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[Warning: Minor spoilers ahead.]
There may be a new twosome on The Tomorrow People.
In the latest episode of The CW sci-fi drama, Stephen starts to feel threatened by fellow Ultra trainee Hillary, after alluding to witnessing Stephen’s rule-breaking. (Watch that particular scene from Wednesday’s episode, “Sitting Ducks,” below.) Worried for the safety of his best friend, Astrid, Stephen recruits John to help keep her safe from the threat of Ultra operatives.
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Luke Mitchell talks to The Hollywood Reporter about the connection between John and Astrid, problems with Cara and revisiting the “poisonous” John and Jedikiah relationship.
The power structure within the Tomorrow People has shifted, with Cara now at the top. How is John dealing with that?
It’s a big change, and it’s not something he foresaw. It takes a little adjusting. Things happen and his instincts kick in and he wants to do and say things but he’s no longer in charge, so he has to keep himself in check and try to be as supportive as he can for Cara, the new leader. That in itself is a challenge, and their relationship is already challenging. It’s interesting. I kind of like it. It forces John to take a backseat and have to choose his actions and his words a bit more wisely.
With this power flip, how tricky will things get between John and Cara moving forward?
I’d say expect anything when it comes to Cara and John. Their relationship is a roller coaster, and I think things get more dramatic before they get less dramatic. Tensions rise and I think the fact that John’s not the leader anymore, but in spirit he’s a leader, that will come to a head in the next couple of episodes. That forces some very interesting things to happen.
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Is there a chance the group begins to realize John may be a better fit for a leadership role than Cara, or vice versa?
I mean, I hope so. (Laughs.) Some things will happen where some people may realize that John is in fact a better leader, but then there are others who actually notice Cara steps into the role quite well and is actually quite a good leader. The next progression in that respect is John and Cara having big, big disagreements. The fact that Cara is the leader and needs to be seen as the leader becomes a big deal.
In the winter finale, John and Astrid shared a moment in Stephen’s home, and executive producer Phil Klemmer said they would be spending significantly more time together. What more can you say about their interactions?
Audiences are going to really like it. I’ve really enjoyed working with Maddie [Mantock], who plays Astrid. She’s a lovely girl, and I think she’s a terrific actress. We’ve had a lot of fun working together. We’ve got to work with each other quite a lot in a few different episodes now, but especially this episode coming up, which is quite dramatic. John’s been assigned to take care of and look after Astrid while Stephen goes camping, and they find themselves — in typical Tomorrow People fashion — in a life-or-death situation. John and Astrid have to band together very quickly, otherwise they’re going to die, essentially. But within those circumstances, there’s actually some really sweet moments. It’s high drama but within that, there’s them getting to know each other and connecting in a way that you may not have seen before.
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How would you characterize the John-Astrid dynamic?
It’s two worlds colliding. They’re such different characters, and I think that that’s what makes it interesting. Ordinarily, these two people would never meet, if it wasn’t for Stephen. It’s a little bit of a mismatch, but there’s a beauty in that mismatch.
The Tomorrow People are still working on finding Stephen’s father, in addition to a safe haven. Where are they in their mission?
There’s always that through line of trying to find Stephen’s dad and trying to find the safe place the Tomorrow People can live in harmony, whatever it is we think Stephen’s dad is in or hoping he’s there. That through line becomes very interesting around episode 17. I had to check the episode number a few times while I was reading it because it felt like a season finale. It was so epic in our big overall arc. It was so intense, I was just like, I don’t know where they’re going to go after this. It gets pretty hectic.
Over the course of the season, the group has welcomed several new people into the underground home. How big is too big for that group before it gets too dangerous?
That’s a very good question: How many people can live in the underground subway? That’s a very interesting point that you bring up because they want to be able to save as many Tomorrow People as possible as they can — or at least the good ones — but I suppose there would come a time when they’ll all have to make a choice; either they have to stop saving people because they can’t fit any more in their hideout or they got to find another place or they got to find Stephen’s dad, who can lead them to this other world. I guess that could come to a head before the season’s out because it’s all been about survival.
Will more be mined from John and Jedikiah’s father-son, mentor-mentee past?
Always, always. It continues to twist and turn. I’m so fascinated by [their relationship]. It’s such a tantalizing relationship because it’s poisonous, but there’s love there. It’s essentially a father-son relationship but they’re also mortal enemies, and we’ve already delved into them trying to kill each other and then not killing each other. That becomes more interesting down the line if and when they need each other. Maybe there’ll be a time when Jedikiah needs John to do something for him.
How many fight scenes should we be expecting to see from you?
There’s some really epic fight scenes coming up, but to be perfectly honest, I haven’t been involved in the epic ones. There have been some cool ones that I’ve heard about and seen some of the other guys do.
Give us a nugget from this week’s episode.
There’s a couple really cool scenes from the camping sequence to look out for. I’m hoping some cool stuff between John and Astrid. I enjoyed doing it and I’ve heard good stuff.
The Tomorrow People airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. on The CW.
Email: Philiana.Ng@THR.com
Twitter: @insidethetube
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