aTVfest: A chat with Tom Payne and Aurora Perrineau from ‘Prodigal Son’

Fox’s “Prodigal Son” follows the relationship of Malcolm Bright, a troubled but brilliant police profiler, and his father, notorious serial killer dubbed “The Surgeon.” As Malcolm joins the NYPD to solve curious homicides, the connection he thought he has extinguished comes alive again, as the prodigal son returns to his loving father for advice on murders.

Tom Payne, who plays Malcolm Bright, and Aurora Perrineau, who plays Detective Dani Powell of the NYPD, offered some insight on their characters as well as career advice to SCAD students.

Q: Your characters are very specific and, honestly, very intense. How did you prepare yourself for the roles?

Tom Payne: There’s a podcast I listen to, about the daughter of a serial killer, and her going around and meeting relatives of his victims. It really brought you into the trauma of being related to a serial killer, because you think: When did it happen for him? Is it a trigger? Is that going to happen to me? And then outside of that, you deal with secondhand guilt, with all the victim’s families that hate you and want to do horrible things to you because that was what your dad did to their relatives. I read a lot about that.

But, actually, for Malcolm, that’s how he viewed his dad — all the stuff that he was told and read about, because he wasn’t present for any of that — but there’s also how he feels about his dad. It’s keying into that side of it, of knowing the love you have for your parents and of knowing the other information, and putting two things together.

Aurora Perrineau: I actually know a female detective in real life, so I kind of based my character off of her. There was a lot of talk with the producers about how they wanted her to be, and why she is the way she is. It was super collaborative, they’re really great, so I can be like “Oh, I think she might do this and that,” and they’ll rewrite it and think about why that helps. Also, I watch “The Killing,” which is a TV series I love with a detective who’s a very strong, driven character, so I want to do the same thing.

Q: Tom, your character, Malcolm, is very dark and troubled half of the time, but the other half, he seems surprisingly … chipper. Was this your interpretation of the character, or was it the producer’s idea?

Payne: It was on the page, from the pilot. I think it’s a coping mechanism for the character. You have to have some lightness; otherwise, his life will be relentlessly dark. And it’s not just Malcolm, it’s other characters in the show, like Edrisa (Keiko Agena) — it was on the page, but then different actors will do it in different ways.

Q: Aurora, can you relate to Dani Powell, personally, at all?

Perrineau: I definitely can relate to her sarcasm. I think a lot of times people think I have a very tough exterior, but underneath I’m a goofball. I don’t think Dani is a goofy person but she’s very soft inside.

Q: So we have a lot of acting students here at SCAD, whose goals, I’m sure, are to make it some day in Hollywood. Do you have any advice for them?

Payne: My goal was the same, really. I’m from England, and I dreamt of living in Los Angeles since I was 16. I had posters that I’d written on the wall, like “Think about California” to get me through my exams. I had a plan, I knew what I really enjoyed and what I really wanted to do. I went and trained like people at SCAD, and picked up an agent. I always had in my mind, like, “OK, I’m going to go to Los Angeles when I get the opportunity and start working there.”

I think what’s most important is following your passion and understanding what the right opportunity are. You can so much choice when you start out, and there are some choices that you can make, I think it’s important to recognize what’s going to be fulfilling for you, but also what’s going to take you to the next step. And generally the next step when you’re starting out is just eating food and surviving. I was lucky, I did some flyer-ing job, but I didn’t have to take another job outside of acting. That meant a lot to me.

But also, go you every meeting you can and meet everyone you can. Don’t say “Oh, I’m not good for that job.” Worry about the job when you get offered the job. Otherwise, it’s always about meeting new people and getting on people’s radar. Any opportunity you have, you should grab it.

Perrineau: Oh man, my advice is maybe a little different from the others. I think you should just remember that a job is never going to make you happy, you have to be happy within yourself. You have to do the self-work and self-care that you deserve. Keeping working hard at your craft and it’ll eventually kind of pays off because the energy just go in that direction, if you know what I mean. The job is never going to change your outlook.