Max Thieriot as Dylan Massett in Bates Motel. Photo copyright of A&E.
Family reunions can at times be difficult, but when it comes to the Bates family, such get-togethers can be downright twisted. Early on in the first season of the popular A&E series Bates Motel, a contemporary prequel to the classic 1960 feature film Psycho, the not-so emotionally balanced Norma Bates and her equally unstable son Norman receive a visit from Dylan Massett, Norma’s son from a previous relationship. He decides to stay in town and ends up getting a job with the local drug trade.
Not surprisingly, Dylan witnesses some bizarre goings-on at “work” and back home at the Bates Motel. None of those situations, however, could have ever prepared him for the bombshell dropped on him when, in the season two episode Shadow of a Doubt, Norma’s estranged brother Caleb Calhoun, arrives for a surprise visit. Apparently, the apple does not fall far from the Bates family tree and, during a fight between Norman and Dylan, Norma reveals that Caleb is, in fact, Dylan’s father. This sends everyone into an emotional tizzy and paves the way for more dysfunctional interaction between the Bates.
Kenny Johnson as Caleb Calhoun. Photo copyright of A&E.
Earlier this week, actors Max Thieriot (Dylan Massett) and Kenny Johnson (Caleb Calhoun), spoke on the phone with me and other journalists about what has been going on with as well as between their characters and hinted at what is still to come with them on Bates Motel. The following is an edited version of that Q & A. Enjoy!
You’ve both had some really great scenes together so far. What has it been like working with one another on Bates Motel?
Kenny Johnson: Well, it was kind of amazing for me because when I showed up on-set, Max came right up to me and said, “It’s going to be a pleasure working with you. I can’t wait.” He was really down to earth and connected. I’d been a huge fan of Bates Motel from last season and been intrigued by his character of Dylan, so I was honed in on Max prior to being offered this role.
There were some striking similarities, mannerisms and other similar type of things going on between Max and I that made our onscreen relationship feel familiar and incredibly real for me and my character. Caleb had been seeking out and searching for a connection with his family members, and when he finds out that Dylan is Norma’s son, it’s something that opens up and happens naturalistically between the two. I thought it was pretty wild.
Max Thieriot: I think from the minute Kenny showed up, the two of us really hit it off off-screen, so that really translated over to all these scenes where I know of him as Uncle Caleb. Our two characters are bonding and Caleb is re-connecting with the family, and meanwhile Dylan is able to reach out and find out more about this family that he’s never realty known. So a lot of that came naturally and I think Kenny and I had a good flow and gelled in all our scenes together because we were able to connect on as well as off-screen and relate to each other.
Max, with everything that has been going on in the past couple of episodes, how is it going to affect your character’s relationship with Norma (Vera Farmiga), considering that the two of them haven’t exactly been close up to now?
MT: I don’t quite know. It’s a big trial moment now for Dylan because they’ve already had so many speed bumps in their relationship, in general, but this is probably the biggest bridge that he’s going to have to try and cross, if, in fact, he does want to. At this point in time where we’re at in the show, I think it’s an eye-opener for him, too, because suddenly he’s realizing that maybe this is why he’s always felt like an outsider. Maybe this is why he never really fit in and felt like he was always on the back burner as compared with Norman (Freddie Highmore), because of where he came from. Perhaps he was born out of a little bit of hatred.
Right now, obviously, Dylan is just extremely angry, frustrated and confused and going through a million emotions. So I think definitely this is a changing point for him, and he basically has to decide how he’s going to get past this because there are so many different ways the can approach this information that he has been given.
Kenny, it looked like Caleb was packing his bag and leaving town at the end of the last episode. Is it the bombshell of thinking that he may actually have a son or does he totally not believe Norma? Why is he staying in town? What can you tell us about that?
KJ: That’s a good question. Caleb hasn’t seen Norma for 20-odd years and seeing a son -- Norma’s son -- was a pretty wild reality check. He is curious and doesn’t leave town because he wants to somehow reconnect with Norma. I think it’s really important for him to face some of the demons from his past or what they had maybe gone through. You can run for only so many years, right? It just seems like my character is overwhelmed by all this information and realizes that it’s affected everybody in not a very positive way. It wasn’t at all what Caleb expected or probably had hoped for. So I think he just needs to wrap his head around it all. For the moment, that’s what’s going on.
Max, despite Dylan finding out that he was a child of incest, he seems to be the only sane person in his family. Do you play it a certain way because of that or is that something that you just ignore? Can you talk a little bit about how you interpret your character?
