Check out our exclusive interviews with Halston Sage and Aurora Perrineau on the premiere of the pilot for ‘Prodigal Son’
Prodigal Son follows Martin Whitly, a NYPD homicide detective and the son of a convicted serial killer. Growing up with a serial killer for a father, Malcom has a unique skill set that allows him to understand the thought process of a serial killer, giving him a natural instinct and ability to solve crimes. Malcolm, not only has to deal with the stresses of being a detective, but also the friction his father is causing on his mother and sister who would prefer to forget the past. The psychological exploration of Malcom, along with this Silence of the Lambs-esque relationship with his father is primarily makes Prodigal Son a compelling series, bringing a level of darkness on a classic detective drama genre. The Show stars Tom Payner, Michael Sheen, Bellamy Young, Lou Diamond Phillips, Halston Sage, Aurora Perrineau, Frank Harts, and Keiko Agena.
Halston Sage stars in Prodigal Son as Ainsley. In 2015, Halston Sage played Lacey Pemberton in Paper Towns as well as co-starring in Goosebumps. Recently she performed in The Last Summer and cameoed in Dark Phoenix. Aurora Perrineau stars in Prodigal Son as Dani. Aurora Perrineau has appeared in Truth or Dare, Pretty Little Liars, and more recently, the Netflix miniseries When They See Us. We got a chance to speak with both of them about the premiere of the pilot episode of Prodigal Son!
Halston Sage Interview
The Knockturnal: Congratulations on the show, it’s awesome.
Halston Sage: Thank you! Thank you.
The Knockturnal: What’s your favorite part about playing your character?
Halston Sage: You know, I always wanted to be an actress, but my second dream was to be a journalist, so to – to kind of get the best of both worlds was really exciting, and I was also really compelled by the character idea of, you know, being a girl who shares blood with a serial killer, and how that affects her day-‐to-‐day life.
The Knockturnal: And how will we see your character grow throughout the season?
Halston Sage: That’s a good question, I don’t even know yet! We’re about to start filming, so to be continued … I just moved out here last night, we’re about to start this week and figure it all out.
The Knockturnal: Where’d you move from?
Halston Sage: Los Angeles.
Halston Sage as Ainsley in Prodigal Son
The Knockturnal: Okay, awesome. How is that transition? Are you excited to be here in New York?
Halston Sage: Oh my God, it’s been a dream of mine to live in New York my entire life, so, this is a very, very good and welcome excuse to be here.
The Knockturnal: Welcome to New York!
Halston Sage: Thank you!
The Knockturnal: What are you most looking forward to doing in New York?
Halston Sage: Shooting the show!
The Knockturnal: Well, besides shooting, what’s like a tourist-‐y thing you wanna do?
Halston Sage: Oh, just eating pasta and drinking wine. All the time.
The Knockturnal: Good answer, that’s the perfect plan. That’s what we – all we do here.
Halston Sage: Right, and walking, I actually do love walking.
The Knockturnal: New York is so walk-‐able! L.A. is not.
Halston Sage: L.A. is not walk-‐able at all. People make fun of me for walking in L.A.
The Knockturnal: Have you tried the subway yet?
Halston Sage: Not yet. I got the app, though! The subway app!
The Knockturnal: So when you’re not filming, when you’re not working on acting, what are some things you like to do in your spare time?
Halston Sage: Oh, that’s a great question. I love going to the movies, I love walking my dog, I’m really close with my family, so spending time with my family, going down to the beach when we’re in L.A are probably my favorite things
The Knockturnal: And what was your reaction to seeing this pilot?
Halston Sage: I was so amazed, it, it completely, you know, blew away all of my expectations, and I fell in love with the cast and the characters, and, um, everyone involved in making it.
The Knockturnal: What are you looking forward to for your character?
Halston Sage: Oh, just seeing how, you know, we really get to know exactly how her life has been affected, you know, knowing her family history and how that actually, you know, affects her as a person and her work-‐life.
The Knockturnal: How was working with Tom and Bellamy?
Halston Sage: Oh my God they’re both amazing, Tom and Bellamy – I mean, the entire cast is so talented, which just elevates everything to a whole other level that makes it very exciting to go to work every day.
The Knockturnal: Awesome, and any future endeavors? Anywhere we should look out for you?
Halston Sage: Oh, well, I just had three movies out this summer … The Last Summer, I had a little part in X-Men: Dark Phoenix”, and Late Night.
Aurora Perrineau Interview
Aurora Perrineau as Dani in Prodigal Son.
The Knockturnal: So this seems like a really fun character. Can you tell me what it was like when you first read this script, and you read about your character?
Aurora Perrineau: When I first read the script it was really exciting because Dani is from the Bronx and my family is from New York; Brooklyn, the Bronx, and Queens, so I think when I first read it it was cool to see that they were gonna hire someone from that kind of neighborhood and she was gonna be a strong, kickass character, as I think most of the women from those neighborhoods are. So that was what was really exciting about that.
The Knockturnal: How was working with the ensemble?
Aurora Perrineau: The ensemble was great. Everybody gets along really well. We all have a very similar sense of humor, which doesn’t seem important, but is very important. Everyone is super professional, and super talented.
The Knockturnal: Diving into it, did you have to do a lot of physical training? Some of the gunwork, or some of the field work?
Aurora Perrineau: We did some gun training, me and Frank. Tom as well a little bit. Yeah we did a little bit of gun training, which actually was really cool because the people that were training us were homicide detectives. So they kind of talked to us about what the proper protocol was, and what it wasn’t. So we did a little bit of that. I think we’re gonna do more as the series goes on.
The Knockturnal: Were you excited about the plot? Cause it’s a pretty dark subject matter, it seems like it’s only gonna get darker.
Aurora Perrineau: I have like a weird obsession with serial killers, so-
The Knockturnal: Really? Like Dahmer? All those people?
Aurora Perrineau: All of it. Not like, ‘Oh I wanna be their penpal, and like marry them’.
The Knockturnal: But you like studied them and watched the docs about them?
Aurora Perrineau: I studied them and watched all the documentaries. I’m just fascinated by that kind of mentality and what pushes you to be there. So I was really excited when I saw this was about serial killers. I was like, ‘Oh, great. I can jump into this and be excited’.
The Knockturnal: How cool is it to film here in New York? Have you filmed many projects in New York?
Aurora Perrineau: It’s amazing! I’m from here originally so it’s like coming home. And yes, I did a project the end of last year called When They See Us”for Netflix. And so she’s from the Bronx as well, so it was nice to kind of do that and then go directly into this. That was cool.
The Knockturnal: What else are you looking forward to? Do you have any independent films? Other projects coming out?
Aurora Perrineau: I have a couple independent films that are waiting for what the release is gonna be. If it’s gonna be streaming or theater/theatrical. But other than that it’s just working on this, and then when this is done I’ll see what else is happening. You know, still doing press for When Whey See Us, and trying to work for the charities that are involved when they see us as well, and doing that kind of thing.
Check out the trailer for Prodigal Son below!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26C6JqBdb20
