago, I wrapped filming in Toronto of a Disney movie, Frenemies which will be coming out in 2012. Aside from that, I have just been laying low and traveling, exploring California.

Melissa & Joey airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on ABC Family.