Harold Perrineau and Jack Bender Discuss ‘FROM’ Season 2 and Hopes for Season 3 [Interview]

MGM+’s horror series FROM is in the final chapters of Season 2, and things aren’t looking good for the batch of unfortunate souls stuck in an unescapable prison disguised as a town.

I recently attended ATX Television Festival, where I had the opportunity to sit and chat with Jack Bender (Director and Executive Producer) and Harold Perrineau (Boyd Stevens) about the final episodes of Season 2, and what they’re most proud of from the series.

At the end of FROM Season 2 Episode 7, “Belly of the Beast,” Boyd realizes he’s potentially found a way to fight back and is planning on how to test his theory while the town’s curse only continues to grow more prevalent.

Perrineau says that the storyline only continues to escalate from this point in the season, becoming a nightmare that just won’t stop. “You think that, you know, they know something now, that you can kill the monsters, and you think they’d be happy about it. Unfortunately, it just keeps getting worse.”

“It’s like a house of mirrors of horror,” Bender said.

“Every time you feel you can get out that way, bang, you hit the wall of the mirror here, here, here, here, here, and it accumulates and builds to a great crescendo at the end of season two. It builds and builds to a really powerful, crazy, climactic end of the season, which is where we’re going to pick up season three. It does get worse; It’s like quicksand.”

Bender says one of the better and more fascinating aspects of the series is the human horror implemented throughout and that it will continue to be prevailing as they continue.

“You know, when I work with Stephen King, I love the fact when he’s writing about the monsters inside of us, as well as the monsters outside of us. So, we relate in a certain way. I think that’s very true of our show. I think it’ll be scarier to satisfy all that stuff, and it will also be more complicated and horrific for the characters,” Bender said.

Season 3 of the MGM+ critically acclaimed series has yet to be greenlit, but that isn’t stopping Perrineau and Bender from thinking ahead. However, with the ongoing Writers Guild of America strike, even if confirmed, Season 3 likely won’t come until late 2024. “There’s no way to get on the ship without them, and I wouldn’t want to be on the show without our writers,” Perrineau said.

“John Griffin, who created the show and writes most of the episodes, and Jeff Pinkner, the showrunner who comes up with stories, and I go way back to Alias together. They were in the midst of carving out season three, and the first few scripts were written when the strike happened, but we didn’t have enough ready to go that we, in the studio, felt we could start and not have to stop,” Bender said.

“So, we are waiting to resume, and we are looking forward to it. I am personally not because when we get back to Halifax, it may be cold as hell. It gets very cold up there. I do better in moderate weather. But you know, telling the story and working with Harold and this exceptional cast and our crew up there is enjoyable. So, I’m anxious to get on [season] three,” Bender continued.

Bender has many hats behind the scenes of FROM, serving as an executive producer for the series and one of the primary directors, directing anywhere from four to six episodes per season. Amidst the writer’s strike, he and the creators are working out the details and their plan of attack for the hypothetical Season 3.

“The way our show works is that we block two episodes. We shoot and do two episodes so that the schedule becomes one schedule, so you have more flexibility in terms of locations and all that stuff. We’re trying to figure out what’s the best way to do it this season.”

“I’ll either do the first four and the last two, which I didn’t do season one, or I’ll do two, two, and two again. We’re trying to figure out between my schedule and not being in Halifax for five and a half months without getting home at all, which is hard, not because of Halifax, it’s just hard,” Bender continued.

Regarding filming, both Bender and Perrineau praise their castmates and production team for being there every step of the way.

“There’s not a lot that’s difficult to shoot. We have an amazing, amazing crew and really great actors and people behind the camera. It’s actually nothing that’s too difficult outside of the story itself. Luckily, that’s the most difficult part; being able to tell those stories and having scary monsters smile at you all the time,” Perrineau said.

Bender took the time to sing his praises for their exceptional visual effects and post-production visual effects teams and their efforts to ensure nothing comes across as cheesy.

“There are a lot of monsters in storytelling these days, as you well know, and to do something that’s somewhat original and scary — you know, you can’t compete with the money that gets spent on some of these big movies and shows. So, having done Game of Thrones, I know that. I think that it’s what Harold said, and I think that our crews are exceptional.”

“We arrived on the set toward the end of shooting the finale, and it was snowing. I get there, and the crew bugged me. They said, ‘You’re from LA; this isn’t snow.’ I said, ‘It’s white, I’m freezing my ass off, it’s falling on the ground, you could have ice skates, this is snow.’ No, they kept bugging me and said, ‘Nah, we’ll take care of it.’ And literally, they got their shovels out, and they said, ‘You don’t have to tighten the shot too much. You can go way over here.’ And I’m going, ‘Really?’ ‘Yeah, give us half an hour.’ And sure enough. So, when it wasn’t falling, we would film. They’re amazing. I am looking forward to doing the show again. Enormously excited about that,” Bender continued.

Perrineau said he’s proud of the character he’s been able to portray but that, first and foremost, he’s proud of the cast and crew.

“I’m really proud of the fact that we are this little show that doesn’t have the money all these other shows do and that we’re all just committed to telling this story. Like, so into it, so committed to it, and I think that the audience is responding to that. We’re all working our asses off to make sure that we really tell the stories. I love the show and being in it, and I think everybody does too,” Perrineau said.

Bender said the first thing he said when he joined the series was that they needed to care about the people attached to the project, and that, thankfully, they were provided with an exceptional ensemble.

“Working with Jeff Pinkner and John Griffin is a joy. We collaborate on every level. It’s very open and creative. I’m very proud of creating an environment when we shoot that’s fun, even though it’s hard at times. Making anything is hard, so there are moments where we’re, ‘Oh, God, what do we do? How do we get out of this?’ But the point is, is that I don’t think I’ve ever said to the actors, no, we don’t have time for another tape.”

“From the beginning, I said, yeah, this has a lot of jazz going on, but I want it to be a character-driven show, and I want to have actors who have the time to reach those moments. We always do, and they always deliver. There’s a crack in everything, as Leonard Cohen said, and we occasionally walk away going, ‘Ehh, maybe I could have done that a little better,'” Bender said.

“But the fact is, we’ve got a machine that works, that is creative and conducive to us caring about each other and making something we’re proud of, which is not always the way it happens, so I’m very grateful for that.”

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Check out all of our coverage of the ATX Television Festival right here. There is a lot more to come!

FROM airs Sundays at 9/8c on MGM+.

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