Alexander Gould Praises ‘Weeds’ Cast for ‘Sheltering Him’ as a Child Actor on Set (Exclusive)

Alexander Gould was well protected as he joined the cast of Weeds.

The actor, 31, got his start in commercials and small TV gigs before voicing Nemo in Finding Nemo. Two years after the animated classic’s premiere, he took on the role of Shane Botwin on the dark comedy-drama series.

“I always joke about that, because it’s funny. I went from being the most family-friendly movie of all time, probably, to the least family-friendly show, at least at that time. It was one of the first that really broke a lot of boundaries,” Gould tells PEOPLE.

“From an externally-facing standpoint, it was a challenge because there was a marketing pivot you have to do. But no, they were both good characters and I was older, I got to grow up with the character of Shane on Weeds.”

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Gould praised the cast of the series, which aired from 2005–2012, for helping keep the environment safe despite the show’s controversial storylines.

“I was honestly sheltered on Weeds from a lot of the very intense content. So I didn’t always know that that was happening around me. I was very much given my lines and given some context, and sometimes not a lot of context, to what was happening and just told that,” he shares.

That separation didn’t stop Gould from connecting with the cast, which included Mary-Louise Parker, Hunter Parrish, Kevin Nealon and more.

“The cast of Weeds was amazing and so was the crew. Everyone who worked on that show was really awesome. I got to learn a lot from a lot of really impressive actors. Mary Louise Parker is amazing and I learned a lot from her, but also Richard Dreyfuss and Albert Brooks and other actors who were in and out of that show over the years. And that was really cool to work with them and learn with them over that period of time.”

His time on the show was also during a “formative” period in the actor’s life, which made it even more special.

“I started the show when I was 10 years old and finished when I was 18, so it was really formative years of my life. So those people, for the time I was on set, became a close circle and loved working with everyone.”

After Weeds, Gould decided to take a break from acting and figure out his next chapter.

“I stopped acting and wanted to just go learn the new things and travel and see the world and have that. I was lucky to have that experience. I think a lot of people want to see new things and do new things after high school, in that time,” he shares.

“I went to college and then actually came back to acting for a little bit in 2018 after college, auditioned for a bunch of things, had two big projects lined up, and then COVID happened and they both got canceled. And I decided to take another break.”

Now, Gould is back at it, while also preparing to share his story in other mediums.

“I actually just recently started acting and auditioning again, as I’m also posting on social media and trying to talk with fans and expand the content that I’m doing and also talk about my story. This is the first time I’m opening up and talking about my experience growing up in Hollywood and on the shows that I was on and interacting with fans more. So I’ve been really enjoying doing that.”

He continued, “I’m going to be starting a podcast, probably just after the new year. We’ll be dripping it out and would love to see that grow and maybe get to talk to other people with similar experiences to talk about their experiences… I know child acting has become more of a topic, but I think there’s a lot of conversations to be had there and it would really be awesome to be able to facilitate those.”