I’m standing outside the TV studio in silence, watching on the screens as Walton Goggins, Ella Purnell and Aaron Moten chat with the hosts of Today.
The trio are the stars of Fallout, a hit Amazon Prime show with season two set for release on December 17.
They’re here in Australia as the first stop on the worldwide press tour, kicking things off with a premiere on Monday night. Next on their schedule is a sit-down interview with me.
Watch the video above.
Walton Goggins, Ella Purnell and Aaron Moten joined us for a sitdown interview to chat all things Fallout season two. (Nine)
When the cast walks out of the studio, I’m waiting to greet them. I’d met each of them the night prior on the red carpet at the premiere, but only briefly, so I don’t expect them to remember me.
I introduce myself as we walk toward the studio where we’ll be shooting our interview, and Goggins stops me after realising we’d met the night before.
At first, I’d assumed it was just a lucky, educated guess; I am a Sydney-based entertainment writer after all, so chances of me having been at a red carpet event are high.
Unable to display TikTok on this browser
But he then recalls what we talked about in our one-minute and 32-second chat, and I’m left shocked by the fact Walton Goggins is exactly as charming as everyone has said he is.
We make it to the studio, and I let the trio know they’ll have to share the one microphone between the three of them. Since she’s in the middle, Purnell is left in charge of passing it around.
“I like being in control of this microphone,” she laughs.
READ MORE: Robert Irwin breaks silence on Dancing With The Stars win
READ MORE: ‘I didn’t want to mention it’: Jackie O reveals health scare on-air
READ MORE: Wicked star surprises thousands at esteemed Sydney event
”She does this every single day at work, this is what she does,” Goggins jokes.
“Usually when it’s my line, she’ll do this,” he adds, moving the microphone away from himself.
Goggins, Purnell and Moten all seem genuinely excited about their huge day ahead. It’s only 9am, and after they leave me, they still have a full day of interviews to get through.
So, to keep things as painless as possible, we dive right in.
Being in the middle, Purnell was given the power of controlling the microphone. (Nine)
The first episode of season two is set to be released on Amazon Prime Video on December 17. (Amazon Prime Video)
Goggins is the first to take the microphone, answering a question about living up to the hype, seeing as the show is based on a video game franchise with a huge pre-existing fanbase.
“Yes, this is an original story within the canon of Fallout,” he begins.
“But to live up to the expectations of the fans of this game is a fool’s errand. You have to craft a story that you believe in, and then you have to turn yourself over to this imaginary set of circumstances and just not be result-oriented.
Goggins explained why there was little-to-no pressure to live up to they hype of the video game. (Nine)
“You can’t think about that, you just have to be as authentic as you possibly can and ask the best from everyone around you, and that’s what we did. And as fate, or luck, or all the rest of it would have it, people dug it.”
For season two, he explains that the creators haven’t played it safe, instead doubling down on their vision and making the show “as cinematic as it’s ever been”.
*Spoilers for season one of Fallout ahead*
The post-apocalyptic show is set in 2296, 200 years after nuclear bombs have ravaged the earth.
The creators haven’t played it safe for season two, with Goggins saying the show is “as cinematic as it’s ever been”. (Nine)
The first season had a budget of $US153 million (over $235 million), and from a viewer’s perspective, it’s been put to great use.
The world is completely built, with the audience fully immersed in the Fallout universe as we jump between the storylines of the three lead characters: The Ghoul (Goggins), Lucy (Purnell) and Maximus (Moten).
For each star, there was one particular prop or costume that transported them to the world of Fallout.
For a daily dose of 9honey, subscribe to our newsletter here.
Moten says the T-60 Power Armour is real, and he’s been having even more fun with it in this season. (Lorenzo Sisti/Prime)
For Goggins, it was The Ghoul’s leather jacket; for Purnell it was Lucy’s cobalt blue Vault Suit; but for Moten, it had to be the T-60 Power Armour.
”It’s real, it’s massive,” he tells me.
