Burkely Duffield on season 2 of Freeform’s Beyond, Holden’s complicated relationships & more – Q&A
By Cody Schultz
Ahead of the Season 2 premiere of Freeform’s Beyond, star Burkely Duffield previews the season ahead and the role Holden’s complicated relationships will play in the latest chapter of his journey.
After a breakout first season, Freeform’s hit series Beyond is finally back with a new season that is sure to get fans talking and leave them on the edge of their seats with each passing episode.
In fact, as star Burkely Duffield revealed in our exclusive interview, Season 2 will be quite the rollercoaster ride; a ride which will find Holden continuing to search for normalcy while juggling life’s complicated relationships and preparing for the threat lurking in the shadows.
Hidden Remote: Congratulations on the success of the show and on the new season! Looking at the season ahead, what can you tell us about where Season 2 is going to take Holden and what challenges lie ahead of for him this season.
Burkely Duffield: Season 2 picks up on the characters trying to live what they can of a normal life and Holden finally, at least for the time being, find some sort of normalcy. He’s put The Realm and that stuff behind him. He’s got a new job with his dad. He’s got a real world relationship with Willa. So we pick up more on a calm before the inevitable storm of Season 2. It’s nice to be able to see these characters finally able to [take a breath]. You get to see Holden in his natural habitat, for lack of a better words, and it’s very cool to see what relationships are going to build up this season and the danger that lies ahead for them.
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Hidden Remote: It seems as though this season will see the danger come to Holden which will, in turn, put him in a defensive position. How will this change affect his outlook throughout the season and the way in which he approaches things this year?
Duffield: Absolutely correct. Last year you saw him being the one going into The Realm to take on the foe, whereas this year the danger is coming to him which puts him in that defensive, almost protective state where it’s not only him putting his life in danger when he would go seek out this danger. This year, with the danger coming to him as you said, it puts himself, his family, his friends and everyone around him in the peril that he himself has brought onto everyone.
Putting him in a defensive state definitely makes the stakes higher this year and we can only hope that Holden has what it takes to take down whatever comes at him.
Hidden Remote: With Holden on the defense, might we be able to expect any new abilities to emerge this season or is there anything you can tell us about what we might be able to expect in terms of how he’ll approach using them?
Duffield: He definitely had tapped into those abilities in Season 1, but we definitely haven’t seen the extent of what he can do and I don’t even think Holden fully realizes that quite yet. You see him sort of playing around with some of the small abilities as he’s tampering with them this season, but some of the untapped ones you’ve seen will burst out of him at any point. There are some really cool and amped up sci-fi abilities that you’ll see this year that are even more strong and powerful than [some of the abilities we saw] last year.
Hidden Remote: As you mentioned, this season finds Holden continuing to find his footing in the real world and searching for some semblance of normalcy in his life. What strides can we expect him to make this year to achieve said normalcy?
Duffield: I think there’s some really cool elements of that as he’s navigating his life now [through] his job and him having responsibilities. [Holden] is trying to make his dad proud, he’s taking on this workplace bully he finds doesn’t like him very much. In his world, moving forward this year, I’m really excited about the relationships these characters have.
He’s trying to move forward with his relationship with Willa, which isn’t as easy as he thought and [that’s something] we can all relate to. Trying to connect with anyone whether it be a relationship or what it means to have friends like Jeff or a brother like Luke. I’m excited for Holden to move forward with these relationships and I feel the struggles are going to be very relatable for our audiences to watch.
Hidden Remote: When it comes to Willa and Charlie, they each seem to represent two uniquely different paths for Holden with Willa representing his past and his link to The Realm and Charlie, sharing so many similarities, representing what could be his future. How will those relationships play into the season and affect Holden’s journey this year?
Duffield: Couldn’t have said it better myself; they do represent two unique paths. That connection and the similarities that he felt with Charlie last year as she popped up into his life are definitely going to come up again as she returns this season. It puts him in an interesting position of having all of this love for Willa, but [really connecting] with Charlie and has these similarities that he can’t deny. So it definitely will put him in an interesting position in that sort of love triangle-esque relationship status where perhaps he will have to choose who he feels stronger for and that will unfortunately lead him to let down someone.
Hidden Remote: Speaking of relationships, what’s to come on the family front and how will the dynamics between Holden, his parents and Luke evolve or vary from what we saw in Season 1?
Duffield: Holden was sort of trying to keep everyone in the dark last season and, as you saw at the end of last season and definitely this season, that’s definitely not as easy now. Luke is in the know, obviously, so they are trying to work through what it means for Holden and they both have very differing views. Luke, thinking of it more of a gift, is like why not save kids from a burning building whereas Holden sees it as a burden that he’s sort of been bestowed on which leads to a bit of tension [between] the brothers.
As for his parents, they are definitely not turning a blind eye to this and they are wanting to investigate what’s really going on with their son and perhaps sensing that he’s not being as truthful as they’d like him to be. They also have a storyline this year where they are continuing to endeavor to see what’s really going on with Holden and what he’s hiding from them.
Hidden Remote: Then we have Jeff, whose friendship you touched on briefly earlier. Can we expect to see more of that friendship and the dynamic shared between the two characters in Season 2?
Duffield: I think Jeff is really taking on that role [as a friend Holden can rely on]; they’re just two guys who are really good friends. They will continue to be friends throughout the season and [Jeff will be] a shoulder for Holden to seek when he’s in trouble and when he’s happy or sad or needs a word of advice. So yeah, I think he is definitely a good friend to Holden that he can rely on and you will absolutely see the Jeff and Holden friendship progress.
Hidden Remote: Finally, let’s talk about The Realm. As the season begins we see Holden struggling to shake off this feeling that something is coming and fearing that destroying the bridge has only made things worse. Talk us through Holden’s state of mind at the start of the season as he’s experiencing these thoughts as well as the role The Realm will play this season.
Duffield: Everyone is sort of telling him that it will be fine; Willa is saying it’s all behind us and Luke’s not really understanding what’s going on. Holden’s having these very real to him, recurring nightmares of the peril that he sees not only putting himself in danger, but his family and everyone that he loves. It’s definitely something he’s going to have to navigate this year, trying to get everyone on his side to prepare. We can only hope that perhaps his nightmares are exaggerating because if they’re telling anything that’s true, he’s going to be in a lot of danger very quickly in Season 2.
Hidden Remote: Before we go, do you have any final thoughts or words for fans about the season ahead?
Duffield: I would hope that they tune in and watch the season and are as excited about it as I am. I think as a cast and as a show in general, we are so blessed to be given a show with amazing writing and amazing characters and we’re so excited to be able to present what we’ve been working on and to interact with our fans again. If anything, I’d say that I hope they’re excited to see what we’re excited to see and I can’t wait to see what they all think of Season 2!
Hidden Remote: Well, last season really kept us on the edge of our seats episode after episode, so we can only imagine what this season has in store for us!
Duffield: Yes, it is very exciting; I even came into the season being like ‘Wow, last season was such an amazing ride, what do they have in store for this season?” and no script was a disappointment. I am very excited for fans to get on the Season 2 rollercoaster; it’s going to be a big one!
Don’t miss the Season 2 premiere of Beyond Thursday, Jan. 18 at 8/7c on Freeform.