Exclusive Interview: “Beyond” Actor, Burkely Duffield

Happy 2017! New year means new shows, and Freeform has one coming up called “Beyond” starring Burkely Duffield. “Beyond” is Freeform’s new intense sci-fi, action drama show coming to your screens on Monday, January 2nd.

I’ve got an exclusive interview with the show’s main star, Burkely, who told us a little more about the show. He also tells us about life on set, some cool stunts, and we even talk about superpowers and Hogwarts! Check it out below.

BEYOND - "Pilot" - A young man wakes up from a coma after 12 years and discovers new supernatural abilities that propel him into the middle of a dangerous conspiracy. “Beyond” will premiere Monday, January 2 at 9 P.M. ET/PT on Freeform. (Freeform/Katie Yu) BURKELY DUFFIELD

(Freeform/Katie Yu)

 

So, Burkley, you have a new show on Freeform called Beyond, can you tell me about it?

Of course! Beyond is centered around my character Holden, and it goes through his life at the beginning.  He falls into a coma when he is 13 years old for 12 long years, and miraculously wakes up in a snap when he’s 25.  In him waking up, he realizes that his entire world has changed and everything he knew from his past over 12 years has either disappeared or has changed drastically.  And on top of him having to cope with his entire new reality, he finds he has these interesting supernatural ability that he now also has to figure out how to use and put a handle on.

 

Oh wow, that’s very intense. So obviously you have not been in a coma for twelve years, but do you relate to your character Holden at all?

Yes! Despite the coma, I do think that I relate to him in many ways. As well as I feel like there’s going to be relatable bits for audiences in that he is experiencing a lot of parts of his life on screen that we find growing up. And we sort of take Holden through questions and parts of life that he missed during his teenage years and he is put in situations that very awkwardly he might stumble or fall and really not get out too smoothly on the other end. I can definitely recognize certain parts of his growing up that people see on stage that could be me.

 

Well you said when Holden wakes up, he gets some sort of superpowers. So if you woke up from a nap and suddenly had superpowers, what superpower would you want?

Oh! That would be a good nap! I don’t know what I did on that nap, but that’s pretty cool. I would think I’d like to be able to teleport – to go from one place to another! I could teleport from the couch to the fridge, grab pop, go back to the couch. Or I could grab myself some food or cross the world, so I think that would be pretty handy.

 

Where in the world would you want to teleport?

Oh well … You know what? I can go wherever I wanted to. If I wanted to lounge on the beach I could go down to Hawaii, Mexico, or Australia. If I wanted to go check out something cool in Europe, I could go eat a pasta meal in Italy or I could go check out the Rome Colosseum. I mean I think there are plenty of options let alone cool things in my life I’d still want to be able to go and see and do.

 

That would be a really cool superpower to have.

Yes for sure! It could definitely come in handy!

 

Well, I was watching the trailer and in it, someone tells Holden that in the 12 years he was in a coma, he was kind of off in a different world. So if you had to disappear in a different world, like Hogwarts or Narnia, do you now what world you would choose?

I think there are a lot of cool worlds I’d love to visit. As you were saying, Hogwarts and the Harry Potter universe or the Star Wars universe, I think it would be pretty cool to be a Jedi. I’ve always been a big fan of Lord of the Rings, so I think that universe.  But in saying that, all of those have some pretty nasty bad guys with pretty perilous places to be, so I think I’d really need to sit down and be careful of where I decide to go because every world seems to have its dangers.

 

That’s true! But maybe if you’re lucky and have superpowers like Holden you can figure it out.

Exactly! Find someway to be able to defend myself in wherever I seem to go.

 

So it seems like in the show, there’s a lot of action. Do you get to do your own stunts?

Yes! It’s a combination of myself doing the stunts, and sometimes, if they’re a little bit too dangerous, I have a very talented stunt man, Brennan, who is my stunt double on the show. But for the most part, I love the opportunity if they will allow me to be able to do those stunts. It’s a cool part of my job to be able to safely explore some interesting heights or something where I’ll be in a harness or jumping off something and do something. It’s a cool part of my job and I try to explore as many stunts as I can.

 

Do you have a favorite stunt that you’ve done?

I think there are some really cool ones but unfortunately it’s hard to talk about my favorite stunts without telling you what kind of mischief Holden seems to get himself in. So I would say that you’re going to have to wait and see. There are gonna be some very cool stunts that I myself am going to have to perform in the show.

 

Oh well I’m excited to see it. Other than the stunts, what would be the most difficult part of playing Holden?

I think regardless of the physicality that came with the role, there is a lot of fun challenges of this character growing up and his journey. I think that we had a lot of fun creating this character who really has this innocence about him that he comes into the world with this goodness inherently in his heart as he tries to navigate himself through the world and people and relationships. So I think one of the fun challenging part was being able to create that sense of discovery in any situation Holden finds himself in and keep it true to him sort of not having those building blocks of adolescent years that most of us do.

 

So he gets into a coma around the age thirteen and wakes up at age 25. That is a lot of life to be missing!  Was it an interesting process having to go back and relive firsts that Holden should have already had at a younger age?

Definitely! And it was a fun process too, to see those transitional parts of life that people grow up on and sort of base who they are from. It’s a fun story being able to watch this character track his way through these situations and from these situations to learn and move on. And you see this character progress from the boy that was 13 at the beginning of the show and really starting to gain his footing into becoming a man and to be able to sort of take those situations in a very compact setting from episodes 1 to 10.

 

Wow that’s really cool! So it’s a pretty intense show, but are there any funny behind the scenes stories you can share?

Yeah we had a really fun time shooting the show. It is very intense, but there are some fun comedic and light moments of  Holden’s life let alone everyone else’s that he interacts with. We’re such a tightly knit cast and it’s very talented cast to be able to act with and we’ve definitely had some funny and goofy moments either of us talking or laughing after a scene that’s one of an awkward moment as we sort of go through. So although it was a very intense show to shoot, we kept it very lighthearted and definitely had some fun giggly moments behind the scenes.

 

Who would you say is the biggest jokester on set?

I think it’s funny because I don’t think we have a stereotypical prankster that is the one guy to go to. I think we pass the torch from day to day. Whoever’s feeling a little bit silly and a little bit giggly at the time will pull a little prank on the other person. Or if you end up stumbling and falling someone will make a funny remark that will get everyone bursting out. So I say we sort of pass the torch to make fun of each other and pull little pranks on each other when we can while we’re shooting.

 

Awh that’s always fun! So, what are you most excited for people to see in Beyond?

I am so excited for fans to see really the journey of the show. I think we’ve got some really cool factors of our show that only intensify throughout the entire series. We’ve got some amazing relationships, we’ve got some dramatic aspects I’m so excited for our characters to sort of grow up through and as well as our action and sci-fi. We’ve got some really cool elements of our show that will keep audiences coming back and only in awe because our challenges and everything we get these characters in only seem to intensify throughout. So I think if you’re hooked in the beginning, you’re going to stay hooked through the entire season!

BEYOND - "The Man in the Yellow Jacket" - Holden tries to learn more about his new enemies in a new episode of “Beyond,” MONDAY, JANUARY 16 (9:00-10:00 p.m. EST) on Freeform. (Freeform/Katie Yu) BURKELY DUFFIELD

(Freeform/Katie Yu)

 

I don’t know about you guys, but Burkely has gotten me so BEYOND excited to watch his new show on show Freeform! Be sure to check out it’s special two hour premier on on January 2nd, at 9PM EST. Of course, follow us on Twitter and tell us what you think!