When you think of actors with range, no list is fully complete without Harold Perrineau. If you don't believe me, just check out his resume. From his quintessential portrayal of Mercutio in Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet and his award-winning performance in Claws as Niecey Nash's younger autistic brother Dean, to starring on cult classic series like Oz and Lost , Harold effortlessly pours himself into every role he attaches himself to which makes it so easy for audiences to form a connection with each of them.
Now, the Brooklyn native leads MGM+'s hit science-fiction horror series From , which recently kicked off its third season. The show follows a haunted town in Middle America that traps anyone who visits while the residents who remain there fight to survive the ravenous creatures who plague the night. Harold stars as Boyd Stevens, the self-appointed sheriff and mayor, in the twisted thriller.
So, to celebrate Season 3, I sat down with Harold for our Then & Now series to discuss some of his most memorable roles, while also getting some juicy details about what we can expect to see on From this year, and spoiler alert: you might want to watch it with all the lights on because Harold revealed this season is super dark! THEN: You are no stranger to working on shows about strange locations where people end up missing or dead. We got our first taste of that when you starred in the hit 2004 series Lost . Looking back, which scene has stuck with you for all these years? It's hard to say what scene actually stuck out for me, but I can say Season 1, as a whole, is something that I'll cherish for my whole life because we were in Hawai'i, and I had never even heard of shooting in Hawai'i.
So, we were in Hawai'i. We were doing this show that had all these weird conspiracy theories — there was a bear, my kid maybe had magic powers..
.is he an elf? Is he a kid? We don't know. When we took a break to come home in the middle of the season and we got off the island of Hawai'i and back onto the mainland, we all found out really quickly what a success the show was.
I was walking down the street, and for the first time people were screaming out of their car, 'That's Walt's dad. Oh my god!' So, Season 1 sticks out for me because I hadn't been on anything that had that kind of an impact on so many people at once. So I don't have a single scene, but I have that whole season.
We all really connected, because we kind of were like the characters. We were stuck on this island, doing a thing, and only we understood what was going on, the little that we understood..
.so it was kind of cool. Last year, you revealed that you were fired from the show for simply speaking up about giving your character more depth, getting rid of stereotypical storylines, and equal pay.
How do you feel about your decision today and would you have done anything differently? Oh, no. Absolutely, not. Look, I love everybody on Lost , and everything exists in the time that it exists, right? So, I'm never going to regret advocating for the character and for myself, as an actor.
Let the chips fall, where they fall. That doesn't bother me one bit. So, no, I wouldn't change it.
I would do exactly what I did then, I would do it now. NOW: You jumped back into the sci-fi genre with From , a series about a mysterious town in Middle America that traps those who enter, while the current residents try to survive the ravenous creatures who plague the night. What has been the most rewarding and challenging part about filming this series? So far, the most rewarding part is that we are kind of like Lost ; we're in this place and we're all together shooting this show.
We have a really shared and connected experience. I think we're doing a great show. We're having a great time, but I actually think we're doing really good work, and that's from the top down, from our creators to our actors to our crew.
I think everybody's working really hard to do a great project. The most challenging part of it is that 500 other shows are on right now, and finding our way, or finding a space for what I think is a really good show, has been tricky and challenging. But again, I'll go back to this: we've created our own FROMily — we've created our own group of people, and hopefully, we'll expand on it.
We have really connected with the people who watch the show and the people who create the show, and so that's also been really fantastic. So, although it's a bit challenging, it's not the hardest thing ever. You’re preparing to kick off the show’s third season.
You play the lead role of Boyd Stevens, the self-appointed sheriff and mayor. Are you satisfied with your character’s trajectory so far? Absolutely. I think the reason I wanted to be a part of [this show] is because I always found that Boyd Stevens is really sort of a complicated human being, or not a complicated human being, but just a human being in a really complicated situation.
Some of the choices that he makes are for the greater good, and sometimes are just for himself, or just what he thinks is right. So, in a group situation, those choices can seem really selfish and careless at times, but I like the way Boyd's going. I like all the choices that he has to make.
And in Season 3, for me, it feels like if Boyd had the option to just spontaneously combust, or blow up, and just be a pile of blood and bones, that's what he would do. He is just filled to the brim with anxiety and stress. He's just gotta get these people out.
Season 3 is so stress-filled. Do you know what I mean? It's a heartbreaking season. It's a scary season.
It's a season you'll get a lot of answers. That sounds like music to my ears. Without giving away any spoilers, can you hint to which questions we'll be getting answers to this season? Here's the thing I think is really great.
John Griffin (series creator) and Jeff Pinkner (executive producer) didn't want to make a show that's just about getting answers. They wanted to make a show about people, so you'll get the answers, but then the next question is, now, what are these people going to do? That's the thing that winds up being compelling. You're going to be like, "Ah, that's how that.
..Oh, what happens now? Ohhh!" There are a couple of things that seem like they came out of nowhere like, "Wait, but how did that happen?" And then once you find out how it happened, you're going to be like, "Wait, but if she was.
..hold up!" You reunited with executive producer/director Jack Bender, who you previously worked with on Lost .
What was that like and did it help having someone on set who was familiar with your acting style? Reconnecting with Jack Bender is actually fantastic because I've known Jack Bender for years. I did a project with Jack and that's where I met my wife. So, I've known Jack for years and years and years.
That helped us have a real shorthand as far as the acting or whatever goes, and we didn't have to deal with the idea of whether he trusts me or if I trust him. I know that he knows how to handle this kind of material. I know that he knows how to make this story live and be really compelling.
