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Spoilers follow for the second season of Paradise through the seventh episode, \u201cThe Final Countdown.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n Who is Thomas Doherty\u2019s character on Paradise<\/a>? During a conversation about his season-two resistance leader, Doherty sometimes calls him Link, the nickname with which the self-described nerd who loves The Legend of Zelda is introduced. Doherty also sometimes calls him Dylan, the character\u2019s given name, which just so happens to be the name of bunker mastermind Samantha\u2019s (Julianne Nicholson) long-dead son<\/a>. Oh, and that Dylan and this Dylan also share a birthday, information that shocks Samantha after she and Link\/Dylan have a tense t\u00eate-\u00e0-t\u00eate in the penultimate episode \u201cThe Final Countdown.\u201d Paradise isn\u2019t beating the time-travel or alternate-universe allegations<\/a> anytime soon, not with Doherty\u2019s character being such a mysterious addition to its ensemble. And no, Doherty isn\u2019t talking. \u201cI\u2019m in survival mode here,\u201d he says, laughing. \u201cI\u2019m not trying to spoil shit.\u201d<\/p>\n He really means it. Doherty politely abstains from talking about any of the emotional motivations of his character in next week\u2019s finale \u2014\u00a0and from confirming whether the Dylan he\u2019s playing might be some version of Samantha\u2019s son. (He does share that when he auditioned for the character, he went by neither Dylan or Link but \u201cburly man\u201d and that he will appear in the series\u2019 confirmed third season<\/a>.) But even if Dylan is just a genius committed to restarting the world and making the billionaires in the bunker pay for abandoning the rest of society, he\u2019d be compelling in his own right. He\u2019s cheeky enough to announce himself to the bunker\u2019s one-percenters with a \u201cTake me to your leader\u201d sign and resolute enough that when Samantha says she built the bunker, he\u2019s furious at the erasure of his Caltech mentor, professor Henry Miller (Patrick Fischler), from whom Samantha stole essential technology<\/a>. \u201cThat\u2019s the thing that gets his individual ego out,\u201d Doherty says. \u201cThat\u2019s when he\u2019s ready to go.\u201d<\/p>\n When Link and his people arrive at the bunker, he first demands to talk to the president, but Sam says he\u2019ll have to talk to her. What did you see as Dylan\u2019s motivations in this scene \u2014 is he driven by wanting to get revenge for his mentor? Is he more interested in saving the world?\u00a0 Can you speak to the emotions that you knew you had to get to in episode eight and how they influenced you in this episode? Do you think of him as Dylan, or do you think of him as Link?\u00a0 Tell me about filming this big confrontation with Sam.\u00a0 Was there a note you got that was particularly helpful?\u00a0 I, of course, have to ask you about the similarities between your Dylan and Samantha\u2019s Dylan. Can you confirm to me if Dylan is somehow Samantha\u2019s son?\u00a0 Yeah, can you confirm that to me?\u00a0 I had to try. Okay, so then my question is, Did you think about the coincidence of that? Did it matter to you as you were performing? Did you have a theory for yourself that you could share? The other element of this scene is that you\u2019re eating a slice of apple pie as you negotiate with Sam. Did you have any techniques to get through the pie in this scene? How much pie do you think you had to eat?
