The unthinkable happened on FROM Season 3 Episode 1, when the hellish monsters that haunt the town’s streets ambushed Boyd and Tian-Chen.
And then we lost Tian-Chen, one of the OG townspeople. She was a familiar and comforting presence in the town who endeared herself to everyone she met.
It was a shocking and devastating loss for the town, but none more than her son Kenny, who was out in the woods the evening of her death and had to come back to the news and quickly prepare himself to bury another parent in that never-ending nightmare.
We spoke with series star Ricky He, who portrays the kindhearted but often conflicted Kenny Liu on the hit series about the hour and much more.
After the events of FROM Season 3 Episode 2, the affable He had a lot to discuss with us, and we had a lovely chat that delves into the character and looks ahead to what we may see during the season.
All you FROM fanatics won’t want to miss this one!
Check out the interview below!
First of all, you gave an amazing performance in the second episode. I don’t think I cried less than five times throughout the whole thing. It was so emotional, and you did so well. I just wanted to tell you that.
Thank you so much.
You’re welcome. Can you walk me through the emotions when you found out that this was the way the story was going to be, that Kenny was going to lose his mother?
Yeah, the initial reaction was just, I posted on my Instagram, a couple of days ago of my literal initial reaction after I finished reading the episode, which is just like, I was a puddle.
I was just a mess, and the descriptions were just too much, and I had to get up and go outside and go for a walk; it was just too much.
And there’s a part of you that thinks with everything that’s happened in season one and everything that’s happened in season two to Kenny, you’re like, “Yeah, they’re going to stop fucking with him. That’s it, he’s fine, he’s going to be fine.”
And then, lo and behold, they’re like, “Yeah, we’re taking your mom too.” It was a lot.
Obviously, without spoilers or anything like that, where does Kenny go from here? What’s his next step in processing and dealing with all this?
Well, I think he has to make a choice, whether consciously or unconsciously, which is, for the longest time, even in season two, I thought, “Okay, I guess we’re entering Kenny’s villain era. I guess he’s about to just really start losing it.”
But alas, he stepped up to the plate and he’s a better man than I could ever hope to be. And I think now, with what’s happened with Tian-Chen, he’s kind of back to that crossroads of making a choice.
He can either become a menace and just become completely a monster like those in town, or he can take up the mantle of caretaker of the town and honor his mom’s spirit and become someone who’s just there to make sure to support everybody’s needs.
And I think we’ll see the choice relatively soon.
He had that little tease of villainy, I guess you could say, when he wanted to go down to the tunnel and was ready to do whatever out of grief. But Boyd was there for him, and I love the Boyd and Kenny dynamic. It’s really been tested over time.
How would you describe that relationship, how it’s evolved, and where we’ll see it continue to move forward?
Yeah, I think that Boyd and Kenny’s relationship is like in real life — it’s a very complex relationship. There’s so much unspoken between them.
There’s so much heartbreak and, for Kenny, betrayal on Boyd’s side that they’re not back to where they were in season one.
But at the same time, at the end of the day, this is somebody I will always lean on. Because, especially now, he’s all I have.
And I’m grateful that in real life, Harold Perrineau is truly a mentor, kind of like a father figure in this career stuff for me for sure, and just a really, really good friend that I can lean on, and I can feel very comfortable playing with this dynamic with him on screen.
Another person that Kenny has a past with, if you want to say that, is Kristi, who was there for him a lot in this hour. What can you tell us about that relationship and where we’ll see it in season three?
I think that in classic nice guy fashion, Kenny understands and respects boundaries too much to even try to impose on the relationship at all.
And I think there’s an understanding now that there was love here and there will always be love here, but it can be a bit of a platonic love where it’s like, “I will always support you no matter what, and vice-versa.
“But your literal chosen person outside of town has shown up in town. I got to respect that and honor that.”
And I don’t know. It could always change, and it could always shift, but right now, he’s just trying to make sure that he’s being respectful of both Kristi and Marielle.
What’s something that from season one to now you feel like you’ve learned about Kenny that maybe you didn’t know before when you first started playing him?
I realized a couple of things, the first one being that, again, he’s a way better person than I could ever hope to be or aspire to be.
He’s always going to try to do the right thing, to be the eager, earnest, and righteous person his parents set him out to be.
But also, he does have this big wave of rage inside him that is brewing inside him and that he’s capable of. And I think it’s something that he checks because, especially after what happened with him and Sara outside the diner.
It was never written in, but as an acting choice, I think that after that moment, I would imagine that he and Tian-Chen had a conversation because that’s not the type of man his mother raised.
And I think that Tian-Chen would’ve had a conversation with him about, “You can never blow up in front of people like that again, don’t do that,” you know what I mean?
“That’s not who you are.” And so, it’s something that he constantly checks, and I think he’s going to try to manage on his own now that Tian-Chen’s gone.
Kenny and Jim teaming up in the premiere to go into the woods is not a pairing we always see Kenny in. So, what Kenny pairing would you like to see more of?
I would love to see the return of the Kenny and Jade pairing because that’s so fun.
I love hanging out with Dave; he’s so fun. Also, Jade is so deeply rooted in the mysteries of the town that I feel like I want to be deeply rooted in the mysteries of the town.
If he’s going to be going out there and solving the crimes and thinks it’s a simulation and he thinks it’s a game, I want to be there for all the hijinks.
Can you give us one word to tease season three?
One word? If I could tease one word, I’m just going to say suit.
Suit. Like S-U-I-T? Suit?
Yeah. What does that mean?
What does that mean? I guess we’ll have to watch, right?
I guess we’ll have to find out.
***This interview has been edited for length and clarity.***
You can watch FROM at 9/8c on Sundays on MGM+.
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