WARNING: This article and video contains spoilers for the first three seasons of From.
Often cited as the scariest show on TV, the wait is nearly over for fans of the mind-bending horror sensation From. With the brand new season set to drop this Monday, April 20, only on Stan, the stakes for the residents of the nightmare town have never been higher.
The new season of From premieres April 20, same day as the U.S and only on Stan.
At the center of the storm is Sheriff Boyd Stevens, played by Lost star Harold Perrineau. After the harrowing events of the season three finale, which saw the devastating loss of Tian-Chen and the gruesome “return” of Smiley, Boyd is a man pushed to the absolute brink.
In an exclusive interview, Perrineau opened up about the bleak road ahead and why this season feels different from anything we’ve seen before.
Harold Perrineau as Boyd and Elizabeth Saunders as Donna on the new season of From. (Chris Reardon/MGM+)
If you thought the previous seasons were intense, Perrineau warns that the series is doubling down on its signature dread.
“Well, you know, season four is going to be really – I’ve said it before – but it keeps being true: It’s gonna be darker than all the seasons,” Perrineau says. “Figuratively and literally, this season is gonna be darker.”
For Boyd, the trauma of the past hasn’t just left a mark; it has shattered him. “It starts off in a certain place but then it’s gonna go, get worse,” he explains.
At the end of Season 3, Boyd and The Town had a small win, finally killing one of the monsters known as Smiley. But in the final episode, it’s revealed that Boyd’s daughter-in-law Fatima (Pegah Ghafoori) has given birth to a fleshy pod in the root cellar, from which a reborn, adult Smiley creature emerges. Boyd’s win is short lived.
“Boyd, already starts off dark because I think coming out of season three, you know, the death of Tian-Chen, the, the torturing of Ellis, the return of Smiley… like this is all crazy and so Boyd starts off the season really messed up.”
“He’s got to figure out how to pick up those pieces in order to move forward and it’s not as easy as picking up the pieces.”
“It’s gonna be tough and hard, but that’s what he’s got to do.”
The end of Season 3 introduced one of the show’s most cryptic threats yet: the Man in Yellow. While fans have been scouring every frame for clues, Perrineau is just as eager for the big reveal.
Douglas E. Hughes plays the Man In Yellow who’ll play a significant role in Season 4. (Chris Reardon/MGM+)
“I wish I could talk to everybody when they figure it out who the Man in Yellow is,” he teases. “I wish I could talk to the whole world when they figure it out. I was here with my wife and my daughter and their heads were shot out of like a cannon. They’re like, ‘Wait, that’s the Man in Yellow?'”
Perrineau hints that the revelation will be a polarising moment for the audience. “I think when we finally get to see the Man in Yellow and see all the terrible stuff that he’s doing, I think not only are we gonna hate the Man in Yellow, we’re gonna love him so much. It’s so terrible. It’s awful.”
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Influencer Tammy Hembrow and fashion stylist Paul Versace are one of the first to watch the new season of From at an exclusive Sydney launch event. (Nine)
One of the most fascinating shifts this season is how Perrineau views the setting itself. In his eyes, the town is no longer just a backdrop, it’s an active antagonist.
“The town itself is a new cast member, and it sucks as a cast member,” he laughs. “The town is really just awful, cruel in places. There’s just no need for it.” The Town, which is given no name, nor location has terrorised the community for three seasons already.
“But I think [The Town is] really fun and spectacular. It’s changed Boyd a lot because it’s just made him… it’s made it get worse and worse, and he really has to dig down deep in order to keep moving forward.”
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For Perrineau, who famously played Michael Dawson on Lost, the enduring resonance of his work, from the beaches of Hawaii to the mysterious town in From, is something he finds deeply fulfilling.
Perrineau as Michael in Lost. (ABC Studios / Bad Robot)
“Lost was an experience, man. It wasn’t a job, it was a full experience,” he reflects on the show’s 21st anniversary. “Were it not for that show, we might not have this show. We learned so much about how to tell those stories, how to create the characters and how many episodes not to have.”
For Lost’s first three seasons, it was producing anywhere from 23 to 25 episodes a year. Thankfully, this season of From settles for a more-manageable 10 episodes.
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Knowing that audiences in Australia are just as obsessed with the mystery as those in the States is a “dope” feeling for the veteran actor.
“What I wanted to do is have all these different roles that resonate all over the world,” he says. “If the work actually gets to affect people, and it means the craft that I’ve been working on for 30 years is maybe worthwhile, so I dig it.”
The new season of From premieres April 20, same day as the U.S and only on Stan.
Nine Entertainment Co (the publisher of this website) owns and operates the streaming service Stan
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