Shadowhunters season 2 exposes Jace’s heart for all the see. What does Dominic Sherwood have to say about his characters emotional journey?

Downworlder or Shadowhunter, there is no shortage of emotional trauma to go around in season 2 of Shadowhunters. But for Jace, the baggage seems to be piling up extra high. From finding out that Clary is not his sister, to learning that Valentine is not his father, to preparing to die, but being left with a pile of bodies instead– Jace is not having the best go of it these days.

Even with his parabatai on his side, Jace is still emotionally alone. Hypable spoke with Dominic Sherwood about Jace’s emotional barriers starting to break in season 2.

Dominic Sherwood ‘Shadowhunters’ interview

2B takes us away from the diplomatic, strong Jace and really starts to show his cracks. What has that experience been like playing Jace in these episodes?

Totally. He is starting to crack and things are starting to get on top of him. That scene [between Alec and Jace in 2×11] originally was written in a different order. It was originally written to come right after someone and Jace had discussed, ‘Are you okay? Killing all those people, that’s a big thing. Are you okay? We know you are a moral, soulful being.’

Jace’s soldier kind of takes over and says, ‘Yeah, it wasn’t my fault. I didn’t do anything, it was Valentine. And we’ve got him and we’re going to find out everything we need from Valentine. It has nothing to do with me.’

And yet, the constant undercurrent of what is going on with Jace is like, ‘Oh my god. I murdered all those people. That was me. I did that. I’m responsible for all of these deaths.’ The more people prod him, especially the people he cares about– the big break for Jace came when Clary just demolished him in that hallway after they find out they are not brother and sister.

Clary took his heart and stomped on it. She was angry at him and she’s a passionate person, I get that. But at the same time that’s just opposite of what Jace needed.

He needed someone to say it wasn’t your fault, you didn’t do this.

And Alec is the person who ends up saying that to him– ‘It didn’t have anything to do with you. In fact, what you were trying to do, what you thought you were going to do, is kill yourself. You thought you were going to die and save the Downworlders. That’s what you thought was going to happen. You were emotionally prepared for that to happen and then you wake up to this massacre in front of you.’

It’s really devastating and the further on we get in the season, I can tell you that we are going to see Jace cry once more in season 2 and it’s a big one. It’s worse than anything we’ve ever seen so far. Kind of as bad as it gets. It’s pretty tough.

We’re discovering that basically no matter how strong or how powerful you are there’s still this lost, little ten-year-old boy who lost his parents. Every time we reach that level where it’s still a ten-year-old, it’s something I’ve tried to work on with other actors in my performances is — when Jace does lose this veneer of a soldier, I wanted him to look like a child.

I wanted him to physically and emotionally look like that ten-year-old who just found out his parents had died. I wanted him to look that way every time we see a chink in the armor. And there’s worse stuff coming, unfortunately. Poor Jace has a rough time of it.

In the Seelie Queen’s court we get a glimpse of the Shadowhunter diplomat and someone who still puts Simon’s protection ahead of his personal feelings. What did that scene help accomplish for these two?

I think the relationship between Simon and Jace is a lot deeper than people give it credit for. They actually care about each other. Albeit they drive each other crazy, I mean my best friend drives me crazy sometimes, but I live or die for him. I don’t necessarily think that Simon and Jace are in that place, but especially now that they have this connection through his new found daylight abilities and that being accomplished through Jace, that was entirely something to do with Jace and that’s something that nobody else knows about except for the two of them. They definitely have this connection.

Jace and Clary kiss complicates things a bit. What is going on in Jace’s head and where are his loyalties settling in the midst of this emotional chaos?

Alone. It leaves Jace alone again. All Jace has really done throughout the seasons since the beginning of season one all he’s really ever done is to no matter what, look after the people he cares about. Whether that’s the Shadowhunters or Clary or even Simon. In that scene where he throws him away from the tree, it was probably more brutal than it needed to be, but he was saving his life. He is this self-less protector. For him to end up alone so often is heartbreaking for him. All he craves and wants is the people around to be safe. Very often that is at his own detriment.

Without giving too much away you’ll see it at the utmost extent at the end of the season.

We’re heading to Idris in 2×16, “Day of Atonement”. What was the experience of stepping into another Shadowhunter world like and what can we look forward to?

Apart from anything else, where we shot Idris is not only some of the more stunning sets I’ve ever been on, but it’s probably one of the more beautiful places I’ve ever been in my entire life. It is so beautiful.

We shot on this lake and we went back a couple of times. It’s brilliant. I’m really excited for people to experience the aesthetics with us. That being said, it was the middle of winter and it was negative 30 degrees Celsius. Cat and I at one point, all the of the liquid on our bodies, because we had to look wet for all of these scenes, had frozen. Our hair had frozen into icicles. It was a brutal couple of days.

But the scenes, everything that happened there as kind of seems to be the case with most of our Shadowhunters experiences, terrible and lovely.

Maybe that should be the tagline of the show — terrible and lovely.

Filming for the series wrapped ahead of the 2B debut, what is it like coming back into the season with the fans who are seeing it for the first time and the instant gratification of watching them react in real time.

It’s interesting. While it’s so wonderful that people are passionate about the show, sometimes that can be like, “Oh man, that ruined my day, that one comment.” When someone goes, “You know what, screw Jace and Clary. I want Simon and Clary to be together.” Oh damn. I’m going to have a really terrible day.

But it’s important to remember that we accept a modicum of that when you take on a role, you understand that there will be a fan base intrinsic to the experience.

We are so, so proud and respectful of our fans we love each and every one of them. Even in those passionate moments where they say something of the individuals that as actors we don’t necessarily like, that is still passion. It’s passion for something. It takes all sorts to make a world.

I’ve actually ended up in a weird place where I actually enjoy the negative stuff. The people who don’t want to see Jace behaving a certain way. I enjoy that because it’s a spectrum and that’s what the world is.

The world isn’t gray, it’s a beautiful rainbow of colors and we get to see that every through the different fans and the different opinions that are laid forth to us. It’s really fantastic and I can’t thank our fans enough.

Shadowhunters season 2, episode 15, “A Problem of Memory,” Monday, July 10 at 8:00 p.m. ET on Freeform.