For fans who don’t know who Sebastian Blood or Brother Blood is, how would you describe him?
He’s someone who initially is quite introverted, who’s never quite found his place in the world. He’s not able to formulate meaningful relationships. He feels like something isn’t right in his life and in the world. He’s right about that because there is a sort of greater destiny in store for him, which he becomes aware of and gets swept along on this path. Then gradually, he starts to take control of it. It’s really a journey of the ego. He’s a guy who starts off with these big dreams, wanting to change the world. And as that starts to actually happen for him, the ego takes over.
What kind of preparation do you do to embody a character like Brother Blood?
First of all, I found the things I wanted to latch onto with him. What do I know about this guy? For me, it really started with, “Okay, well, where’s he from? Do I make him British or American?” I had a long chat with Greg Walker—Titans‘ showrunner—about that. We decided to make him British because I felt it gives him even more of a feeling of being an outsider.
I looked a bit at Joaquin Phoenix in Joker, of course, but he was a little more disenfranchised. There was a little more edge to him from the beginning. I felt like my character was a little more like Norman Bates, very sweet and tender. I was thinking about playing Sebastian more edgy with a little more of that anger of being rejected by society. But my wife said, “Maybe you should go more in the direction of him being sweet, innocent, and nice because it will give you a bigger arc to travel, and it’ll give you a more interesting journey.” She was right!
What makes him the perfect foe for the Titans?
