Runaways – Parents Roundtable

By starrymag | December 18, 2018

By: Taylor Gates

 

 

Angel Parker and Ryan Sands

 

Q) Alex gets to explore a different side of his roots and heritage which is maybe not to Geoffrey’s liking. What can you tease about that storyline this year?

 

Ryan: I used to think that Alex (Rhenzy Felix) was becoming Geoffrey and Catherine’s worst nightmare: he’s smart, he’s resourceful, he’s got the savviness about him. Now, he’s kind of getting the street smarts he didn’t have that Geoffrey is trying to distance himself from. It’s funny how the roles are starting to reverse a little bit in the whole Wilder dynamic. It’s interesting to see where he’s ending up and the alliances he’s making. Geoffrey has tried his hardest to keep Alex out of the streets.

 

Q) There are themes that can be relatable to certain minority groups. How do you feel this story is relatable to those audiences?

 

Ryan: That was actually what I knew what I was auditioning for. When I got the audition, it was for an untitled Marvel project. Once I read the breakdown, I was like, “Oh, this sounds like Runaways. This is really cool.” I’m a big nerd who’s read comic books my whole life, but there was a time when I realized the characters I was reading about every day didn’t really look like me. I had to search to find them. What’s really cool about our show is that the age dynamic of the runaways and older PRIDE–we can speak to a broad audience based there. Because we’re so diverse in our makeup, there are so many entry points there and the average viewer can find their point of view. We have a great writers’ room that allows us to explore different facets of our background, community, and culture. It’s on purpose which is great. Shoutout to [showrunners] Josh [Schwartz] and Steph [Savage] and all of our writers.

 

Q) I can tell there are people of color in the writers’ room just the way they interact with each other. It must be so pleasurable to you as an actor. Angel, did you know up front what comic book this was from?

 

Angel: No, I had to dive right in. I knew nothing. I was working on a different project called The Strain and two of my coworkers knew it. We were at dinner and I mentioned I had an audition for a show and started to read the breakdown of what it was and one of the other actors was like, “That’s Runaways. You’re going to play Catherine Wilder.” I was like, “Okay. But I’m too young to play a 16-year-old’s mom.” But here I am season two and loving it. It’s one of the best roles I’ve ever played in my career.

 

Q) A lot of people are on the fence about whether or not your characters are good people.

 

Angel: I think we’re on the fence. [laughs]

 

Q) What would you say is the dichotomy of being loving parents and being these bad people?

 

Angel: Well, every villain has a reason for their actions so our reason is we want to get our son back and keep our family together and we will do anything to make sure that happens. We sort of go pure evil–at least I do–this season and there are repercussions for our actions.

 

Ryan: One we took that first step years ago, it was really too late. We tried to make a move for our family and future but it instantly put everything in jeopardy. We tried to keep stepping and trying to keep riding it out and get it over with and just kept getting deeper and deeper. Now we’re kind of at the finish line of so we thought. And everything gets ramped up and means so much more and the stakes are higher. Relationships start to fracture a bit, and it’s nice to play characters who aren’t one-dimensional.

 

Angel: Joining PRIDE was the beginning of our downfall. It got him out of prison but we’re now living in a different kind of prison.

 

Q) Do you have any Marvel characters you would love to come onto your show?

 

Ryan: I would love any kind of crossover.

 

Angel: I want Cloak and Dagger to show up.

 

Ryan: That makes a lot of sense because they had the crossover in the comic and they’re speaking to sort of the same audience.

 

Angel: I’d like Agents of SHIELD to show up.

 

Ryan: I want to wrestle with Henry Simmons.

 

Q) How do you guys enjoy the fan interaction?

 

Ryan: We love it. It’s everything. I really appreciate people taking the time to say they appreciate my work. That’s a really fun experience. I enjoy people telling me where they think we’re going because usually we don’t even know. [laughs]

 

Q) Do you guys find out where you’re going like the day before you film?

 

Angel: We get a week or two with the script. We love the fans, and we’re kind of in our own little bubble shooting this so to get out there and actually hear what they think is very rewarding because we make it for them. We also get really excited to see it because we don’t get to see it until the fans do.

 

Q) The question on everybody’s minds at the end of last season is: what’s inside that hole? What can you tease about that?

