Harold Perrineau Says ‘From’ Season 3 Is Scarier Than Last: ‘Prepare for Worse’

From, the MGM Plus series about people trapped in a mysterious, terrifying city, returns Sunday for Season 3. It’s hard to imagine the show, which treats snarling nighttime monsters as just one layer of creepiness, ramping up the horror. Yet, according to star Harold Perrineau, that’s what audiences are waiting for.

“You have to prepare for a worse Season 3,” Perrineau, who plays Sheriff Boyd Stevens, told CNET. “The creepy kids come back, the monsters come back, and it gets worse. Yeah, you have to prepare for worse.”

Debuting in 2022, From follows several people in the same heartbreaking situation. After encountering an obstacle in the road, they find themselves in an inescapable place where horrors lurk behind every tree in the forest and around every corner of a restaurant. At night, bloodthirsty creatures plague the residents, who also find worms crawling under their skin, hideous children repeating unintelligible words, and nightmares from which they never wake up.

Ahead of Season 3, which premieres just in time for the spooky season, CNET spoke with Perrineau about what’s to come. His character is the revered leader of the motley crew trying to stay alive, unravel the mystery and escape.

While most of them still have their feet on scary ground in season 3, the final scene of season 2 seems to free a townsman from a terrifying realm. (Spoiler: The woman, Tabitha, appears to wake up in an ordinary hospital.) As a synopsis for the new season puts it: “After Season Two’s epic cliffhanger, escape becomes a tantalizing and very real possibility as the town’s true nature is revealed and the townspeople rise up in an offensive against the countless horrors around them.”

In the interview below, edited for clarity, Perrineau discusses the cliffhanger, what he would do if he ended up in From’s town, and what he didn’t like about killing one of the show’s sinister creatures. The series is executive produced by creator John Griffin, showrunner Jeff Pinkner, and director Jack Bender. Pinkner and Bender also worked on the TV series Lost, which Perrineau co-starred in.

Q: Between creepy children, menacing music boxes, and the all-important nighttime monsters, Season 2 was scary. Should we be prepared for a Season 3 that’s just as terrifying?
Perrineau: You have to prepare for a worse season 3. Yeah, because the creepy kids come back, the monsters — and then it gets worse. Yeah, you have to prepare for worse.

Season 3 is — the best way to describe it is season 3 is dark. It’s dark. It’s heavy. You’re not just afraid of all the things that are coming, your heart is filled with empathy for all the things that are coming. It’s heavy.

My favorite moment from season 2 is of course a Boyd scene. It’s when he surprisingly manages to kill one of the monsters. I wanted to know what you thought of that scene.
Perrineau: I was super surprised that it went that way. … When I read it, I thought, “Oh, wow, it’s dead? Like it was just completely dead?” I was really, really surprised about that. But then of course I was less surprised when the body had cicadas and we couldn’t — we had to burn it, and all this other crazy stuff started happening. But yeah, I thought it was pretty cool.

The only sad thing about that scene is that the actor, Jamie, is probably the nicest man you’ll ever meet in your life. … Oddly enough, I didn’t realize how many people were like, “Oh my god, I’m so sad. Smiley’s dead.” He’s a monster, guys, [he had] die.

The Season 2 finale cliffhanger seemed to be one step closer to some clarity. I wondered: can viewers expect some of their burning questions about the city to be answered this season?
Perrineau: I’m just going to tell you, and this is the way the writer will say it: He’s going to say, “Absolutely, yes, you’re totally going to get answers to questions. The question after you get the answer is, ‘What now?'” And that’s the trick to the whole thing, right? Like, oh yeah, he’s going to answer the questions, but what are you going to do now? And so that’s the thing that — I think that’s really cool about the show, is that it’s not really a show about questions, it’s not really a show about horrors, it’s a show about people. It’s a show about what do you do when you’re in a situation that you have no control over? And so you find the answer, but what do you do now? And that’s what’s really fascinating about playing all these characters and being on From, because I think John Griffin has really put together a group of really interesting characters who have to go through this trauma together.

I love that we get to spend so much time with the characters as they navigate that horrible, traumatizing reality. Do you ever think about what you would do personally if you were in that situation?
Perrineau: You mean, after I stopped crying? Yeah, I think about it all the time. You know, one of the things that really helped me is actually having children. Having children, and my “protector” energy, is what I bring to Boyd. And so I imagine that in a circumstance like that, my protector would jump up and, like Boyd, would try tirelessly to find a way to save his family or friends, people that he loves, from this horrible situation. I hope that’s what I would do after I stopped crying.

What did you enjoy most about playing with Boyd over the past three seasons?
Perrineau: Oh, that’s not that hard to do. It’s really fun to play the hero, even if he’s a hero who makes questionable choices, you know what I mean? I like the idea of ​​someone who, even if you don’t like all of his choices, is actually trying to do something good. I actually like that. I’m not a big fan of antiheroes, you know what I mean? You know, “They’re a secret serial killer, but they’re serially killing for good.” I’m not a big fan of that, although there are some great people who have been on those shows. I like the idea of ​​someone who’s really trying to do something, like he’s trying to save them. And I like the idea that John Griffin has written such real reactions, and real people like, “This guy’s an ex-military guy who thinks he can figure this out.” … You have to find a really human way to respond to all of those things, the stimuli that are coming at you. I like that puzzle. I like the person I’m trying to figure out. And so, yeah, I really enjoy being Boyd Stevens.