Moten’s character Maximus is a member of The Brotherhood of Steel, a well-armed militant group entrusted with the duty of finding and preserving pre-war technology.
Maximus has arguably seen the largest growth of the three characters, starting season one as essentially an unsure servant to higher-ranking members of the brotherhood, eventually earning his place as a Knight fighting through the wastelands in the power armour.
Moten’s character has arguably seen the most growth of the three. (Lorenzo Sisti/Prime)
“Our first season was so funny, Ella and I would have these conversations about how our characters are almost pawns for other people,” he says.
“The team of writers that we have, led by Graham [Wagner] and Geneva [Robertson-Dworet]… you may think you know where they’re going with something, and then they’ll put a turn in the story, and it’s an exciting thing.
“It makes you really happy to show up to work when the character is always changing, always growing.”
Plus, it’s much easier to “kick ass” in the powersuit than “get your ass kicked in it”, Moten adds.
Once he’s in makeup, Goggins is almost unrecognisable as The Ghoul. (Amazon Prime Video)
While Goggins’ The Ghoul – a man turned immortal mutant by nuclear radiation – is still the hardened bounty hunter who’s been roaming the wastelands for the past 200 years, season two allows the actor to dive into his character’s backstory.
Toward the end of the first season, it’s revealed that before the war, The Ghoul was a man named Cooper Howard, and his wife was “the principal architect for the ending of the world”.
“It just begins this journey of realising that he has no control over anything, and he feels desperately out of control. And I think a lot of people in the world feel that way now,” Goggins says.
Kyle MacLachlan also stars in the series as good-guy-turned-bad Hank MacLean. (Lorenzo Sisti/Prime)
This season, The Ghoul is roaming the wastelands alongside Purnell’s character Lucy, who has broken free from the safety of the underground vault in which she was born and raised, both in search of Lucy’s father, Hank (Kyle MacLachlan).
“[Purnell] and I get to spend a lot of time together on this apocalyptic road trip, and you have an optimist and a nihilist,” Goggins explains.
“We have these conversations about life, and either she’s going to start thinking the way that I do or vice versa. And we had an incredible time; it was a highlight for me in this experience.”
While The Ghoul has seen the worst of humanity, Lucy has been raised in the safety of a vault, only now getting to experience life in the wasteland, but still believing in the goodness of humanity.
Purnell’s character Lucy is a relentless optimist, even in the face of brutal dangers. (Courtesy of Prime)
It’s her character’s relentless optimism Purnell says she wishes she could adopt.
“Lucy’s energy, her relentless energy, she just sort of can keep going in the face of so much stuff, so many different experiences,” Purnell says.
“She just has lifeforce.”
Right as we’re about to wrap up, Goggins reaches for the microphone to say one last thing.
This season, the characters are headed to New Vegas, based off what is widely regarded as the best game in the Fallout series. (Lorenzo Sisti/Prime)
”One thing I do want to say about this really quickly, that we haven’t talked about that much,” he begins.
“Our directors … they don’t move on unless the take is perfect because so much of it is hyperstylised, it’s hypercinematic. It really is filmmaking.
“It’s the effort that goes into it from all different angles to get that one shot, and when you get it, everybody just throws their hands up in the air … It’s very exciting to have that feeling in television these days.”
And just like that, after about 12 minutes together, my time with the Fallout cast has come to an end.
I may have accidentally poked-fun at Purnell, you can watch the video at the top of the page to see what happened. (Nine)
The trio have less than 24 hours before they leave Australia, with a full day of interviews ahead and a worldwide press tour to follow.
As I say goodbye, Moten delivers one of the most earnest “thank yous” I’ve ever received, followed by a thanks from Goggins for my “really engaging questions”.
And even though it’s a compliment I’m sure he gives all journalists, it’s one I will be repeating to anyone who will listen from now, into the very distant future.
FOLLOW US ON WHATSAPP HERE: Stay across all the latest in celebrity, lifestyle and opinion via our WhatsApp channel. No comments, no algorithm and nobody can see your private details.