 

Angel: Oh, there are snipers. I can’t say–Marvel will kill me. [laughs] No, but they keep it secret because it’s so good. It’s really good what’s at the bottom of that hole. I don’t want to ruin it.

 

Q) Either really good or really, really bad.

 

Ryan: Depends on your perspective. For the fans, it’s great.

 

Angel: And the production value they’ve given us this season is beyond. When we were shooting those scenes, I was just looking around at where we were shooting and I couldn’t believe. The skill level of everyone in their fields coming together to bring this show to life is just amazing.

 

James Yaegashi

 

Q) Where are you when the season picks up?

 

A) End of season one we had some big revelations. For me, it was that Amy, my older daughter, was killed by Jonah (Julian McMahon). The kids run away. In season two, the kids are gone and there is some business to be taken care of. There are these multi-front battles that we as PRIDE and me as Robert have to fight. It’s really cool because it’s so much more action-packed than last season. Last season was deliberately taking time with each character and understanding who these people were and all these layers underneath each story arc. In Season Two, it all sort of explodes. It’s great–I think the fans are really going to dig it.

 

Q) I’m guessing you’re going to be working on your marriage.

 

A) Yes. [laughs] That is absolutely true. That’s the throughline. Some things have to be mended.

 

Q) The question on everybody’s minds at the end of last season is: what’s inside that hole? What can you tease about that?

 

A) In Season One we kind of got a sense that, whatever’s down there, Jonah has a vested interest in. That’s kind of a mystery we continue to explore. The fact that we now know all the stuff that Jonah’s been doing, the conflict of how willing PRIDE is to go along with what Jonah wants anymore. There’s now a new layer in season two wherein season one PRIDE was on the same page as Jonah was of whatever’s down there we need to bring it up. Season two there’s a big wrench that’s been thrown into that.

 

Q) Can you tease the evolution of your character in season two? Are there sides of him we get to see we haven’t gotten to previously?

 

A) The short answer is: yes. It’s based on the seed planted in season one. Here’s this guy who’s kind of a beta guy by nature who likes to be behind the scenes with everybody trying to make peace and not ruffle feathers. But there are some things that have happen that push me past that comfort zone into some places that extraordinary circumstances draw out. There are some cool, interesting sides of Robert fans will get to see this season. It’s going to be a lot of fun.

 

Q) Are you and Tina going to work together to try and save your last daughter since you lost your eldest one?

 

A) What’s cool is that in the genuine desire to bridge that gap that existed does bring them together. The circumstances of Nico (Rhenzy Feliz) having run away and knowing now what really happened to Amy (Amanda Suk) are powerful bonding factors. You’ll see the Minorus!

 

Q) In the new season, there’s a scene where Tina gives the staff to Nico which is a pivotal scene. Can you speak a little about that?

 

A) We’re parents–we want what’s best for our daughter and respect who she is and we understand that she’s going through as difficult a time as we are with the loss of her sister. With that particular situation, there’s a sense of having a plan in mind but things don’t exactly pan out the way we planned it, but there’s something that trumps that even more than that which is the parent/daughter dynamic and the desire for her to be well and ultimately be whole again. If that’s what has happened, then we can adjust and roll with it.

 

Q) Is there a certain episode you’re most excited for fans to see?

 

A) This season is chock-full of awesome episodes. It really it. I think it’s gonna be a situation where you’re gonna love what you see from the first episode and on and on. It builds and builds and builds. It’s going to feel very different than season one: action-packed, fighting, the effects, all kinds of things going on that’s going to be really fun for the fans.

 

Q) So everyone is going to be split up looking for their own children. Is PRIDE going to reunite?

 

A) Well, PRIDE has always been a marriage of convenience. Each one of us is very much preoccupied with our own kid obviously but we do also know we have a better chance of working together to achieve our own selfish goals. The little fractures you saw in season one are definitely followed through in Season Two. There’s going to be a lot going down with that.

 

Annie Wersching and Kip Pardue

 

Q) Your guys’ marriage at the end of season one is not at a good place. What’s the tone of it going into season two?

 

Kip: It’s a bummer when the one good thing in your life turns out to be a little bit of a lie. Your career’s not that great, but at least you have a great family. Well, that turns out to be a little different than I thought it was gonna be but hopefully doesn’t change the foundation that was there too much.

