Cover story
ROBERT SHEEHAN AND TOM HOPPER on the superhero drama’s return that sees the team in unfamiliar territory
The dysfunctional superhero siblings are back for series two of
The Umbrella Academy
THE FIRST SEASON of comic-book drama The Umbrella Academy ended with the dysfunctional superhero Hargreeves siblings not only failing in their mission to prevent an impending apocalypse, but inadvertently causing it.
So using the abilities of one of their number, Five (Aidan Gallagher), to travel through space and time, they all leapt through a portal to try once more to save the world. But again, things didn’t go according to plan.
Season two opens with the siblings having been transported back to Dallas, Texas, in the early 1960s, but not together. They are scattered over a three-year time period and must find each other again – and quickly – because there’s a fresh apocalypse brewing and they only have a week to stop it.
While Luther (Tom Hopper) is boxing in back rooms to earn his keep, Allison (Emmy Raverlampman) is married, active in the civil-rights movement and has made a conscious decision to stop using her powers. Diego (David Castañeda) is in a sanatorium after trying to warn of the assassination of President John F Kennedy, while
Vanya (Ellen Page) can’t remember who she is, and Klaus (Robert Sheehan) has become a cult leader.
Tv&satellite Week chatted to Hopper, 35, and Sheehan, 32, to find out more…
WHERE DO WE FIND YOUR CHARACTERS AT THE START OF SEASON TWO? HOPPER: We’re in a situation we’ve not found ourselves in before, away from The Umbrella Academy, and having to fend for ourselves a bit.
HOW DOES KLAUS, WHO IS SUCH A FLAMBOYANT CHARACTER, FIT IN WITH THIS TIME PERIOD?
SHEEHAN: Klaus has been off drugs for quite some time. He’s spent a fair bit of time on his own. I wanted him to have that sort of sorrow of sobriety hanging over him. But that’s not to say that Klaus isn’t taking full advantage of the time – the show might even hint at him being an instrumental figure in bringing in the aesthetics of the 60s.
TOM, YOU HAVE TO WEAR A BODYSUIT TO PLAY LUTHER, WHO HAS THE UPPER BODY OF AN APE. WHAT’S THAT LIKE? HOPPER: It’s got its positives and its negatives. We shoot through the very, very hot and the very, very cold weather in Toronto – and the hot days are definitely harder. But you crack on with it and it really helps me feel what it’s like to be Luther. He isn’t comfortable in that body either – he’s an awkward, smaller man in a huge body – so as soon as I put that suit on and I’m immediately uncomfortable in it, it makes me feel more like Luther.
THE SIBLINGS LAND IN AMERICA AT VARIOUS POINTS THE EARLY 1960S. IT’S A VERY INTERESTING PERIOD IN HISTORY…
SHEEHAN: Our show’s always
harping on about the apocalypse, so I thought it was clever to choose the early 60s because they had the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962 and they were living in a genuinely apocalyptic world. Everybody thought every day would be their last day.
HOPPER: It’s quite apt that it’s coming out at this section of the year, after everything we’ve gone through and what’s going on in the world. I just hope to God that this world doesn’t have The Umbrella Academy trying to save them!
HOW HAS IT BEEN GOING TO EVENTS SUCH AS COMIC-CON AND SEEING PEOPLE DRESSED UP AS YOUR Umbrella Academy CHARACTERS?
SHEEHAN: It’s so lovely and
dedicated. Two weeks before lockdown, me and my agent went to Chicago for one of these events – and if we didn’t get corona there, it’s a pure lottery, because I hugged, like, two or three thousand people in two days! The costumes are so impressive, it’s all part of their community – they get together and try to one up each other. It’s great.