Interviews
Harold Perrineau Breaks Down Harrowing Scene in “From” Season 3 Premiere [Interview]
The third season of MGM+’s propulsive horror series “From“ has arrived, with the first episode ending on the series’ most intense scenes yet.
Last season, Boyd (Harold Perrineau) managed to kill one of the humanoid creatures in the woods, unleashing a metaphorical Pandora’s Box of terror in the process. While the season ended with that particular nightmare resolved, at least for the moment, it feels safe to say that the monsters are rather angry.
That builds to one of the most sinister confrontations with the creatures yet in the third season premiere…
SPOILERS AHEAD: The episode ends with Tian-Chen (Elizabeth Moy) triumphantly assisting Boyd in rescuing the escaped livestock, only to realize they’ve walked into a trap. The creatures bind Boyd to a support beam in the barn, forcing him to watch as they torture one of the town’s kindest souls.
What makes the scene so chilling is that we only hear Tian-Chen’s screams offscreen; the camera hangs entirely on Boyd’s face- on his abject horror- as he tries to verbally help Tian-Chen through her excruciating ordeal.
It’s a scene that’s reliant almost entirely on Perrineau’s performance and sound design. What makes this an even more impressive feat of acting is that Perrineau didn’t actually have a scene partner when filming.
“So what was really fun about it is that they explained to me what would be happening in the scene, and because all of it is so unreal, anyway, I had to find things that were equivalent in reality,” the actor tells Bloody Disgusting. “There wasn’t anybody because the things that were happening in my brain that were equivalent to that reality are just hard to deal with. So, when Jack [Bender] told me this is what he wanted to do, it took me a few days to just keep planting. I’d go, ‘Oh, oh, that’s terrible. I remember when that happened. Ugh, I’m going to add that in. Ugh, okay. What about this? Oh, this will be great! God, that’s going to suck!’ And so that’s how I set that scene up.”
With so much riding on his performance, the camera never leaves Boyd’s anguished face, and it’s a challenging scene for any actor. “I feel like it was a gift,” Perrineau says. “When Jack told me that’s what he wanted to do, I felt like, wow, he must really trust me. He was like, we’re just going to take the camera, and we’re just going to come to you, and you’re going to lead us through. I was like, okay. Okay. We can do it, Jack. It’s okay. No, no. My voice will come back in one second.”
Perrineau also warns that this scene sets the tone for the entire season. “If I could give the town a red card and kick them out of the game, I would,” the actor says of the creatures this season. “It’s like a red card; that’s too far! It’s too far! You guys are out. You’re out of the game. Do you know what I mean? Yeah, it’s hurtful and heavy, but I think it’s all the stuff that the audience is going to really, really love. But it’s a nasty piece of business. It really, really is. It’s bad for Boyd, and it lasts the whole season. It’s nasty. That’s how I can describe it.”
While the actor knows how this season plays out, Perrineau doesn’t want to know where the show is headed beyond that point. “They’ve offered to tell me, and I’ve declined,” he explains. “I’ve declined fully. I only want to know what I need to know. Like in the first season, I needed to know that the reason that Boyd and Ellis (Corteon Moore) weren’t speaking was because Boyd shot Abby (Lisa Ryder). I needed to know that because he carries it like a giant weight through the whole season. What happens in the barn? I didn’t need to know that until I needed to know it. For me, I want to be able to look at it and find the most immediate response that I have because this way, when people see it and talk to me about it, I’m hoping that we can share that moment together. That they’ll be like, ‘Oh my God,’ when they saw that, and I’m going, right? Right!? That’s exactly what I thought! I don’t want to spoil it.
“I want it to feel as immediate as all of the danger feels in the show.”
The intense premiere-ending scene will carry over into the second episode, revealing more about Boyd and Tian-Chen’s terrifying, grim encounter. Perrineau leaves us with a clue to pay close attention to this episode, particularly what he’s saying to himself while bound:
“It’ll be explained as it comes up. He’s not chanting at all.”
As the inaugural season of Apple TV+’s stellar new series “Widow’s Bay” barrels toward its finale in two weeks, the latest episode gives Kate O’Flynn the spotlight as her character revisits her trauma with the Boogeyman.
“Your Baggage“, directed by Andrew DeYoung (Friendship), sees O’Flynn’s scene-stealing Patricia once again renew her fight with the Michael Myers-like stalker that slaughtered her peers during her adolescence. Thrillingly, it makes for one extended chase sequence that sees Patricia trying to warn others, while evading the undead killer.
In short, this episode’s incredible riff on Halloween and the slasher subgenre transformed Patricia into a fierce Final Girl.
“Well, that felt like a bucket list that I didn’t know was on my bucket list until I did it, but when I did it, I just lapped up every minute,” O’Flynn tells Bloody Disgusting of her triumphant turn this episode. “It felt fantastic for her to get that moment where she is becoming a badass. That was amazing.”
The actress turned to a few notable references for her performance. “Horror-wise, I go back to my youth, which was referenced in some of the episodes: Wicker Man, Carrie, and Rosemary’s Baby, that sort of thing is my kind of vibe.”
O’Flynn also notes how the series’ unique tone allows for so much creative freedom to make bold swings. “There’s something very freeing about it. Every moment is up for grabs, so it’s like we don’t have to totally land in one direction or another. It keeps it alive.“
Patricia is the eccentric assistant to Matthew Rhys‘ Mayor Tom Loftis, who’s at the forefront of trying to solve the island’s pesky curse predicament. Rhys felt the same about “Widow’s Bay” and its rare ability to make you laugh and scream in equal measure, stemming from series creator Katie Dippold.
“The mandate was, ‘It’s a real world with real people. You play for real.’ There’s no playing for comedy or horror,” Rhys echoes O’Flynn’s sentiments on how freeing the series’ tone has been.
New episodes will release every Wednesday through June 17 only on Apple TV+.
Kate O’Flynn in “Widow’s Bay,” now streaming on Apple TV.
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