MT: I think Dylan is the viewers’ window into the life of Norman and Norma, and the behind-the-scenes view they wouldn’t be able to see otherwise. Everybody says that Dylan is the sane one, but if you look at some of Norma’s issues, quirks and the things that make her who she is, Dylan is still her son. So underneath all of it, I think there’s still some of those genes that flare up every once in a while.
For the most part he’s just trying to survive and get by, but Dylan definitely has some issues like everybody else in the family. Of course, it’s tough for him because it seems like as soon as he starts to hit his stride and everything seems OK, his world comes crumbling down again. It’s a constant rollercoaster of ups and downs for him in his relationship with Norma. By now, Dylan has pretty much gone as high up as he’s possibly ever gone, and now he’s really taking a fall this time. So I think it’ll be a really trying experience for him that will ultimately define his character -- this knowledge of what he’s come to know or maybe thinks he knows about his uncle and his dad.
Kenny, what was it like acting opposite Freddie as Norman slipped into his Norma persona?
KJ: At the beginning, Caleb is looking at Norman like, “What the hell is this kid talking about?” but then the more Norman got into it, the more Caleb realized that he was filtering Norma through him. It was, I think, a really intense, wild and tricky scene to play, but Freddie did it beautifully. He’s one of those actors who commits 1000% to what he does, and it was fun. When you get to play opposite people like Max and Freddie who are so incredibly right there and in the moments, it makes it pretty awesome for me as an actor to react and go with it.
Max, I wanted to ask you how early did you know that -- for sure -- Caleb was Dylan’s father and how did that affect your performance this season?
MT: I think even up to this point, Dylan still doesn’t want to believe that this is true. Deep down, though, besides the resemblance and all the similarities and traits, I think my character knows the more it makes sense. The funny thing is, we’re such a tight-knit family on-set - Vera, Freddie, and I – and when Kenny showed up, he fit right. Because of that, when these scenes were being played out, they ended up having such a nice flow to them because of that on-set family. As the season goes on, you can definitely see a change in Dylan as he slowly begins to digest this information and figures out how to deal with everything.
Max, your character has really, I think, grown into someone that fans want to root for. Should we expect to see a shift in that line of thinking after everything that’s happened? Will he still remain sympathetic?
MT: When Dylan first shows up and I read the first couple of scripts, I thought, “Everybody’s going to hate him,” but that’s what was so interesting. You introduce a character that, initially, everybody wants to hate, and then you try and make the transition into a character that everybody can sympathize with, understand and perhaps relate to in certain ways. So I don’t think that, because of recent events, people are going to change how they feel about him. If anything, because of this experience and what he’s going through, we get to see more of his vulnerable, human side that we don’t often get to see because he always puts on this tough façade. I think that, in turn, will bring viewers a little closer to Dylan, allow them to understand a bit more about him and, again, see another side to him that’s possibly a good and very positive side.
Can you give us any hints as to what we can expect, specifically, from the next episode (“The Escape Artist”) that’s coming up on Monday?
MT: Well, obviously, the Bates family is in shambles right now. Everybody’s torn apart. Norman has just had this wild kind of blackout, and Norma is struggling with dealing with her social life in the town as well as with her brother showing up. Everybody is dealing with some issues and Caleb is struggling with being in this environment that he’s thrown himself back into, and, again, it's not at all what he expected to walk into.
Episode five will pick up from there and also deal with more of the stuff with Zane Carpenter (Michael Eklund) and explore why he wants Dylan and Remo (Ian Tracey) to go pick up this load of guns, what it is he planning, the ensuing battle between him and Sheriff Romero (Nestor Carbonell), etc. There’s really a lot going on.
Now that we’ve seen Norman go into the Norma persona, how much of that is going to figure into the rest of the season?
MT: I think Norman is starting to realize he has some problems, but he’s not quite sure what they are and he’s not really ready to admit that. Obviously, we want to delay certain things and he can’t go “all out (Norma)” right away. So it’s this constant struggle between high school Norman and Psycho Norman, with both personalities fighting inside of him, and, of course, Psycho Norman also happens to have a lot of Norma in him.
The thing is, Freddie plays Norman on edge a lot of the time and Norman gets easily frustrated with other characters throughout the show, like Cody (Paloma Kwiatkowski) when he raises the tire iron at her. He yells a lot and often gets hot under the collar, which makes it even more interesting because you never really know when he’s going to snap. We do get to see him snap, however, so it’s this constant question of whether or not he’s going to lose it right here and now, and what he’s going to do.
As far as new cast members this season, such as Michael Vartan and Kathleen Robertson, what has it been like working with them and how do their characters affect the Bates family dynamic throughout the rest of the season?
