Both Kevin Durand and Jonathan Hyde would be incredibly happy if FX renewed The Strain, based on the book series by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan, for a few more seasons. Both actors are having a terrific time working on the series and at the 2014 San Diego Comic-Con, they said working with del Toro and the rest of The Strain cast has been a great experience.
Durand (‘Vasiliy Fet’) and Hyde (‘Eldritch Palmer’), who were teamed up for press interviews at Comic-Con, also discussed their characters and the horror genre in general.
The Strain airs on FX on Sunday nights at 10pm ET/PT.
Kevin Duran and Jonathan Hyde The Strain Interview
Guillermo del Toro’s talented as well as being a nice guy. Can you talk about working with him?
Jonathan Hyde: “It’s sort of a marriage made in heaven. You get to laugh and cry and look terrific, all at the same time.”
Kevin Durand: “It’s pretty incredible to be led by someone who has such a set of skills. And on top of that is that charisma and enthusiasm, that just leaks all the way through the entire production. Everybody shows up to work and we’re all so excited to get to help tell the story.
He makes horror seem so beautiful. There’s a deep beauty behind the blood.”
Jonathan Hyde: “He sets the tone, for sure.”
What are you allowed to say about your character’s journey over the course of this first season?
Kevin Durand: “I think if you’ve watched even just from the second episode you see that he’s a meticulous, powerful soldier of sorts. He has a special set of skills and perhaps he will apply this set of skills in that kind of obsessive, meticulous kind of manner that he has in approaching rat killing towards killing larger blood-sucking vermin in the future.”
Did you do any research before taking on The Strain?
Jonathan Hyde: “I read a bit about the Hearsts and I was interested that I think it was 1908 they were seriously contemplating buying Mexico. That’s only a question of scale…a person who’s that powerful, who has that amount of cash. So, yeah, the idea that somebody could pretty much destroy humanity in pursuit of immortality is just a bit more of an effort, perhaps, than buying a whole country. But that sort of research I found quite interesting. Corporate power is probably the prime power in the world today, more powerful than governments, so that is interesting.”
Kevin Durand: “The script, the books, the graphic novels – so much is laid out for us. You just get to filter it through our beings and try and live up to the challenge.”
Jonathan Hyde: “And by no means are the books being rigorously followed. So much of what’s in the books is in the series, but there are departures that I think are very, very curious. Very interesting.”
Were either of you horror fans before this?
Kevin Durand: “I’ve been a really big fan of the genre for a long time. I’ve worked in a lot of sci-fi and horror over the years. And to be a huge fan of Guillermo’s and see these amazing worlds, these universes that he creates is just… To be a fan of the genre and to get to work with him, who, to me does it like nobody else, is pretty exciting.”
Jonathan Hyde: “I like apocalyptic stuff. Now that I’m thinking about it there’s a writer called John Brunner who’s written The Sheep Look Up and Stand on Zanzibar – these are major, terrific world issues that are absolutely brilliant. So, yeah, I’m a fan too of the genre.”
