Harold Perrineau talks high stakes in Season 2 of ‘From’

When ‘From’ first premiered, audiences were immediately questioning what could be going on in the story—which takes place in a small town with mysterious forces preventing those who live in it any way of ever leaving. That’s also what drew actor Harold Perrineau in.

Perrineau plays Sheriff Boyd Stevens, who takes it upon himself to try and protect the town, even when he has no idea what’s going on throughout the entire first season.

The end of Season 1 leaves Sheriff Boyd missing after stepping into a tree that transported him somewhere else entirely, and quite trapped, and now people are dealing with what their situation could mean in his absence—and it makes the stakes even higher in Perrineau’s opinion. To dive a little deeper into this horror-thriller series, Perrineau sat down to chat all about what audiences can expect in ‘From’ Season 2.

What drew you in to this show to begin with?

When I read the first episode, I was in from the start of it. I thought it was really suspenseful and I thought the character was really compelling and flawed… And I wanted to actually know, what’s going on here? Whenever you read something and it all is there and you have a visceral reaction to it—for me at least, it’s a sign that I should probably try to be part of it. So that was one.

And then once I realized that [I] would work with Jeff Pinkner and Jeff Bender again, I was like, oh, I know these men—from experience— know how to tell a story like this. They know how to make it about the human drama and not so much about the monster of the week or how somebody died. I know lots of people like it, but for me, it’s not as interesting. We’re trying to figure out what these people are going to do in this situation…That human drama really compels me. Once I knew those two guys were doing it, I was really like, please, let’s go.

Tell me about your character and what he goes through this season, especially after being the protector for the most part throughout Season 1?

I think that’s exactly what he is, a protector. His military background makes him that guy. He wants to take things on and figure them out. That first season he really had a plan, and then in Season 2, it just flips him and it goes from the end of Season 1. Once he gets pushed into a faraway tree and then you wind up somewhere else…suddenly all bets are off, right?

That’s where we start out with Boyd, and it continues (like that) throughout the whole season. Constantly, all of his protective instincts are right there and full force—but he doesn’t even know what’s happening. And that’s the real rub of the whole season. He wants so badly [to] protect, but he just doesn’t know what the hell is happening.

Was there a certain direction you wanted to see Boyd go after that cliffhanger at the end of Season 1?

You mentioned the human drama aspect to this show—were there some relationships between characters that you enjoyed exploring?

Oh, 100-percent. I love exploring, as a dad, a lot of the parental aspects of it. Boyd has at least three very particular parental relationships with his actual son, with Kenny—where he’s sort of his dad because he lost his dad, and with Christie who is his partner in crime [in a way.] So I like exploring all of those things because it makes me as a dad really activated to try to figure it out: How do I get them out of this, right?

So if that’s always there—if my kids were here, how would I get them out of this? And like I said, he really is focused on that. It’s just so impossible to figure out and that’s the human drama that I think people really like. For Boyd, it’s like, man, are we ever going to figure this out? I don’t think I am…but I’m gonna keep trying.

‘From‘ Season 2 will debut globally on MGM+ on April 23.