Hypable caught up with Damien show runner Glen Mazzara to discuss the biggest challenges he faced in creating A&E’s newest series, casting his lead, and more ahead of tonight’s series premiere!
When Damien premieres tonight on A&E, viewers will be reintroduced to the little boy they met in the classic 1976 horror film, The Omen.
The Damien Thorn of today (played by Merlin’s Bradley James) is all grown up. He’s a war photographer, who’s moved on from his horrific past but as most of us know all too well, the past has a funny way of coming back to bite us when we least expect it. And as Damien soon discovers, the strange and terrible things that happened during his childhood were merely a foreshadowing of what destiny has in store for him as he nears his 30th birthday.
Damien may be destined to be the Antichrist, but one thing fans can bank on is the fact that if Mr. Thorn must be dragged into the depths of hell, he won’t be going quietly. The notion that Damien isn’t completely evil is something that’s apparent right off the bat in the pilot, but show runner Glen Mazzara (The Walking Dead) warns those who take a likeness to him not to be fooled. Damien’s definitely got a dark side and you’ll see that shine through as he struggles between the darkness within and his own morality.
When we caught up with Mazzara after screening the first few episodes of the series at a press conference, the executive producer told us that one of the biggest challenges he faced in the first season was learning how to “service both masters” as far as balancing the good vs. evil that resides in Damien himself.
“The challenge is sort of having your cake and eating it too. If Damien’s only good and has no evil, the audience may feel that that this is not a worthy sequel to The Omen,” Mazzara told Hypable. “If he’s only evil, I think he’s a one-note character and that’s not interesting to me. That’s not as complex.”
Despite the complexity of such a character, Mazzara says they’ve got two things on their side: a great writing team who’s committed to bringing viewers the thrills they expect to get from a great horror show, and a wonderful lead in Bradley James, who completely understands all aspects of the character he’s playing. According to Mazzara, despite the fact that they looked at hundreds of actors, they knew they’d found their Damien as soon as they saw James’ tape.
“Bradley came in, he charmed me — he swept me off my feet — and I gave him the role.” said Mazzara of casting his lead. “I just realized there was something there because he had heart, and intelligence, and charm, but there was also something beneath it where I felt like he could play somewhat threatening [and] menacing.”
The ability to turn at the drop of a hat like that is something Mazarra revealed that fans could expect to see come to life quite early on in the first season.
“There’s a scene in episode 2 where the priest questions Damien at a memorial service and he just turns and gives a look and says, ‘I don’t buy it.’ and Damien just gets into that conversation, and he makes a turn at the end of that speech where he realizes he shot his mouth off and he went too far,” teased the show runner. “To be able to make those turns and to be able to play both sides of the character, to have these flashes within him and to be fighting with his inner spirit — it’s a really challenging role.”
After watching the first few episodes of the series, it’s not hard to see why Mazzara picked James to bring Damien Thorn to life. You may know the British actor from his previous work on other beloved television series, but it’s clear that he definitely brings his A-game to the role right off the bat. In short, Damien is Bradley James at his best and we can’t wait to see what he does with the character as the series progresses.