The second season of Little Marvin's horror anthology series THEM, which is officially titled THEM: The Scare, is now streaming on Prime Video, and ahead of the premiere, we were able to catch up with singer-turned-actor Luke James (The Chi; Little; Unsolved: The Murders of Tupac and the Notorious B.I.G.) to talk about his exciting new role as the mysterious Edmund Gaines.
While we steered clear of any potential spoilers, he broke down the process behind getting into character and how he was able to relate to Edmund, who is described as an aspiring actor who appears to be a sensitive soul but has a deep void within him. He also talks about what it was like working with Little Marvin and teased a bit of what's to come this season.
As per Prime Video, "The new story centers on LAPD Homicide Detective Dawn Reeve who is assigned to a new case: the gruesome murder of a foster home mother that has left even the most hardened detectives shaken. Navigating a tumultuous time in Los Angeles, with a city on the razor’s edge of chaos, Dawn is determined to stop the killer. But as she draws closer to the truth, something ominous and malevolent grips her and her family…"
The cast features Deborah Ayorinde, Pam Grier, Luke James, Joshua J. Williams, Jeremy Bobb, Wayne Knight, Carlito Olivero, Charles Brice, and Iman Shumpert.
Watch our full interview with Luke James below and/or keep scrolling to read the full transcript! Plus, please remember to subscribe to our YouTube channel for more exclusive content!
ROHAN: Music and acting are very vulnerable professions, especially when you're acting in the horror genre, which evokes emotions that you don't generally exude on a daily basis. What was your process getting into character?
LUKE: Truly to really get out of my way, to not overthink it, to really trust the words that are on the page, trust Little Marvin’s guidance, and he really made it clear that he created a safe space for me to discover the unknown. I just had to tell the truth, I really had to be honest, and it was an opportunity, for me, out of everything that I've ever done, this is the opportunity to pour in a little bit of my own childhood experiences, just as being an only child, being a loner or being the oddball in the group. I really related to that, with Edmund, and also, I'm an actor, a struggling, aspiring, etc. It was all on the page. So, for me, it was just a matter of trusting the process, and just letting it flow, letting it flow and just stay in the moment and have as much fun as possible.
ROHAN: Little Marvin said this was the hardest role to cast until you walked through the door. What was it like working with him? And, how did you know you were the right person to play Edmund?
LUKE: Well, man, I mean, to be fair, I was geeked about it. I mean, when it came across my table, this character was like, oh, wow, it's so meaty, but also, I resonated with the humanness of him, the humanity in Edmund, the yearn for needing to be seen and to feel loved, and acceptance and validation, and also the aspirational part of being an actor and seeing what that can do for your life to be seen, right? To be an actor is to have all the eyeballs on you, and everybody in that sense wants that, we all yearn for a little bit of validation, and that resonated with me. Little Marvin made it just really easy. I think the challenge was just letting go again, it was just saying, okay, get out of your way, and don't be so, you know, air tight with this because it's horror, so you get to have a lot more fun with it. It's a bit more experimental, in that sense. Yeah, I just had a ball doing that.
ROHAN: I don't want to get into any spoilers, but what would you like to tease about Edmund’s journey and transformation throughout this season?
LUKE: He's a struggling actor in Los Angeles, California, during the ‘90s, and you're watching the journey of a man who is just by himself, trying to discover himself and be discovered. He's a loving person. He's a longing for love type of person. That's purely who he is, and that's what he wants. Now, where it takes him… that's up for you to take the ride and find out.
THEM will once again be set in Los Angeles County (the first installment, subtitled Covenant, took place in Compton circa 1952 but will move the time frame forward to 1991). The new story centers on LAPD Homicide Detective DAWN REEVE who is assigned to a new case: the gruesome murder of a foster home mother that has left even the most hardened detectives shaken. Navigating a tumultuous time in Los Angeles, with a city on the razor’s edge of chaos, Dawn is determined to stop the killer. But as she draws closer to the truth, something ominous and malevolent grips her and her family…
Them: The Scare is now streaming on Prime Video!