 

Annie: Frank and Leslie now have in common that they want to find Karolina now that the kids have run away, but in terms of everything else it’s a bombshell to find out about Jonah and Karolina’s father. Frank and Leslie definitely have a lot of ups and downs in Season Two.

 

Kip: Figuring out what this church means, how we can use it to our advantage, how the world can benefit from it, how the world can suffer with it, how bad it is from the world. The church becomes a little bit of an issue between us.

 

Q) This season you’re actually filming out there in the city of Los Angeles. What’s it like working in the real world versus the set world?

 

Kip: LA’s definitely a character in this show and it taints everything that we do. Most of us live here. It’s my home and I think it’s really great we get to make our home hyper-realized. LA’s a great place to live and this show makes it look even cooler and better and also a little scarier. Where we shoot, both on location and in stages, it’s pretty magic.

 

Q) Is there a certain episode you’re most excited for fans to see?

 

Kip: This whole season is so action and drives so much story. Seven is really fun.

 

Annie: Seven is really big. Eleven and twelve are fresh in my head because we just shot them. A lot of big stuff happens for Leslie at the end of the season.

 

Kip: I remember episode three being really fun. Seven and eight are both big. The season is full of big moments. Season One had a steady rhythm, but Season Two hammers it even harder. The action is more intense, the stakes are higher, everything grows, it’s more of a ticking time bomb. And a couple of bombs go off in the middle of the season.

 

Q) Karolina’s parentage is on everybody’s mind. What can you tease about that in season two?

 

Annie: That’s huge, obviously, and everything Leslie’s ever done has been connected to Jonah: keeping him alive and knowing this was Karolina’s father all this time. What she thinks she sees at the end of season one with him trying to kill her changes everything for her. Even though he is her father, she wants nothing to do with him. She wants him gone. That’s harder to do, obviously, than it sounds, but she has to fake it and try to get close to him to take him down and all kinds of craziness.

 

Kip: Frank does a little of that as well. What do you do when you find out who your enemy is? Bring him closer? Try to manipulate him from the inside out? Or do you fight him head-on? Frank has a lot of those choices this season?

 

Q) Can you tease the evolution of your character in Season Two? Are there sides of them we get to see we haven’t gotten to previously?

 

Annie: For Leslie, for sure. The one who is physically finding these poor kids who are being sacrificed. Evil is definitely stamped across her forehead in season one. This season she’s kind of denouncing everything she’s ever believed in so it’s quite a journey for her. You get to see her very different from Season One.

 

Kip: At the end of Season One, everyone’s kind of unsure where Frank’s going to go including Frank. You see that in season two he’s constantly underestimated and sometimes turn that into an advantage. Frank’s on his own journey and I think you’re going to see some things that you like and some things you might not like. Hopefully, more of that like stuff.

 

Q) How does the fact the kids are actual runaways change the dynamics between the parents and PRIDE?

 

Annie: The big thing is that even though most of PRIDE doesn’t like Leslie anymore, they all come together for their kids. They all have a different way of thinking of the best way to get them home is, but it at least keeps them together in that way that they have to find the kids or else I think they would split off and be fine with never seeing each other again. It’s at least one common bond that the parents have and even Frank and Leslie.

 

Kip: Watching PRIDE bicker is one of Frank’s favorite things. I take a lot of joy in that. Those guys kicked me out, and I have a lot of scores to settle.

 

Annie: I feel like the writers and showrunners in episode eight last year when they were like, “Who’s gonna go in the box?” when they were all fighting, I think they loved the dynamics of that scene. There’s a lot of funny little jabs.

 

Kip: You guys don’t like each other. You’re not a very quality group of people. They really don’t like me and laugh in my face.

 

Brigid Brannagh and Kevin Weisman

 

Q) What can we expect from Season Two?

 

Kevin: The stakes are a lot higher this year and a lot of these issues are a matter of life and death now. The kids are on the run, hence the title of the show. PRIDE can’t get out of this evil organization. When we joined, we thought we were doing altruistic things and saving the world.

 

Brigid: Let’s be good people!

 

Q) You guys are the only ones who feel like good people. Is that gratifying for you?

 

Brigid: Oh yes. We look around at everyone else and are like, “How do you sleep at night?” Like Angel as Catherine?

 

Kevin: She’s a snake. I told her that today.

 

Brigid: And it’s hard to figure out who’s the meanest. I’m gonna say the ladies are.

