It's not every single day that you get the chance to attend a premiere party with your new favorite cast, but when Netflix calls, well, you 100 percent have to answer. Hidden away in a cozy spot in NYC is a special underground speakeasy that featured a bowling alley and some of the best drinks that we obviously had to try. And while we didn't need to use a mirror to make our way in, it still was just as magical getting to see the cast and crew of Dead Boy Detectives party in celebration of their new show.
Of course, being this close to them, we had to ask them our biggest questions and what better place to do so. So ready to unlock some new secrets and maybe learn a little more of what we can expect next?
Co-Showrunners Steve Yockey and Beth Schwartz
What was it like bringing the Dead Boy Detectives from Doom Patrol to Netflix?
Steve Yockey: When I originally got the rights from DC, Warner Brothers was like, 'Oh, we should spin it off from Doom Patrol.' Creator Jeremy Carver was very welcoming and let me write the episode. But then it took a really long time for Max to decide, so we ended up having to recast because so much time had gone by. We only had two episodes left when we actually made the switch.
Beth and I had made the decision early on, because Warner Brothers business affairs was like, 'Do not put any Sandman IP in it or Netflix will come.' We decided to just work around it. But then we went to Netflix and the first thing they said was, 'We we love everything you're doing. Wouldn't it be great to add some Easter eggs and cameos?'
Beth Schwartz: We had already figured out that he show basically revolves around the boys running from Death and so it's always constructed in a way where they weren't gonna be around when when she was coming to collect. But then when we got to use her and we got to have a whole scene with her that Neil Gaiman wrote and we're so lucky that we get to share in that sandbox.
SY: We got everything we wanted. Despair is my favorite character and we got to do Despair's salon which we've rendered a comic book accurate version and go to introduce all that stuff. We were really excited about it.
What's your dream character that you want to bring to the series?
SY: Beth has such a good answer to this!
BS: Do I?!
SY: Didn't you say Lucifer?
BS: It wasn't me, but that is a good one! Lucifer, yes!
George Rexstrew as Edwin Payne
Edwin is so fascinating because he's been around for over a hundred years, but he's still very much a teenager.
GR: I'm really pleased you brought up the age, because he is two separate ages. He's a 16-year-old boy, but he's also over 100-years-old in terms of his soul. Connecting those two things was definitely a challenge as an actor. Edwin's main storyline is learning how to love and I think, especially during those teenage years, that is a feeling we can all relate to. Those awkward feelings, those crushes, coming out of your shell. So hopefully a lot of people related with that experience, even it's adults looking back, hopefully without too much PTSD.
He also has various kinds of chemistry with three different love interests this season: Charles, the Cat King, and Monty.
GR: When it comes to Evan and Charles, they love each other, but this show explores what that love is. What's really special about our show is how it speaks a lot to our inner child and how, for example, when we're kids your first love is your first best friend who is often same sex. I don't that often see represented on TV, in terms of the depiction of male love. And then the Cat King comes and kind of drops a bomb on Edwin where, for the first time, he experiences feelings of physical attraction. Something is definitely unlocked by him. So I would say the sexual side of Edwin's journey comes from him. And then when it comes to Monty, Edwin learns how to flirt. And it's a friend turned into 'Let's go on a date,' and it's very sweet and heartfelt and innocent. And those two experiences with the Cat King and Monty ultimately lead Edwin to realize that the person has feelings for is Charles. What's so heartbreaking to me is when Edwin confesses his love to Charles, the motivation behind it, it's so innocent because he's just just figured out. He knows every word in the dictionary, but when it comes to love, he's a newbie.
The confession on the stairs also comes after a very dark moment for Edwin.
GR: I will say the darker scenes are the most fun. I think the scene before, with Simon in the book room, is really pivotal. That's actually the turning point that leads to the major one you were talking about. Because I think it's in that moment that he realizes, 'Oh, this boy went to school with who bullied me horrendously is like me,' and how you can't live your life without regrets. You have to speak how you feel. I think he's crystal clear on how he feels about Charles and he is so gentle in his response. He doesn't shun him. He wants to protect his relationship with Edwin. I think I think it's dealt with in a really beautiful way.
Jayden Reveri as Charles Rowland with George Rexstrew
JR: We practiced that scene a lot as well. We knew it was going to be like an important moment in the series and we wanted to make sure it was conveyed in the best way you could. I'm really proud of it and I know you're really proud of it.
It's fascinating how even after spending so many years together, they're still discovering things about themselves and each other.
