The following contains (slight) spoilers for the end of 201.

The second season of Outer Range comes to Prime Video starting today. The series follows rancher Royal Abbott (Josh Brolin), who in season one found a dark void on his farm. In season two, he and his family are dealing with the disappearance of their granddaughter, Amy (Olive Abercrombie), while also trying to understand the revelation of Autumn (Imogen Poots)’s true identity. Meanwhile, the family is at risk of losing their land again to the neighboring Tillersons, now that Perry (Tom Pelphrey) is no longer around to face trial.

This season, Royal is finally able to tell his wife Cecilia (Lili Taylor) about the void and what happened previously, but is it too late? Not necessarily, according to star Brolin, who spoke with SciFi Vision recently about season three. “I think there's an inevitable recalibration that has to happen within the whole family unit that he doesn't really anticipate,” the actor told the site. “I don't know if he knows what is going to come, but what happens is it all becomes very chaotic, because instead of not saying anything, and being in a perpetual mystery, you're actually known now to be not trustworthy.”

The actor added that Royal's relationship with his family and himself, almost everything, changed. “You would think that by coming to terms with yourself and your own dishonesties, that everything gets better instantaneously, and that's not the way it works,” Brolin added. “The consequences that we suffer usually happen way after the fact and not really during the fact.”

Brolin also talked about his character’s biggest flaw: pride. “We’re all fallible,” said the actor. “…I think with Royal, there's this idea, and I think it comes from a good place of wanting to protect his family and wanting to keep things simpler, and wanting to keep things more practical and more tactile, and all that kind of stuff, but the truth of the matter is, it bites him, because you're denying things. You're denying things in yourself and your family and reality. You're living an idea. You're not looking at what's in front of you.”

For more from Brolin, including how you have to be willing to fail as an actor, working with Christian James this season, who played a younger version of Royal, and more, watch the full interview or read the transcript below, and be sure to check out season three of Outer Range, now streaming on Prime Video.




SCIFI VISION:   The first thing I want to ask you about is Royal now has finally been able to tell, you know, his family, different people what's going on, and he makes a point of saying how important that is to be able to share it. Do you think that that's really lightened things for him? Or is it kind of too little, too late? 

JOSH BROLIN:   I don't know if it's too late. I just think, and I've said it many times now, but I think there's an inevitable recalibration that has to happen within the whole family unit that he doesn't really anticipate. I don't know if he knows what is going to come, but what happens is it all becomes very chaotic, because instead of not saying anything, and being in a perpetual mystery, you're actually known now to be not trustworthy. And for whatever reasons, regardless of his motivation - so his relationship with his son has changed, his relationship with his wife changes, his relationship with almost everything changes, you know, with himself. It's like, you would think that by coming to terms with yourself and your own dishonesties, that everything gets better instantaneously, and that's not the way it works. The consequences that we suffer usually happen way after the fact and not really during the fact. 

SCIFI VISION:   Yeah, definitely. Now, there's an actor playing a younger version of you this season (Christian James), that's in quite a lot. Did you discuss together sort of how to make [your versions of Royal] match up at all? Did you work together at all in that? Or did he kind of do his own thing? 

JOSH BROLIN:   We did. We did, uncomfortably so. We did. I've done it [before]. I did a movie with Jason Reitman where there was a young version of me, and we talked. So, I've had some experience with it. It was hard. I think he had a look and a vibe that was really good, and I thought he brought something to it that I wouldn't have necessarily asked another actor for. But he just looked like a younger, I don't know, No Country [For Old Men] version of me, I guess. It was a strange thing. But I loved what he brought to it, and him personally, he would keep doing these things that reminded me of me, [like] where he would go and sit in the sun for too long. And I’d be like, “Dude, you can't sit in the sun when you're shooting.” [laughs] So, I think it was more of a vibe than anything. I thought he brought brought an appropriate vibe. 

SCIFI VISION:   All right, fair enough. The other thing I want to ask you is Royal has quite a few flaws that we've learned over these two seasons. What do you feel just personally is kind of his biggest flaw? And do you think that eventually, you know, season three, beyond, whatever, that it could end up being his downfall? 

JOSH BROLIN:   Pride. you know, the difference between living an idea and being willing to be fallibly human. I mean, we're all fallible. And it’s just [laughs] I mean, in my experience, too; it's like, what acting is. Acting is a profession of embarrassment. It's like, you're better off if you're willing to really look stupid, and put all the bad shit out there, along with whatever may be considered good, because you can't really find or mind the good stuff without being willing to fail. And I think those are the best people that I've worked with, especially in the acting profession. So, I think with Royal, there's this idea, and I think it comes from a good place of wanting to protect his family and wanting to keep things simpler, and wanting to keep things more practical and more tactile, and all that kind of stuff, but the truth of the matter is, it bites him, because you're denying things. You're denying things in yourself and your family and reality. You're living an idea. You're not looking at what's in front of you. And I think that's, if anything, parallel to my own life, if I've ever done that in the past, I've gotten a massive slap of humility. I usually get the big ones though.