With the mid-season finale of THE TOMORROW PEOPLE looming, fans are dying to find out the fate of John Young (Luke Mitchell), who was captured by Ultra in last week’s episode “Thanatos.” Fortunately, with one more episode to go before taking its holiday hiatus, THE TOMORROW PEOPLE is not going to leave fans hanging and they will see whether John can find a way to escape or if he will become the newest victim of The Founder and his minions at Ultra.
In a recent press interview at the Warner Bros. Mondo International Press Tour, star Luke Mitchell talked about what lies ahead in John and Jedikiah’s thorny relationship, all the fun he is having filming the show, and why it stands out amongst all the other superpowered shows out there on television.
John was in a pretty bad spot when last saw him in last week’s episode. Is there anything you can tease about what’s going on with John and Jedikiah (Mark Pellegrino) coming up?
LUKE: Oh yeah! Always fun stuff with John and Jedikiah. I will say that the first 10 minutes of Episode 9 is very good as a whole. In those first 10 minutes, we get straight into it. It’s very tense, very quickly. I’m excited for people to see it. I don’t how much I can give away. Obviously, John is captured. I don’t want to give away what actually happens to John. But it’s pretty cool.
What do you like about your character?
LUKE: (Laughs) Everything. I like the fact that he’s human. In a funny way, he’s human even though he’s obviously superior. He’s complicated. He’s flawed. And that’s the most fun to deal with. I play him as a good guy, but everyone has their flaws; their good points and their bad points. But I think he’s written a very specific way with a very specific history and it’s just interesting.
Do you have a favorite episode or scene yet that you’ve filmed for the show?
LUKE: Episode 8 is my favorite so far, closely followed by Episode 4 for obvious reasons. But there’s been some really cool stuff that I’ve really enjoyed in most of the episodes. I’m really enjoying what the writers are writing for my character, especially the flashback scenes and the stuff between John and Jedikiah. Those are the scenes I like most.
Has the show taken you to emotional places that you were not expecting to go to?
LUKE: Yeah, and it’s kind of a nice surprise. Because essentially on the surface, John is a tough, leading man kind of character and so it is kind of nice to show a bit of range and complexity. You’ve got the scenes where John’s angry or he’s annoyed at someone for doing something, like disobeying an order or something like that. But then you’ve got some really nice soft romantic scenes, where it’s him and Cara (Peyton List) alone and you get to see that he really cares about her. So it’s enjoyable to have all of that.
What is it like filming all those action scenes?
LUKE: It’s a lot more challenging than I was expecting. But I’m acquiring new skills all the time, which is great.
There was a scene with Peyton where John and Cara fighting, actual physical fighting, over attending a party. What is it like as an actor trying to do a scene with a co-star who is female in such a viciously portrayed fight sequence?
LUKE: It’s interesting. I am not sure how it came across, but I was approaching it like my character wasn’t actually trying to hurt her. It was more a chess game. It was more trying to outsmart her with moves and knowing exactly where her skills lay. So by making a move, I knew what she’d do and then I’d counter that move by getting into a position where eventually you can make the other person submit. Unfortunately, it was my character that submitted. It was interesting and challenging. But it was also like a flirtatious scene as well in a sense, which is kind of weird. (Laughs)
As an actor, how difficult was it to leave your home country of Australia to come to the U.S.?
LUKE: It wasn’t difficult at all actually. I love what I do. I’m fortunate to do what I do. And I’m very ambitious. It was a simple equation. There are many more opportunities over here for actors and so I just had to come over and roll the dice. I didn’t know what was going to happen, but I was excited to come over and play amongst the possibilities. And at the end of the year, it has turned out very well.
There have been lots of TV shows that have characters with super-powers. What makes this show different?
LUKE: I like that we play down the superhero aspect of it. We’re not trying to be superheroes and the Tomorrow People aren’t superheroes. They’re just evolved humans that are trying to survive. And except for my character who has been changed scientifically, they don’t have the ability to kill, which I find very fascinating thing to deal with ’cause most other superhero characters do have the ability to kill. So I kind of like the aspect that it is the humans that are doing the killing, mostly, and it’s the Tomorrow People that are just trying to survive.
To see if John can escape the evil clutches of Ultra and Jedikiah in the mid-season finale of THE TOMORROW PEOPLE, be sure to tune in for an all new episode on Wednesday, December 11th at 9:00 p.m. on the CW.
Tiffany Vogt is the Senior West Coast Editor, contributing as a columnist and entertainment reporter to TheTVaddict.com. She has a great love for television and firmly believes that entertainment is a world of wondrous adventures that deserves to be shared and explored – she invites you to join her. Please feel free to contact Tiffany at Tiffany_Vogt_2000@yahoo.com or follow her at on Twitter (@TVWatchtower).