GR: I've never thought about this, but even with even with our families and our closest friends from school, there are still things I don't think we always lay out on the table. So it's a really universal experience. It's interesting to witness two people who have spent 30 years in just each other's companies still keeping things.
JR: I think for me and George as well, we've always been so open and honest with each other about what we're feeling in certain situations and how we are in a moment. Since we emotionally dump stuff on each other, it made that scene so so easy.
GR: Anytime I film a scene with Jayden, I feel at home.
JR: We are each other's anchors.
If there is a season two, what's on your wish list?
GR: I want to see more of Edwin in the wild. In episode five, you catch a glimpse of him interacting with peers in America. He's in a high school and he's having to adapt. And I think it'd be really fun to see more of that.
JR: I would like to see Charles kind of go more detective. Like a brains and brawn role reversal. I'd love to see it just to show that Charles does have some of that.
I'm also going to pick a dead dog detective. I know it's gonna lead into lead into Scooby Doo territory. But maybe a dog in the agency.
Kassius Nelson as Crystal Palace
Getting to play Crystal as a character must be fascinating because she has almost no backstory. She herself doesn't know who she is. It's like starting off with a fresh slate.
KN: In some respects, it was nice, because it meant that I wasn't preempting any of the scenes or playing moments too early, because I didn't know what was going to happen. As she starts to learn more about herself, it hoped that I had some stuff that I had made up because they contradicted with her real self. That helped me play her conflict of not liking who she was. I've not had to work like that before so it was interesting.
There's also the aspect that she's dealing with someone in her head stealing her memories, but she doesn't try to victimize herself over it.
KN: It's an abusive relationship that is toxic. It kind of cleverly shows how those experiences can linger long after the relationships ended and how those people can haunt you and how it might affect how you trust people. Crystal doesn't play the victim. But, if anything, she goes too far the opposite way. You watch her try to undo the damage that he's created. I found it quite empowering at points because she is very fiery. She's deeply vulnerable and sensitive at her core, but it's covered by this facade. Which a lot of us can tend to do, because we don't want to be seen as weak.
When Crystal does get her memories back, it becomes sort of fascinating because you discover just how different she is. It makes you wonder if the real Crystal is the person you first meet, without her parent's influence, versus the person you find out she became with it.
KN: I feel like the version that we see in the beginning is her inner child. That's her most vulnerable self and the part that was rejected by her parents. She's gone through a lot of things that have made her the way that she is and that's mostly from the neglect from her family. I think at her core, you're right, it's the version that we see. And then this past version of herself is the person that she has had to be to survive.
Yuyu Kitamura as Niko Sasaki
I think Niko might be my favorite character in the entire show.
YK: It was truly a dream getting to play somebody who exudes love. Her thing is trying to honestly make everybody around her comfortable and help them be the best versions of themselves. In our show, where it can get really dark and heavy, playing that light optimism is a gift because I felt it bleed into my own life. She is also a modern representation of someone like me. I'm a Japanese girl that went to school in the States and to see that my character was just like that make me feel really lucky to have this as my first show.
One of the main themes of the show is selflessness and that usually manifests in the group trying to solve these mysteries for people. But there's an added layer in Niko and we see that in her scene with Tragic Mick. In the end, it works out in her favor since he gives her the lucky charm.
YK: That is the core of Niko is. Her journey of her gratitude and her kindness and giving it to others is also something that's very Japanese. We're constantly caring for everybody else. Her kindness and her sensitivity is not her weakness. It is actually her superpower and we really see it come around at the end. I think in our crazy world that we live in right now, I'm glad we can provide a reminder that kindness goes a long way. Every day working on this set and being with these people was a true gift and Niko added to that.
There's also something refreshing about Niko especially since she could've easily become a caricature, especially with her love of anime.
YK: I appreciate that question because, just like you said, it's easy to look at Niko on paper and ask, Why does she like anime? Why is she so cute-y? But the most important and interesting thing about her is not that she's Japanese. If people take that away as Niko's arc then they're really missing who her core is. I was able to have wonderful collaborative conversations with Steve Yockey, the showrunner, about this. In the fashion elements that we see from her, I was able to incorporate more elements of myself to find that authenticity, but also not make her feel too larger than life.
There's a responsibility that I hold with this character. It's something I care about and it's something that I've been sitting with and holding on to. But having people like Steve and our creative team who are open up these conversations and make adjustments along the way, and letting me play Niko the way that I wanted to play her, was a really good start. And it's my character. It's someone I care about, and I will always be protective of her.
