Disclaimer: This FROM interview has been edited for clarity.
When last we saw the Matthews family, Tabitha had fallen into a cave where she found Victor, and Jim had frantically run to the house to try to find her once he was warned by a mysterious voice about how she shouldn’t be digging.
Actors Eion Bailey and Catalina Sandino Moreno spoke on the show’s junket about the changing dynamic of the Matthews family in season 2.
LadyJenevia: Eion, there’s a point this season where Jim gets stuck under some stuff… I’m keeping it very vague because of spoilers, but what are the logistics for filming something like that in order to ensure your safety as an actor?
Bailey: I haven’t felt unsafe once on this show. Everything feels secure and safe in that moment or period of time where I am trapped. It is claustrophobic and I wouldn’t say I get particularly claustrophobic but I could definitely feel like, “Oh…”
No one likes to ever e stuck in any way, shape, or form. Not emotionally, not spiritually, and certainly not physically. This guy definitely is and that was a challenge and exciting to do. Hopefully I meet the challenge and it definitely brought about a certain amount of stillness in my work which is also kind of interesting and fun to work with. You can do a lot without moving.
LadyJenevia: Catalina, Tabitha has a very interesting trajectory, or seems to have since I’ve only seen the first five episodes, with her daughter this season. What can you preview about that relationship dynamic and how it differs from season one?
Moreno: It’s so different. I’m so happy it happened because the first season is a teenager clashing against another woman (her mother). It’s meant to happen. The first season is a mother trying to let children go. You can’t keep them in you all the time because that’s crazy. The season is more like talking to her like an adult. ‘You’re making your own decisions. I’m gonna talk to her. I’m gonna tell you what’s going on.’
[Julie] asked a few questions and it’s not like, ‘It’s going to be okay.’ It’s not okay. It’s talking to your children, not as babies, but as an adult. Especially [Julie], she’s making her decisions for herself. She is growing up. Even the little one, too.
[Tabitha’s] relationship with the children, this is what I enjoy most about this season. She’s not treating them like babies, unlike the first season where she was trying to keep them together. ‘Nothing gonna happen to my babies!’ They’re growing and we’re stuck in this town, and she kind of accepts that she is in this situation and she has to let go.
LadyJenevia: Then for the both of you, just in general, the Matthew family feels a lot more united whereas in season one there was more of that division. How did that change the overall energy and bringing to life your characters?
Bailey: [jokingly] Well Catalina was method the first season. She was, you know, just not very nice to me and then by the second season she was really warm. I was touched by that and then I realised she was just doing her work.
We’ve been talking about how in season one we’re either gonna break apart and disintegrate as a family, or in the face of opposition and these obstacles we’ll find a way to be even more close and come together because we have to in order to have any chance of saving our family. Fortunately, that’s how it’s working out so far but we also don’t know what further obstacles we’re going to come up against, but it’s nice to see people working together to overcome hurdles and Tabitha and Jim are definitely doing that. Their children so far are going to benefit quite a bit from that.
Moreno: I think this season you’re gonna see the hurdles. There’s gonna be different kind of hurdles between their relationships. What I like about this relationship in season two is that you cannot say, ‘He’s in the right. She’s in the wrong.’ If you see both perspectives, it’s laid what they’re thinking but they still have a bump which is very interesting.
FROM season 2 will premiere on MGM+ on April 23.
Watch my interview with Eion Bailey and Catalina Sandino Moreno and other FROM cast members here: