'Awkward's' Beau Mirchoff Dishes on His TV Brother, 'Make It or Break It's' Zachary Abel

The MTV star says viewers will get to know Matty better after meeting his older sibling.

4:04 PM PDT 9/6/2011 by Jethro Nededog

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Beau Mirchoff Zachary Abel Split - P 2011

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On the last episode of MTV’s Awkward, viewers got a quick glimpse of Matty’s (Beau Mirchoff) older brother (played by guest star, Make It or Break It’s Zachary Abel) as he stumbled past him and Jenna (Ashley Rickards) and into the house. Matty didn’t introduce her, which made her feel – surprise – insecure. Mirchoff says she wasn’t the only one feeling that way.

STORY: 'Awkward's' Beau Mirchoff says Matty and Jenna 'Might Work Out At the End'

“His brother graduated high school, and I don’t know exactly what makes him change, but he kind of becomes a partier and his world kind of flips upside-down,” Mirchoff tells The Hollywood Reporter about his onscreen brother.

“So when you see us together, that’s kind of where he’s at, he’s completed a 180, and he’s absolutely different than the way Matty remembered him, or the way they were when they were children.”

Apparently, Abel wasn’t the first choice to play the actor according to Mirchoff. “[The first actor] was a real nice guy, but you know how it is. It just sometimes doesn’t work out. It’s not the chemistry that they need,” Mirchoff explains.

“He was a good actor, though, for sure, but yeah, me and Zach instantly had chemistry, plus he’s a really nice guy,” the star continues. “Good at what he does.”

Mirchoff says the ABC Family star was able to find different shades in his character that even he didn’t see at first.

“I know that some of his dialogue, he could have read it in a dark way,” Mirchoff says. “I think he’s definitely found the light in the role, and I think most actors would have looked past that.”

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During Abel's character arc, we’ll learn more about Matty’s home life and what makes him tick as he tries to keep his brother’s failures a secret.

“He doesn’t want anyone to know the truth about him because it’s a vulnerable subject for Matty,” the actor tells us. “And he wants his family to be perfect and he wants them to be perceived well.”

Awkward airs Tuesdays at 11 p.m. on MTV. Also, the network announced that the one-hour season finale will air Tuesday, Sept. 27 at 11:00 p.m.

Email: Jethro.Nededog@thr.com; Twitter: @TheRealJethro

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