Briana Cuoco as Jenny Green, Ruth Connell as Night Nurse, and Jenn Lyon as Esther Finch
Briana, I need to know how long it took you to put on all those tattoos.
BC: We got it down to maybe like 1:45, two hours with makeup. I actually kind of liked it. Like get into the day, you turn into Jenny, you get into her mind.
This show is filled with so many badass women. It's really refreshing.
RC: I think there is a character in the show for everyone and that's what's wonderful about it. Every arc is fulfilled for every character.
Jenn, you in particular seem to be having a lot of fun in this role. She's very Stevie Nicks.
JL: In the breakdown it said, 'Stevie Nicks rock-type.' And I was like, 'The is so brilliant!' To have a witch not be that sort of cookie cutter [witch-y laugh]. But to be a kind of exhausted party girl, I think it's so funny and ultimately scary. Her sinister comes out in such casual violence.
She's just feeding girls to a snake, no big deal.
JL: Anything to keep her beauty. Like, honestly, what's the big deal.
Meanwhile, Ruth, you play a bit more of a stricter character. Which is so different from the chaos of this world.
RC: You need people like the Night Nurse to keep things just so organized. It's necessary.
Not as much as paperwork for you personally though.
RC: It's actually the bane of my life right now. I honestly was a little afraid to play her. Because I knew having come playing Rowena in Supernatural, who was real balls to the wall and enjoyed being evil, to playing this person, I had to ask what we her more subtle motivations. She's kind of more human, if you can even say that.
Jenny went through a lot in episode 5 thanks to Maxine, played by Lindsey Gort.
BC: It was such a delight. I;ve said this a million times, but I felt like I knew Jenny the second I auditioned for her. And the fact that we got that arc to see really who she is in her heart and Niko is really the one that's gets her out of her shell. It feels very uncomfortable for her and obviously she was really bit in the ass from it, but it was a freaking blast.
Also a huge moment for Jenny as she gets closer with Niko and Crystal.
BC: I know Jenny loves those girls and cares about them. Otherwise, she would kick them out in two seconds, right? She cares. She doesn't want to show that and it's very uncomfortable for her. But she does.
In the same way, the Night Nurse also kind of cares for Edwin and Charles or else she wouldn't have given them that chance in hell.
RC: She cares about things being as they should be and then these pesky boys come along. And she's somewhat moved against every molecule inside her. She is somewhat compelled to give them a tiny chance. It's really fun to play that.
I'm actually kind of upset over Esther's fate.
JL: I mean, she's immortal...so, who knows? But I did get dragged out by Lilith. She's a bitch. Have you ever met a blood goddess? They're the worst! They're like the ultimate mean girl!
Joshua Colley as Monty
How familiar were you with the Dead Boy Detectives before joining in?
JC: I knew about it from Steve's Doom Patrol episode that he had written. I was such a fan of them in that show because my friend Abi Monterey is in the show. So when this series came around, I was really excited to be a part of it. Monty just kind of fell into my lap. Steve had written the part with me in mind and I was so excited to just really dive into it. I mean, I didn't think I would be playing a crow. But it's so much fun!
There so much humanness in him though! It feels like in the Wizard of Oz, he found his heart.
JC: I know and it gets ripped out of him practically. But you can also look at it like he's learning a lot of lessons. It's really like a kid experiencing emotions for the first time. He comes with the intention of spying on these people and then his teenage hormones take over and he's falling in love. The true Monty is such a kind soul, I like to think. It's that push and pull of him fighting against what his kind of mother wants him to do versus what his heart is telling him, which is kind of relatable for a lot of people. There's so many storylines in the show that can be so relatable to a lot of different people, especially queer people.
You had a fantastic scene partner in Jenn.
JC: She's my favorite part of the show. Jenn is my soulmate. I love with my entire heart. Right when they would yell cut, after she's kind of bullying my character, we'd be laughing and joking.
The kiss scene with Edwin was both a beautiful and heartbreaking moment.
JC: The whole show is such a roller coaster. It's so fast paced as it goes from one moment to the next. But it was very realistic. It's also a really big turning point for Edwin, because he's never really confessed his feelings for a boy like that. Especially because he has such trauma, especially with the era that he's from. But ya know, it was it was it felt very real in the moment doing it.
It's so truthful. And then the switch, like what happens right after where it all goes to shit. But I love that vulnerable moment. George and I talked a lot about the vulnerability of doing these romantic scenes and them unearthing some things in us that we hadn't even explored. I felt so safe with him and I'm so so happy with the way it turned out.
Netflix's Dead Boy Detectives is now streaming.
