Peter Sutherland has returned in The Night Agent Season 2, but the Netflix series isn’t giving him a break. The second season shoves Peter further into the world of Night Action and all the compromises that entails. Audiences will worry about Peter staying alive as he faces a new threat, but they’ll also wonder whether or not he’ll be worth rooting for at the end of it.
In an interview with CBR, actor Gabriel Basso explained how he prepared for the physical and emotional challenges in The Night Agent‘s nail-biting Season 2. He discussed staying true to Peter’s character even as everything seems to be changing around him. Plus, he reflected on the epic way that Netflix had him promote the second season: by jumping out of an airplane during the broadcast of an NFL game.
CBR: How did you perceive Peter in The Night Agent Season 2, given all the changes between seasons? You spent Season 1 learning who Peter Sutherland was, and now he’s sort of been promoted into a new job with new allies, in a new place, and he’s also had a lot to recover from.
Gabriel Basso: It’s a promotion in terms of expectation; a lot more is expected of him. I think he knows, having been involved in the Night Action program answering phones, what this job is, roughly. But now that he’s out there deployed, there is obviously the reality that sets in.
And what is drilled into him, and therefore the audience, is this idea of emotional detachment. But the best thing about Peter is that he’s got such a big heart, and that you conveyed that emotion to viewers. How did you approach playing him when the whole conceit of the season is he’s not supposed to show his feelings?
RelatedShawn Ryan speaks to CBR about how The Night Agent Season 2 doesn’t just raise the hit Netflix show’s action level – it has higher emotional stakes.
It’s tough. I’m fortunate enough that [The Night Agent showrunner] Shawn [Ryan] and the writers have written a lot of nuance there for me to play with and find. I think that’s what people like about Peter, is that he is a human being. I think that showing him struggle is not weakness, but it’s relatable.
Knowing that he’s not one of those people that’s willing to abandon his principle for convenience is huge, and then seeing how far that’s pushed, I think makes him an important character.
Your preparation for the action part of Season 2 actually started early, when Netflix enlisted you to “deliver” the trailer via a skydiving stunt that was broadcast during an NFL game. Did they know you could skydive, or how did that unique idea come about?
I don’t think they knew at the time that I could skydive. When they asked me, I was down for it, and brought proof that I had skydived previously a bunch. All I had to do was get recertified for my A Class license, and then go in pursuit of my B Class. I think I did 20-ish jumps over the course of three, four days down [at] Skydive San Diego. They were all great, and then the team from Red Bull came in and helped. It was a great process. Honestly, it was a very compressed timeline, but everybody that I worked with was amazing.
How much more intense were the action sequences in Season 2? The scenes are bigger this season, but you’re also now knowing they’re coming and more familiar with what’s going to be asked of you.
RelatedFrom Daredevil to Into the Badlands, these TV shows deliver intense, stunning, and well-choreographed action sequences that leave viewers amazed.
There’s more action in Season 2. There’s more physicality involved in Season 2 than there was in Season 1. I think there were, like, three or four fights total [in Season 1], something like that. In this one there was a fight every few episodes, or multiple fights. It was very demanding physically — but also, relative to the life of actual people that do this, I’m pretty privileged.
The Night Agent Season 2 is now streaming on Netflix.
