Lanterns on HBO is a certified hit, garnering rave reviews from fans and critics alike. And its debut episode has become one of HBO Max’s biggest series debuts ever. And as much of the credit falls on the two series leads, Kyle Chandler (Hal Jordan) and Aaron Pierre (John Stewart), the supporting cast is pretty extraordinary too. Nerdist got the chance to chat with Lanterns co-stars Kelly Macdonald, who plays the town’s bewildered sheriff, Kerry Kane; Garret Dillanunt, who plays local cowboy conspiracy nut William Macon; and Poorna Jagannathan, who portrays his wife Zoe, who has a keen interest in Green Lantern trainee John Stewart.
Kelly Macdonald (Sheriff Kerry Kane)
Kerry Kane isn’t a character from the comics, they created her entirely for the show. But it feels like she was inspired a bit by Fargo, and similar things. What did you draw from when bringing Kerry to life?
Kelly Macdonald: I just drew from the script, really almost entirely. But you know, obviously I’ve seen Fargo, and you can’t help but think of Francis McDormand’s Sheriff when you see my character in the costume. But yeah, I suppose it’s like I drew from all these strong, mouthy, sort of moody female characters I’ve seen on screen before, you know. So yeah, she definitely feels similar to those in a really great way. I thought about Karen Allen in Raiders of the Lost Ark, her character.
Sheriff Kane really has no time for these superheroes in her town. Without getting into spoilers, do you feel this distrust is justified, or do you just see it as “small town residents vs. the big city folk?“
Macdonald: I think it’s justified. I think she wants to take care of the situation herself, and she can tell from the get-go that they’re going to be trouble.
Kerry is in over her head a bit with all these otherworldly elements in Rushville. How did you keep your character grounded with so many wild elements at play?
Macdonald: She is quite a grounded person in general, I think, and she kind of just gets the job done. She’s a mother, and she knows what she has to do to take care of people. And that’s just what she’s going to do.
You have a lot of scenes with Kyle Chandler, and you two really have fantastic chemistry together. Can you talk about creating that dynamic with Kyle?
Macdonald: Well, I just, I love him. He’s a really good friend. And I feel like with his character, and with Kyle as a person, he’s got this Yoda sort of quality. There’s something very wise about him, even though Hal Jordan pretends he doesn’t know what’s going on, or how he just sort of has this chaos around him. But beneath the chaos is a man who really knows what’s what, and has a great instinct. And Kyle is like that as well, so he makes acting with him just so easy.
Garret Dillahunt (William Macon)
Nerdist: Your character William Macon feels like a distillation of several conspiracy theorist survivalist type guys we know are prevalent these days. Did you do a deep dive on these guys, these almost cult leader type guys, to prepare for this role?
Garret Dillahunt: I’m from a small town, I’m from a rural town. So I’ve spent a lot of time on a horse, and I feel like I know a lot of these kinds of guys. And so I think I just kind of drew on my experience and comfort level with all of that. Basically [The showrunners and writers] gave me a great set of circumstances to work with.
Without giving too much away, in episode 2, you have a scene you have to reveal quite a bit of yourself. Essentially, you’re walking around your office buck naked. What did you think when you read that part of the script, and how was it playing that scene?
Dillahunt: Well, I thought I’d better hit the gym ASAP (laughs) I thought those days were over long ago. But you know, if I have to do it, what a great bunch of people to do it in front of. There was a lot of humor on set that day. There were a lot of jokes. We were all very uncomfortable, but they didn’t seem like it, they’re all such good actors, including myself. And the crew really prepared for me, and really took great care of me. So, I think it’s a brilliant scene, and it’s, it’s so weird, you know? He just disrobes and starts playing records and posing and talking to his daughter-in-law with his dick out, and it’s just funny. I did worry about it, and I thought it worked out pretty well.
Poorna Jagannathan (Zoe Macon)
Nerdist: Your character is a bit mysterious, and I know there’s not a lot you can say about her yet. But she does have some exceptional moments with Aaron Pierre. Can you talk about building that connection between your characters?
Poorna Jagannathan: Yeah, I mean, the chemistry is baked into the writing, right? So they telegraph it right away. She sees him, they have a conversation, and you know, they have sex right after! So there’s an immediate intimacy that they establish, and you don’t quite know why. But she’s an outsider, and Aaron’s character is as well. It’s two people of color in a very white rural Nebraskan town. And there’s, there’s just an instant connection. And you only later find out what is really underneath that relationship and you do feel that there’s something different about it for both of them. They’re both physically attracted to each other. But it goes deeper than that very soon.
You’ve had a lot of different roles over the years, but from what I can tell, not a lot of sci-fi. What was it like entering this kind of genre after so many years in far more grounded fare?
Jagannathan: I mean, I was so scared to enter the genre. Because I thought I’d be green-screening the entire time, and I can’t act like that. And I am aware of how this is a religion for many fans, and I didn’t want to disappoint or mess it up. I didn’t feel like I had a right to step into this world. But as soon as I read what the writers were really trying to do, and make it human and relatable, then I was so much more confident about stepping into this world. And after this, I am wide open. Now, I say all that, but one of my favorite films is District 9, a sci-fi movie. So when they do the genre right, it is always one of my favorite things. There’s just so much done wrong, and I feel like Lanterns just does it brilliantly.
Lanterns drops new episodes every Sunday on HBO and HBO Max.
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