He knows that I'll come and bring as much of myself, as much of my human reality to whatever character I'm trying to do. We have that, so that makes it really, really easy to work together. Then we just have to go about answering questions, like "How do you get this done or how do we believe this," without having to question anybody's integrity or abilities.
it was a really great win when I found out that Jack was going to be the person helming the show. THEN: Speaking of reunions, you rejoined one of my favorite casts to complete the franchise The Best Man: The Final Chapters . How did it feel coming back as Julian? Was there ever any doubt or hesitation about continuing the story on TV, despite many fans believing The Best Man Holiday was a great conclusion to everyone’s storyline? No, not a single hesitation.
Actually, after The Best Man Holiday , we were originally going to do a third film. We were all down, but the film had some things that needed to be worked out. Luckily, it took a little time, and by that time, Malcolm D.
Lee (franchise creator and writer) decided, "Hey, let's try it over a number of episodes and do it on TV." We went about doing that. So, no, there's never been a doubt.
I love those folks. There's no question. I think you can see it on the screen.
Your friendship definitely translates onscreen. The four of us, me, Malcolm, Taye Diggs, and Morris Chestnut , started a bourbon company called Sable Bourbon that just became available on Friday. We've been working on it for a couple of years now.
It's a really great bourbon, and we have a great audience. I'm really lucky that I get to do it with my friends. I'm also lucky that [the bourbon] is coming out right now when From is coming out because I'm going to be watching it drunk-Tweeting [laughs].
Speaking of Morris and Taye, when I did the press run for The Best Man: The Final Chapters , Morris talked about him struggling during some of the choreographed dance routines. But while answering that same question, he also complimented you and Taye on being excellent dancers. Was there anything involving that franchise that you struggled with that might surprise fans? When we did the first Best Man , I hadn't done a lot of comedy before, so I was really, really quite insecure about it.
There was a scene where we're trying to stop Lance from ruining his wedding, and we go to the church, and [Morris] is so strong that he's, like, literally dragging us with his feet, through the church. I read that [script] and was like, "Hey Malcolm, you want him to drag me? Come on, I already look like a sucker. Now he's supposed to drag me in a church? This is crazy!" And he was like, "Harold, listen, it's going to be funny, trust me.
" I was like, "It's not funny to me, Malcolm. You're not getting dragged. This is not funny.
" It turned out to be one of the funniest things ever. By the time we returned to set, I was like, let's be funny. Come on, let's do it.
I love that. It was beautiful to see you all together again. Black franchises don’t always get this treatment — they aren't always afforded the opportunity to continue their storylines in this manner.
What did it mean to you? A thing that I had always thought in the beginning was that the types of Black characters that we've been seeing on TV until then were in a box. This ability to let us open that box up a little bit was not only something that we wanted to do, but it was also something people wanted to see. As the years have gone on, it continues to prove itself true that people want to see more of that.
..they want to see a continuation of that.
So, you see us as young guys just out of college, then you see us in the middle of our careers, and now you see us a little further on. Again, with the Sable bourbon — don't tell anybody, but I'm really just trying to get Malcolm to write another [ Best Man project]. That's it.
That's really what it's about. "Hey, Malcolm, have another sip. What about writing a new.
..?" We'll see how that works [laughs].
NOW: From has been refreshing to watch for so many reasons, one is that it’s a horror series led by a Black actor who doesn’t die within the first 10 minutes. How did it feel to step away from such an overused Hollywood trope by providing more representation? It's not that I didn't think about it. I did think about it, but I didn't put a lot of emphasis on it.
I've been saying for years, "Absolutely, I can do that. We can do that. I've just always been about it, you know? I feel like I'm constantly just doing the job.
And hopefully, it keeps proving the point that, yeah, you can lead these shows and it doesn't have to be stereotypical. You can find all the human qualities that exist in any other group of people, in me. It's been really fulfilling in that sense, but I try not to think about it too much.
I just try to be about the work and get it done. We have a cast filled with people, a really diverse group of people, and they're all about getting it done, so I'm really happy about that part. What are you most excited about for Season 3? What can we look forward to, outside of you drunk-Tweeting with us during the live episodes? I'm glad you actually said that, because I was literally just looking at my last tweet, and then I was looking at the trailer again, and I am so excited! I'm excited that MGM+ decided not to release all the episodes all at once, so we get to do it week by week.
I get to do it with the whole audience as well. I'm excited that for the next 10 weeks, we are going to be live-tweeting and talking and discussing. I'm going to play coy like I don't already know what's going to happen, and it's going to be a lot of fun.
I'm so excited about getting on Twitter and hearing people go, "Oh no! You didn't!" And I'd be like, "Yup, I did." I don't think you realize how excited we are. Although we've gotten so accustomed to binge-watching shows, it feels good to get back to doing things weekly and, digesting what we just watched.
I really love that. One of the really good reasons that we're going to do it for 10 weeks is — from the beginning — it's going to be heartbreaking, and you're going to need a week to recover from a couple of episodes. It's dark, man.
This year is dark. There's one episode I'm never watching again in my life. I'm never watching.
I'm not going to tell you which one though...
I told you, I'm going to play coy [laughs]. So, prepare ourselves to be mentally distraught? Got it! Yeah, but I'll be there. I'll be there to catch you.
I won't be watching that episode with you, but I'll be there to catch you. New episodes of From , Season 3, air every Sunday at 9 p.m.
ET on MGM+. You can also stream the first two seasons on Prime Video..