 

Kevin: Our characters are a nice voice. People can see themselves getting themselves involved in something they didn’t mean to get involved in and not knowing how to get out. It’s like Breaking Bad or Ozark or something. You get in this thing and suddenly you’re killing people. What happened? We thought we were saving the world. You can’t go back. Unless you’re on Lost. And then you have to go back.

 

Q) I thought you guys were going to escape. I really thought you were going to run off with the kids.

 

Brigid: So close.

 

Kevin: Just as long as we don’t run off out of the show, I’m good.

 

Brigid: It’s a running theme with us: escape, escape, escape.

 

Kevin: We try and we want to but we just can’t because we’re so intertwined and now PRIDE needs each other to find them.

 

Brigid: It’s like a sticky poison.

 

Kevin: It’s our workplace but we can’t leave and we don’t love our coworkers. I’m sure we’ve all been there.

 

Q) Will we explore more of Gert and the dinosaur’s connection?

 

Brigid: In the beginning, we thought they had a certain connection, and it’s much more than we thought it was. We made Old Lace for Gert (Ariela Barer), but didn’t realize how far that connection went. It really surfaces much deeper this year. A surprise to even us.

 

Kevin: Do you remember the show Turner and Hooch? That’s kind of like Old Lace and Gert.

 

Q) You guys are more lovers than fighters. How will you try and save your daughters?

 

Brigid: We’re trying to go the science route and convince the others to be safe. Trying to rock some powers of our own.

 

Kevin: And we actually care about the others, too. I’m not sure the others do. That could be a new show. Like a Modern Family.

 

Ever Carradine and James Marsters

 

Q) Thoughts about the potential Buffy reboot that’s been circling?

 

James: I like the idea. I like the idea of a new slayer in the new universe who’s not Buffy. A whole new story. I think the fact Joss [Whedon] is involved means it’s gonna be good. Other than that, I don’t know what’s going on. [laughs] I’m busy but very happy that “Don’t give up” is the theme of that show at the end of the day. I would like for that theme to keep getting played.

 

Q) Where do you pick up in season two?

 

Ever: We pick up almost exactly where we left off. Like 24 hours. It’s pretty quick.

 

James: The was the big shock of this season–that they had constructed a new box you could actually see me in. I was like, “Oh, I’m gonna have to work.”

 

Q) Ever, you get an exciting arc this season. Instead of just a mom, we’re reminded you’re a scientist, too.

 

Ever: Yeah! That’s how you meet Janet last year as a mother, but in the flashbacks, you learned she’s also a smart, educated woman who probably could have done many of the things her husband did but she decided to raise her son. When Victor’s out of the equation, she can really rise to the occasion. She gets a chance. And then you get to see them working together, which they do really well. That’s how they connected. It’s a relationship that really works.

 

James: I think you end up doing things that Victor can’t do.

 

Ever: I totally do. You’re a little more emotional about it, but she takes the time to think things through. It’s a very masculine/feminine approach.

 

James: You had to solve your problems from many different angles.

 

Ever: Yes. Exactly.

 

Q) Robert interfered with your marriage. How is that going to be handled?

 

James: I’m just going to guilt trip him.

 

Ever: I thought you were cool with it! At the big party…aren’t we all okay?

 

James: I was acting. I’m never going to forgive him. You lit up in a way you never did for me, so obviously he’s got something I don’t got. There’s probably something that’s never going to get repaired. I don’t think any of the PRIDE are best friends to begin with. I think we were chosen by Jonah to be a team and I don’t think we hang around together for fun.

 

Ever: In the first season, we learn the meeting is one a year and that they don’t really hang out for fun. I had pictures of me and Catherine to aerobics or yoga, but we don’t do that. But the thing that’s fun this season is–it’s always fun when PRIDE butts heads and people aren’t getting along–there is conflict, and we get some of that.

 

James: We’re all trying to do the best that we can in horrible circumstances. We didn’t think we were going to have to kill people. By the time we heard that part of the bargain with Jonah, it was apparent he was going to kill us or our kids unless we did that. So, what would you do if you went to work and signed a contract and found out to had to kill someone once a year and if you don’t they kill your family? We’re pretty stressed out and, worst of all, our kids knew about it and judged up to be villains. I want to scream at them and say, “If you would have been in my situation, you would have done the same thing!” Kill one teenager a year or let your whole family get wiped out?