Burkely Duffield – Beyond

By: Jamie Steinberg

Q) What is new this season on “Beyond” and with Holden?

A) This season begins with everyone having been given kind of a breath of a fresh air from things. He woke up and the divorce was very hard for him. It was him having this burden of this secret so it was hard for him to connect with his family in Season One. At least now Luke (Jonathan Whitesell) is in the know so he can connect with his brother, but you sort of see him patching things up with his family this season and getting a lot closer to his mom, dad and brother. That also brings up a bit of a complication where his parents are starting to realize a bit more that his son might be keeping something from him so they go on a bit of an investigation themselves. Luke and he start to butt heads this season as they start to be more truthful and not hold things back. He definitely does patch things up to come closer to him, but things aren’t that easy to find with family. He’s also in a relationship now with Willa (Dilan Gwyn).

Q) You mentioned he’s dating Willa now. Is he ready for a real-world romance?

A) [laughs] I think he wants to be ready. And I think he cares about her a lot, but as is true with anyone trying to have their first relationship it’s not as easy to navigate as you may think. So, he is sort of struggling to build that relationship with Willa and figuring out what page their own. They are both very used to keeping secrets from people and each other. So, it’s a little bit harder for them to have something normal as suspected.

Q) What are some themes that will be explored this season?

A) This season, as we touched on, relationships definitely get tested this year for Holden and his brother. Charlie (Eden Brolin) also comes back into the mix. Definitely Holden is put to the test with where his love will take him in that love triangle. On top of that, there are some dangerous situations that arise quite quickly with this year’s antagonist and dangerous forces that come out of The Realm. There are a lot of cool and dangerous aspects as well that I think audiences will be excited to watch.

Q) Speaking of The Realm, what does Holden feel while he’s there?

A) You see Holden explore it last year and it’s very unknown. He approaches it very trepidatiously and he’s kind of scared of what is behind every corner. At the end of season one he thinks he has a bit of a grasp on it, but we come to see in Season Two that it really was the cusp of The Realm and he doesn’t really know the full strength and power The Realm has for him. Pieces of The Realm bleed over into the real world and he might be underestimating how powerful The Realm really is.

Q) What can you tease will be new stars and even some guest stars this season?

A) We have a couple cool new characters that will be of strong relevance. Diego (Oscar Camacho) is one and he is a very powerful force that may not be so friendly for Holden this year. Then, we have Edgar who we have seen teased in the trailers. He is in very similar circumstances to Holden where as a kid something traumatic happened to him and the white light blared in his face. Now we see him as a man being very fixated on Holden Matthews and finding him and talking to him. So, we don’t know at this point if he is a formidable foe or perhaps a friend for Holden. That will come to light very quickly when we learn more about this Edgar character.

Q) Did you prepare for differently for this season?

A) I wanted to be in physical shape so it was a lot of eating the right things and going to the gym as much as I could and putting myself on a strict physical regiment to get in shape for the role. Before we shot, I was critiquing as much of the scripts as I could and making notes as well as rewatching all of the performances of myself and the other characters. That way I was fully prepared and ready to put 110% back into the character of Holden as we moved forward into Season Two.

Q) Was there someone in particular you were looking forward to have scenes with this season?

A) Yes! In particular, I would say it is always cool when we bring new people in and the interesting characters that our writers pick up. So, I was looking forward to working with some of our new characters this season – good and bad. I think most of all, I was looking forward to bringing back some of the relationships that I loved from the first season. Not just love – the family dynamic. “The dining room table scenes” as we call them with the mom, dad and two son scenes you get to have fun dynamic with the family. Also, Holden has these really strong caring relationships with Willa and Charlie and his friendship with Jeff (Jeff Pierre), which was explored a lot in Season One. So, I was really excited to further all of those relationships and we definitely do this season.

Q) What do you think it is about “Beyond” that has captured viewers?

A) I would say that in my mind we have created a world that is fun to watch and you get connected to it. I think Holden, as himself, growing up and having that sort of adolescent mindset shows a lot of what people have as they grow up. They connect to that unknown and that curiosity that he has. And it’s not only Holden, but you see a lot of characters that are really real and our writers do so well at creating these people on screen of Willa and Charlie and interesting dynamics between the family. Even with Yellow Jacket, our mercenary character, was so well rounded. So, I think the character is one thing that has and will bring audiences to the show as well as the sci-fi elements that I love to enjoy and we further this season. We have a lot of cool stunts and explosions and abilities that Holden is using. So, I think it is a cool mix of those two elements. I enjoy it and I’m glad audiences do too.