Disclaimer: This FROM interview has been edited for clarity.
FROM season 2 marks a turning point for Sara Myers. After being introduced in season one as hearing voices that tell her to commit violence against others in order to save the lives of many, Sara’s brother ended up dead at her own hands. She also very nearly killed young Ethan Matthews, making her public enemy number one before she disappeared.
After a mystical journey through the forest with town sheriff Boyd, Sara has made a return and received a frosty reception by the vast majority of the townsfolk.
Actress Avery Konrad spoke with us about her empathy for Sara, as well as the unexpected connection between Sara and newcomer Elgin.
LadyJenevia: Sara is now, to put it mildly, a controversial character because of all this violence that she’s either enacted or caused at the behest of these voices that she’s been hearing. so being that acting is an exercise in empathy, what has been your window into Sarah so that you can empathise with her even when she’s made these pretty egregious mistakes?
Konrad: Right, really great question. What I’ve said since like season one is when I initially read read the scenes, that’s the first thing that I saw. She’s just someone who has made the mistakes and she goes about these things the wrong way but I think at her core she’s a really good person and this place has just taken over, just got the best of her, and she feels like she doesn’t really have a choice because the the circumstances are so extreme. Her humanity and heart and care and soul are always really important to me, that it’s coming from a real place. She actually really cares about these people even though again, like I said, she goes about it the wrong way.
LadyJenevia: One of the interesting developments in season two is that we see new characters coming in, and Sarah and Elgin have an unexpectedly sweet conversation when they first meet. What do you think it is that allows these two to hit it off the way that they do?
Konrad: Well, I think it’s because he doesn’t know her full story yet. You see her get beaten down by all these people, she just assumes whoever comes next is gonna do that as well. To have that moment of them really connecting, which is something that she hasn’t done in a long time, on a real level where someone sees her as a real human being and not a killer, I think that she can sense that. Even though it takes her a while to kind of warm up to it, you see a little flash of it and I think it’s a really great scene. It was one of my favourite scenes to shoot this season. I think it was. Yeah, it was so much fun.
LadyJenevia: What can you share about the experience of having to play basically an entirely new dynamic with these characters and the performers who bring them to life? It’s quite a drastic shift from essentially harmonious relationships to hostile relationships.
Konrad: Yeah, it was definitely really hard because… I always say, as a human we only have one nervous system. You spend all day like getting yelled at or whatever, it’s kind of hard to shake it off. She’s been going and going and going, and one thing after another, she finally is forced to sit with all these things. She’s actually coming to and realising all these terrible things that she’s done. She knows that she deserves all of these terrible things that these people are saying to her. As much as it hurts her, she doesn’t know what else she can do to gain forgiveness so she’s offering herself in any way that she she can, which is basically just her standing there taking taking whatever they want to throw at her. I think it was really interesting and you kind of see her more raw this season which is scary for her because she has nowhere to go.
LadyJenevia: I read in some of the other interviews you’ve done, especially before season one, that you would like to use your platform to advocate for people who struggle with dyslexia. I was wondering if you would mind sharing a bit about tips or how you navigate learning your lines, especially if lines are being rewritten if you’re getting new pages, maybe for other aspiring talent who are going to be navigating that same thing with a similar condition.
Konrad: It was always a struggle for me in school and I felt like I wasn’t gonna succeed. Just because you don’t succeed in one thing doesn’t mean you can’t in another so don’t beat yourself up. You’re gonna find something that you’re you’re good at and do it your own way, which I think is really important. Learning lines, it’s different for everybody but to visualise makes it easier for me. I would just say don’t give up and find the way that works for you. Just because it’s different for someone doesn’t mean that it’s the wrong way.
FROM season 2 is available to stream on MGM+.
Watch my interview with FROM cast members Ricky He and Avery Konrad here:
Watch my interview with Harold Perrineau and other FROM cast members here: