Alberto Rosende explains the burden of his new Daylighter status in ‘Shadowhunters’ Season 2B
Alberto Rosende reveals the emotional weight that comes with being the first Daylighter and explains why Simon and Clary have one of the “coolest” relationships on ‘Shadowhunters’.
At the end of the winter finale, Simon Lewis found himself enjoying the feeling of sunlight on his skin for the first time in months. Simon inherited this Daylighter status because he drank Jace’s blood, but Jace was unaware he possessed angelic blood at the time. So will Simon finally be able to get back to his “normal” life?
We asked Alberto Rosende to explain what this new lifestyle will mean for his character in Season 2B. “His new Daylighter status, as we can see, completely changes his world once again,” Rosende said. “So he lived as a mundane, where he knew nothing about the Shadow World and everything was fine. Then he became a vampire and he was like ‘Oh, crap. What does this mean for me? How do I navigate this world?’ and then he started to figure that out, and then now he’s a Daylighter.”
This new, uncharted lifestyle also puts an interesting emotional and political weight on his character. “The problem is there aren’t any other Daylighters and there haven’t been as far as Simon knows, and that’s talking to people that have been around for a while,” he said. “He literally is back in like the lone wolf position where’s he like, ‘I have to figure it out all over again, and this time I don’t really know what these powers mean. I know how I got them, but I know I can’t tell anyone that…”
But Simon will also be celebrating this new opportunity to find some normalcy. “I can’t eat anything else but blood. Other than that, I can be a regular person,” Rosende explained. “So he kind of gets a second chance at life, and having that opportunity at the same time that he’s starting to be with Clary is a great thing for their relationship.”
“There’s a lot of weight in carrying the burden of what that means, and he has to kind of discover that this season.”
Rosende also teased that the gossip surrounding Simon’s new status will spread quickly throughout the Downworld. “He starts to really understand that there’s a lot of weight in carrying the burden of what that means, and he has to kind of discover that this season,” he said. “Vampires are totally upset about it. Think about it. You’ve been living for like 60, 70 years at night, can’t look at anything, and then one day you find out some guy figured out how to walk in the sun and he’d been a vampire for 3 weeks? I’d be pissed; I’d be so mad. I’d be like, ‘This is ridiculous!'” The jealousy may also result in Simon gaining some positive attention from other vampires who want to learn how to become Daylighters themselves, putting Simon in a position of power. “Vampires are very much about politics, so they’re all trying to play the right politics in this situation.”
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Jace’s blood also protected Simon during the activation of the Soul-Sword, and we were curious to know if Simon would be affected by survivor’s guilt or from having witnessed the massacre. “When he’s walking through and he sees Alaric at the end of [Episode 10] and he closes his eyes… this is where Simon’s Judaism came into play,” he said. “He cares about being Jewish. He really holds his religion and his culture close to who he is. So knowing all of that and filming that scene, it was very heavy… and I think there is a part of him that kind of carries that around, and there’s a new sense of maturity and understanding that even the Downworlders, who are immortal, can end.”
In Season 2A, we saw Simon struggle to maintain a relationship with his mother and sister, but we have reason to believe that he will become closer with his family in 2B. “His family comes first. Family and friends, right? And I think he knows he needs his family as a support group, but at the same time he knows that can’t put them in jeopardy. He won’t let himself do that again,” Rosende said. “So he’s constantly trying to balance that line of how close can I get to you without endangering you? How much of myself can I give to you before I have to start putting walls up with my family, which is weird. So yeah, it’s definitely a struggle, but he moves forward.”
When asked what he was most excited to see on screen this season, Rosende thought of scenes that he shares with Katherine McNamara. “A lot of the scenes with their relationship I’m very excited to see how they turned out because all of the ups and downs that they go through together. Those scenes are going to be pretty cool,” he said. He also explained why he does truly love the relationship between Clary and Simon on the series. “[It’s] one of the coolest relationships on the show because they do so much together, and they grow with each other and then also separate from each other, and that’s what helps their relationship work as people, as friends, and in this relationship as boyfriend and girlfriend.”
Photo Credit: Freeform/John Medland, Acquired From Freeform Press Site
And we just had to know: what was it like to film with another person in an elevated canoe?! “You know, there’s a line in the canoe scene I think people missed where Clary’s like, ‘I can’t believe you talked me into this,'” he said. “So part of me likes to believe they could have used the bed, but Simon’s like, ‘Wait. Hold on, everyone would do that. Could we try…?’ So to me I bet that was just something they did for fun.”
“Like you brush your teeth and pee in front of each other, and you’re like ‘Oh, cool. We’re cool now. Now I can say weird stuff.'”
Rosende then went on to give one of the most unique arguments for #Climon we’ve heard all year. “That’s the one thing about Simon and Clary that’s just so cool, because they’re so comfortable with each other. And that’s a level of comfort you don’t achieve in a relationship until you’ve been with someone for a very long time. Like you can brush your teeth and pee in front of each other, and you’re like ‘Oh, cool. We’re cool now. Now I can say weird stuff.’ They never had that barrier; they could always say weird stuff. To me that’s just showing how close they were.”
In real life, Rosende admitted that while the canoe situation is not ideal, it’s something he would maybe try (at least once). “The canoe is not as comfortable as you’d think. Definitely not a good idea,” he said. “I’m not saying I wouldn’t. I think a canoe would be fun, but definitely not an everyday thing.”
Next: Emeraude Toubia says Isabelle will “hit rock bottom”
Watch the full interview above to learn more from Alberto Rosende about Season 2B of Shadowhunters, and be sure to follow Alberto Rosende and Shadowhunters to join in the #ShadowhuntersChat each Monday. The series returns with “Mea Maxima Culpa” June 5 at 8/7c on Freeform and the Freeform App.