Hypable joined a conference call with Kevin Bacon about The Following season 3 and what surprises we can expect from the show this year.
The Following has always centered on Ryan Hardy’s (Kevin Bacon) relationship with Joe Carroll (James Purefoy), but season 3 will begin to move in another direction. “Mark [Gray] is still there,” Bacon says. “Dr. Strauss, who was also from the previous season, is involved. We have a fantastic, loving and extremely beautiful couple named Daisy and Kyle who are terrible, terrible sociopaths but incredibly in love with each other.”
Talking of another new character, the actor says, “What’s interesting about the character that Michael Ealy plays, who is Theo, who is sort of slow burning into the season this year, is that he’s actually a guy that prefers to be behind the scenes, to not be in the limelight. You will see pretty quickly that that is equally as chilling and equally as terrifying. The shark that swims beneath the surface of the water.”
But that doesn’t mean Joe still isn’t a huge presence in Ryan’s life. “Joe Carroll, while we don’t see him for the first few episodes, is still a very big presence in my life and I’m trying to really figure out if the killing that’s happening in and around New York now is somehow connected to him or not,” Bacon continues. “That’s part of what I sort of uncover in the course of this season.”
Laughably, Bacon also says of Joe Carroll, “It’s almost as though he’s an ex of mine, you know? It’s almost like a love triangle because I’ve told this woman [Gwen] that he’s out of my life 100% and here he comes making his way back into my life and she’s not happy about it.”
Speaking of his new beau, the actor had nothing but wonderful things to say about his current love interest, played by Zuleikha Robinson. We always have to wonder if there will be another motive there, since Ryan isn’t exactly the best at figuring out someone’s intentions, but at least the actor gives us some hope for a solid relationship this season:
“Then here comes this character of Gwen, this season, who truly is the right woman for him. She’s not involved with the FBI. She’s not involved with the case. She’s not a killer. She’s a doctor. She’s someone who helps people, heals people.”
That’s certainly high praise! He continues, “That’s really what I need in my life and she’s also willing and able to kind of call me on my s***. I think that that’s a really -– so when I look at her, I say to myself, okay, this is the girl that I should be with and the struggle of trying to keep that relationship together, in light of this incredibly difficult and bloody and stressful job that I have, is going to be part of what is the backbone of the season.”
We specifically asked Bacon how season 3 was going to pan out, considering season 1 was full of shocking twists, while season 2 focused more on the nuances of the characters. “You know, I think that we know that our audience enjoys the twists, but, at this point, we also know that our audience is very savvy and very much looking for that,” he says. “So I feel like we’re trying not to throw things in there that are twists for the sake of twists. The ones that happen, and the things that are surprising, are still going to be there, but they’re going to come like in a really sort of organic way.”
“I also think that, you know, we’re trying to keep focused on the emotional content of the show, and what’s going on personally with these characters, because without that you don’t really -– it doesn’t really land,” he continues.
We also couldn’t help asking who was the more dangerous adversary — Joe Carroll or Mark Gray? “Well, you know, that’s a pretty hard to thing to assess,” Bacon responds. “I mean, you know, maybe Mark was more dangerous when there were two of them. I don’t know, you know, when his brother was still alive. But Sam is such a great actor that when -– they sort of figured out ways this season to try to keep, actually, an aspect of the twins still there. At the same time, Joe Carroll is Joe Carroll. Both of the characters have one thing that is similar about them, [which] is that a lot of their… the things that they do are driven by ego and by a kind of narcissism.”
The Following season 3 premieres on Monday, March 2, at 9:00 p.m. ET on Fox.
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