Ajay Friese has spent most of his twenties toggling between two full‑time jobs — acting and songwriting. 

The Prescott resident has reaped the rewards of both. The “Riverdale” and “Lost in Space” alumnus stars as Randall Potts in Kevin Kline’s heartfelt “American Classic” on MGM+. On Friday, April 3, the British Columbia native, as Bluejay Friese will open for Dishwalla’s JR Richards at his adopted hometown’s Cosmos Theatre Arts.

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The three-time National CBC Searchlight finalist will perform songs from “Postcards,” the folk and alt-country collection he released on March 13.

“‘Postcards’ is about processing all the stages of heartbreak from denial to yearning for something, and eventually back to gratitude, clarity and strength,” Friese said. “That comes with having had meaningful relationships in your past that are no longer active in your life, but never truly leave your heart.”

His grandmother, Mary Anne Rivers, a longtime musician, helped shape his career, even playing her 80-year-old Martin guitar at his aunt’s wedding in Saline, Michigan, last summer.

His TV career took him “completely by surprise” and changed his life. Between the ages of 12 and 18, Friese appeared in 15-plus stage productions. 

“I remember I entered my 18th year or 19th year of life with, maybe, six days of on-set film experience,” he recalled. “Then, I left with over 100 days that year. I worked almost 1 in 3 days that year, which was just crazy. One gap year turned into three gap years.”

“It came into my life at the perfect moment. I feel like it was fate. I developed my acting abilities doing community theater in my hometown when I was a teenager. That was entirely just for joy and as a hobby. I never had any career ambitions with it. I just loved doing it.”

Friese’s acting experience has only grown. He was cast as the lead in 20 episodes of the Canadian kids show, “ReBoot: The Guardian Code,” about five high schoolers who learn they’re the guardians of cyberspace after finding a secret room.

He recurred on Netflix Original Series like “Riverdale” (2017) and “Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency” (2016).

With “American Classic,” which also stars Laura Linney, and Netflix’s “Lost in Space,” he blended his two loves. He contributed to the soundtrack of “Lost in Space.” In “American Classic” he plays Randall, the boyfriend of Laura Linney’s daughter. Together, they are the singer-songwriter Mirandall.

“American Classic” tells the story of a narcissistic Broadway star (Kline), who falls from grace. 

“He returns to his hometown to confront all the relationships that he’s neglected over his whole career,” he explained. “He attempts to rebuild the community theater that his parents started. It’s where he learned his craft. The show does a brilliant job at balancing really heartfelt, relatable small-town sentiments with just the most hilarious and ridiculous plot arcs and jokes. It’s genuinely one of the funniest productions I’ve ever worked on, for sure.”

Friese’s move to Prescott wasn’t planned. He and his classmates attended a liberal arts college in Squamish, British Columbia, until it went bankrupt. Prescott College called, as it had a similar structure. 

“We never have more than 20 students in a class, and we only do one class at a time,” he explained. “As an actor, semestered university wasn’t really an option. This allows me to take classes when I can, and then go work when I need to.”

He graduated from Prescott College with a Bachelor of Arts and Science in interdisciplinary studios, with a minor in social justice.

“I never thought I would be living in Arizona, but everything from the people to the nature and the landscape has inspired me so much,” he said.

“When you release an album, that’s not the album being done — that’s the album being started,” he said. “Life has just begun.”