MGM+’s FROM is starting its highly anticipated Season 4, continuing the mysterious lore and horror fans have seen unfold since the series premiered in 2022. From some of the same creative minds behind the iconic series Lost, the show still has many unanswered questions. It stars Harold Perrineau, who also starred in Lost, as Boyd Stevens, the town’s leader.
In anticipation of FROM Season 4, we spoke with Harold Perrineau about his character’s evolving arc, his personal relationship with the character and with humanity, and what fans might expect in the new season.
HGL: Boyd had always tried to be the moral center of the town. How did you approach his gradual loss of control in Season 4?
Harold Perrineau: I don’t know if he’s trying to be the moral center, but I know he’s tried to be the logical center. I think he just thinks logically. From the first time we see him, he says, “Okay, we’ve found these rules, and we’ll do these things until we find a way to get out of here.”
I think in each season, he’s just exploring a way to get these people out. I mean, if you’ve got to torture a kid, you’ve got to torture a kid, you know what I’m saying? (laughs)
HGL: That’s a great point! With that, how do you balance Boyd’s hero instincts with the increasingly brutal choices he is forced to make?
Harold Perrineau: You know, I was working on this character for months before we got there, and I had all of these ideas. Then I got there, and one of our drivers, a retired military guy who’s been in a lot of conflicts around the world, he’s fascinating. We were talking once, and he said, “Before we go into battle, we say this conflict or war is going to end when either they die or we do.” That’s the soldiers’ mentality, and I adopted that for Boyd.
So how Boyd makes the choices that he makes is he is either going to win, or he is going to die. That’s how he makes those choices. They aren’t always easy, actually, they are never easy (laughs), but he always soldiers forward. At the beginning of this fourth season, his mind, body, and spirit are all broken. What he did to this kid is terrible. Smiley showing up is crazy, and so he’s just fractured at the beginning of the season.
Yet he still moves forward, doesn’t know where he’s going, doesn’t really trust where he’s going, but still he moves forward. That’s just the way I think about him. It’s going to end with him or them, but it’s going to end somewhere.
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HGL: Along those same lines, Season 4 continues to ask whether the characters can hold onto their humanity. What does that theme mean to you, both personally and as an actor?
Harold Perrineau: You know, one of the things I think this show does is it really reflects a bit of what we are going through in the world right now. There are times where you really question your humanity when you watch some of the things that are going on, especially through social media, where things move so fast. So for me, how you choose to live your life becomes a very important thing. I think that’s what Boyd has chosen to do as well.
I think personally, your decisions about how you live your life are really important. But the why you live the way you’re going to live is more important. Boyd is going to serve; that’s what he’s going to do until his last breath.
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HGL: Some of these decisions that Boyd has to make are pretty difficult. How is his emotional state when Season 4 begins?
Harold Perrineau: Oh yeah, his emotional state is beat up. It’s one of those things I didn’t expect. I thought the character would be physically beaten up, but emotionally, he’s pretty destroyed right now. Again, he has to find a way to get up and move forward.
One of the things that is great about John’s writing is that it’s never just going to be Boyd by himself; it’s going to be everybody getting them out of this. I think because of his emotional state, you’ll start to see how everybody else contributes to them all, hopefully one day getting out of this place.
HGL: You’ve played iconic roles in big shows before, like Oz and Lost. Where does Boyd rank for you in terms of complexity?
Harold Perrineau: I’d have to say Boyd is one of the more complex characters I’ve played, but one of the most straightforward. As I said, he wants to serve. It’s that straightforward. He’s going to do everything he can to do that, to get his kids out of there, to get his friends out of there. However, the choices he’ll have to make are quite complex, so in that, he certainly ranks as one of the top complex characters I’ve played.
I’ve played a few characters where I just disagree on who they are as human beings, but I have to find a way for them to make real choices. Those few are really complicated for me. (laughs)
HGL: Is there a moment this season that made you think, “Man, fans are not ready for this”?
Harold Perrineau: Yeah, I think in Episode 2, the pushback from the town is really, I’m going to say, dastardly (laughs). I want to use a stronger word, but that will do. It’s just so mean. In fact, it’s so mean it makes me mad just to think about it, so I think the audience will find that as well. There are a couple of things, but yeah, in Episode 2 specifically, they are not going to be ready for how awful this town is.
FROM Season 4 premieres Sunday, April 19th at 9 pm EST on MGM+.