There\u2019s definitely a couple of things going on. There is unbelievable disdain and resentment and anger toward this woman. Link \u2014 Dylan \u2014 ultimately wants to avenge his professor, this person that\u2019s taken him in and taught him so much and changed his life. That personal ego flares up, and I\u2019m trying to, as an actor, keep that here [pantomimes pushing something down toward his stomach]. It\u2019s still there, but what we\u2019re talking about is the greater good. This is to restart the world. This is to save humanity. That\u2019s bigger than my grievance \u2014 but my grievance is still there. I hope that comes through. At the end, she triggers Dylan with \u201cEverything I\u2019ve built,\u201d and I say, \u201cEverything that you\u2019ve built?\u201d During episode one, I didn\u2019t really know what he would do in episode eight, but as you go, you get more tidbits and you\u2019re developing more.<\/p>\n
[Pauses.] You\u2019ll see what I mean when you see eight. That knowledge is more for me, Thomas, playing Dylan \u2014 Link; I fucking don\u2019t know what to call him anymore \u2014 to kind of know what\u2019s coming and to not play that too soon. The information that I\u2019m hit with in eight, I don\u2019t really see it coming [as a character]. It\u2019s not like I needed to factor it in. [Pauses.] Oh, this is hard. Thomas had to be aware, but not necessarily Link.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s really funny. Now I\u2019m starting to feel Dylan, whereas before, I would never call him Dylan \u2014 also because I was scared I was going to spoil something. I always thought of him as Link: I met Dylan as Link, and Annie met him as Link. But you\u2019ll realize, once you see eight, why me as Thomas, I start to feel a bit more connected to the name Dylan. I feel a lot more confident now because I know Link and I know Dylan and I know what I\u2019m walking into, and who I\u2019m walking in as, whereas prior, it\u2019s like, What the fuck am I doing?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Getting to do a scene with Julianne Nicholson is insane. She\u2019s the coolest person I\u2019ve ever met \u2014 so chill, so talented, really cheeky. There\u2019s no bells and whistles with her. She\u2019s very professional, and she pulls up and creates a really nice environment. When I work with actors that are a little older, but vastly more experienced, I think it\u2019s important to be quiet more and listen more and watch more, because that\u2019s when you learn, you know? But it was really funny because before the show, I didn\u2019t know her. I only associated her as Sinatra, and I remember working out and I\u2019d always have her face in my head so I could get that anger. And then I met her and she\u2019s so disarming because she\u2019s so lovely. On the day, we both know what we\u2019re doing. I really developed this character and knew what I wanted to do. But when you\u2019re in the room with Sterling or Julianne or Shailene, all of that just goes to shit. If you\u2019re going to be honest and present with them, it\u2019s going to be different. It changes and evolves. It was like doing a master class in acting, but I was getting paid to do it.<\/p>\n
I amped myself up as Link so much that it was really intense. You\u2019re filming over five, six hours, so it\u2019s about maintaining that intensity, and then it starts to become a little bit erratic, in your eyes. It was just, Compose, compose, compose because I\u2019m working with one of the most composed people I\u2019ve ever met.<\/p>\n
Can I confirm that?<\/p>\n
No. [Laughs.]<\/p>\n
I enjoy this theory, though. This is a good one. This has come up many a time. Oh, Roxana, you\u2019re gonna have to wait until episode eight.<\/p>\n
When you\u2019re working on a Dan Fogelman<\/a> script, everything is a possibility. Her being my mother was a possibility, being related to Xavier in some capacity was a possibility, and then you\u2019ve got this quantum-mechanical stuff thrown into the mix. Even the smallest adjustment can change your whole character. You just trust them \u2014 the direction, the writers. The writers are always on set. You can go and talk to them. It is a lot, but it\u2019s amazing. I\u2019m so excited for the finale.<\/p>\n
The reality of what it is is so much better than what I could come up with.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s really hard eating onscreen because you become hyperaware of what you\u2019re doing. You\u2019re like, Okay, we\u2019re filming this for four hours, so I have to eat this apple pie for four hours. I\u2019m going to take a bite here. I need to try and get continuity. You\u2019re trying to time it well. Also, it was the sweetest apple pie I\u2019ve ever tasted in my entire life. It was almost like it was dipped in syrup. It was fucking horrible. Sometimes you take a bite and you\u2019ve got a line coming up, but your mouth is still full. It\u2019s a real art form, I believe, eating onscreen.<\/p>\n
It was the scene in the actual aircraft, but it was also leading up to the aircraft, and I was fucking about, eating it. [Laughs.] I probably ate a full pie. Like, a big pie. My blood sugar was a spike.<\/p>\n