MT: What’s terrific about Bates Motel is that we’re constantly introducing new characters that are really dynamic, different and unique. That’s what makes it awesome, because they all really stand out by themselves. As far as the Bates family, Kenny’s character of Caleb probably impacts them the most, given he’s basically a new Bates family member that we’re introduced to.
Up to now, we’ve only ever seen these three members of this family – Norman, Norma and Dylan – and now there’s Caleb. The thing about introducing Caleb is that you don’t really know what to expect. He’s such a wild card. Is he going to bring good to the family? Are there going to be negative things he brings as well? So it’s a matter of figuring out what that means, because clearly it’s going to mean something.
KJ: The whole show is based so much on the family dynamics and the tension within the family, including the sexual undertones and all these uncomfortable situations amongst the three characters. To me, that is the show and it’s like a locomotive train that is incredibly electric. So it’s not a matter of introducing a character like Caleb just for the heck of it, but rather to throw another wrench into the situations that already exists and that are so rich onscreen.
MT: All these new characters affect the lives of those we already know. So, for example, as people are taken out in the drug world, others are introduced to fill the voids. So you’re then wondering what they’re going to be like and what they’re going to do. As these new characters are introduced, it’s cool to watch them change up the dynamic of the show.
Kenny, can you tell us how you originally became involved in the series, and perhaps a little bit about the audition process for the Caleb role?
KJ: Well, I received a phone call from one of the show’s new writers and consulting producers who I’d worked with on Prime Suspect, telling me about this new character on Bates Motel called Caleb. She explained to me that he’s Norma’s brother and said, “I think you’d be perfect for it, but (executive producers) Carlton Cuse and Kerry Ehrin obviously are going to be making the decision.” I was sent a description of the character, and two or three days later I got a call from Kerry and Carlton, and Kerry had explained what she wanted to do with the Caleb character as well as who he was, and I was jumping up and down. So I was offered the role, which is such a blessing, and I was thrilled to be a part of helping tell this story.
Max, like Kenny, you slipped beautifully into your Dylan role and I wanted to find out what were some of the initial acting challenges you found stepping into the Dylan character?
MT: I think the biggest challenge for me was to grasp and understand the fact that, again, when Dylan is introduced, he’s really not liked for the first few episodes. It was tricky to bring in a character that audiences instantly don’t like, and then trying to go through his story arc and turn him into somebody that, ultimately, you can relate to, understand and, through his eyes, see into the lives of Norma and Norman.
So I was hoping that everyone accepted the character. Specifically, though, with Psycho fans, I guess my main concern was playing a new character that wasn’t in the movies and wondering how he’d be accepted into the show by the fans and if they’d welcome him as a new member of the Bates family. At the same time, because he was a new face, there was also a bit of an easiness to that aspect just because I didn’t feel as if there were as high of expectations as there might have been had I been hired to play or re-invent a character that was already known. Instead, I got to start fresh and come up with this guy.
There was a great deal going on and to think about, but, ultimately, I think because the writing on Bates Motel is so great, as is everybody who’s a part of the show, that we were able to introduce this new character of Dylan and watch him go through all these different trials and tribulations. However, I think it’s worked out great so far, and people have been able to understand and relate to this guy.
Max, should we be worried for Dylan given how the drug situation is playing out and that he may be in not the best state of mind moving forward?
MT: Yes, definitely. Given what he’s just learned about himself and the history of where he came from, I think it’s a concern as far as how he approaches situations now and if he goes in guns blazing trying to take on the world. Dylan has already had to cope with having very little to live for throughout his life, and this is another one of those hurdles for him to take on.
Kenny, what do you think it is about Bates Motel that’s really hooked fans?
KJ: Well, I just find the storytelling really raw, authentic and unapologetic with where it goes. It explores the lives of these teenagers, this mother and a world that, like the real world we live in, is not perfect. I find the onscreen relationship between Freddie and Vera fascinating, and you don’t’ really know what’s going on underneath with their two characters. Even in the last episode that aired and the way that Norman watches Norma and the closeness between them, I just found it super-intriguing. It’s also neat to have a character like Dylan as an outsider, and to get to see what’s going on inside the family through someone like him, who’s not been completely accepted within that family. The dynamics amongst all the characters are just unbelievably compelling to me.
Of course, it helps, too, that these actors are brilliant. When you read the script and then see what they actually come up with, the performances are amazing. The writing is awesome, too, and it leaves the open door for all of the cast to creatively dive further into this world that has so many colors. I watched all of Bates Motel’s first season and was hooked. I couldn’t wait until the next week. It was the only show I watched on TV, and my wife and I loved it. Sometimes you can’t explain it, but I just found it insanely intriguing.
As noted above, photos copyright of A&E, so please no unauthorized copying or duplicating of any kind. Thanks!
