Siren star Ian Verdun tells how Xander is misunderstood

Before the Siren midseason finale, Ian Verdun tells Hidden Remote why Xander McClure isn’t a bad guy and about his journey in Siren season 2.

Xander McClure has become the Siren character whom audiences either love, or love to hate. As the Freeform series continues its second season, he’s still going through a whirlwind of emotions and dealing with an awful lot of trouble.

But he’s a lot more complicated than he looks, and Hidden Remote connected with Ian Verdun to discuss how he perceives his character—and what it’s been like for him to take on his biggest TV role to date. Plus, what would he say to viewers who don’t like his character?

Learn more about Ian and Xander in our interview below, then don’t miss the midseason finale of Siren season 2 tonight on Freeform at 8 p.m. ET/PT.

Hidden Remote: Xander went through so much in Siren‘s first season, so what was it like for you to come back to him in the second season?

Ian Verdun: I really was excited to get back to Xander, because I think he’s such an emotionally complex, layered character with so many faults, and so much fun to play because his story is so dramatic and traumatic. He’s always going through so much; he wears his heart directly on his sleeve.

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Moreso than that I was just excited to get back to the cast. We all have such a great bond in real life. I just absolutely love the people I work with, cast and crew, so it’s always nice coming back. It felt like going back to summer camp that lasted well into the winter.

You can’t reveal details of the midseason finale, but was there anything that surprised you leading up to it?

I’ve been pretty good at calling it. Even when we did the pilot I called that my father was going to die; this was before those episodes were ever really written. But in the finale itself, what I enjoyed was [Xander] letting his guard down a bit more. He was such an open nerve, it’s nice to get to the point where you start to experience his personality again–where he’s not all grief and sadness and rage and revenge.

We’ll start to understand who he is in his totality. Exploring that has been a really fun experience; I’m excited for people to see it, because I feel this entire season so far has been a lot of grief.

Xander’s done a lot too, including shooting Donna near the end of Siren season 1. What’s been the reaction you’ve gotten from Siren fans?

They so much dislike Xander. (laughs) It’s really interesting to get [the reaction], because you spend all your time in that character’s head. You understand his motivation. People forget the timeline of this whole story’s about a month. A month has passed in two seasons, so all of it’s super recent for the character, while the audience is like get over it.

They’ve been pretty harsh towards Xander, which is surprising to me because I’m just like oh my God, he’s going through so much…The way he does it is really human actually, and in my opinion that’s the bigger reason people have dislike for him, because it’s so human. It’s so reflective of how people really act in those situations—impulsive and messy, they’re angry all the time, they’re sad, and those things are ugly and painful to watch and it makes everybody uncomfortable.

This is the biggest role you’ve ever had on TV. Talk us through what the experience has been like for you personally.

It’s been a huge blessing. I went to school for [acting] for a while, I studied a long time and was trying to work for a very long time. So for me, it was an overwhelming feeling of gratitude. When you struggle and you pay the dues and fight the fight. It didn’t fall in my lap, and didn’t fall in my lap at a super-young age, so I had to go through the mud.

For me to be on the other side of it, it’s just gratitude. And then on top of that, it just happens to be with a group of people whom I respect as artists and professionals, and I just love the people. That’s the biggest feeling that goes through anything, is just gratitude.

Is there anything you’d want Siren fans to know that might help them understand Xander a bit better?

In terms of Xander, to take a step back and really think about what you would go through in a similar situation. I feel like that character gets so much hate and I don’t understand why. Especially when [the] character has a good heart.

Also social media stuff and having to deal with that, that’s an entirely different layer of it. It’s just an artistic experience, but when you add social media on top of it, there’s an immediate reaction to it [and] it can feel incredibly toxic.

Remember we’re all human. The character is human, me playing the character, I’m a human. We should all treat each other and aim to have some kind of empathy. That’s why we create art. Yes, we judge characters, but the point of seeing them in their lives is to create empathy, and I think we have to get back to that.

The Siren midseason finale airs Thursday at 8 p.m. on Freeform. For more about Siren and other Freeform shows, follow the Freeform category at Hidden Remote.