EXCLUSIVE: Nicholas Coombe & Miles Gutierrez-Riley Look Back on Season 2 of The Wilds
Nicholas Coombe and Miles Gutierrez-Riley joined The Wilds family in its second season, which premiered today, May 6 on Prime Video, and made quite the impact on the show!
We got the chance to chat with these two stars about joining the series, their characters, what they learned about themselves while filming, and so much more. Check out what they had to say below!
On how they are similar to their character and some of the challenges they faced playing these roles:
Coombe: “You can always find similarities within a character. That’s one thing I really love to do is read a scene and be like, ‘Oh, I would react similar to him in that.’ I like finding those moments, but I think Josh is a very neurotic panic attack prone kid. He wakes up and he’s like, ‘Huh, I’m breathing.’ It was really fun to play him. The challenging thing for me personally was, my previous work has been a lot of comedy. This role for me was exciting and challenging because it dives into a lot of drama and real and deep moments, and that was a challenge for me in a really good way. I was able to learn from all my co-stars and bounce off each other. That was a really great learning experience.”
Gutierrez-Riley: “Ivan and me have a lot of similarities. We share literal identities and also just ways of looking at the world, viewpoints. But I think the difference is that we express ourselves differently, we have a different relationship to conflict. I think Ivan’s a bit more fierce in that zone, a bit more ready for it. The sort of challenge that comes with that is being ready to fight as the character, stand up for what you believe in this way that is a bit different than you. But through that, I think I learned a lot about what it means to stand up for yourself and how to snap back when you feel like you’re being disrespected or walked on. That’s kind of empowering, ultimately.”
On what they identified the most with their characters:
Coombe: “Josh, he’s a kid that comes from a really wealthy family. He’s grown up in this really peaceful, beautiful environment. His family’s normally away on vacations at these amazing places. I think seeing Josh thrown into a vacation environment, but the plane crashes this time and he wakes up on an island with a bunch of people he doesn’t know is a really fun journey for him in regards to how I relate to him. There’s definitely moments when, I mean, I think I would also stress out in that situation to be completely honest with you. I think anyone would. So I found those moments quite for on to play with and see what we could do in regards to how Josh would react. I like that aspect of him.
Gutierrez-Riley: “I love that Ivan is fashionable. I love that he’s funny. I love that he’s smart. I love that he cares so much about the things that he cares about. Again, I agree with Nick, a lot of the ways that he reacts to situations, I feel myself having similar feelings in those kinds of scenarios. But at the same time he is ready to fight, he’s really conflict oriented. He’s very defensive, has a lot of guards up, which I understand. I had to really figure out why he was feeling so defensive, why he was always feeling cornered. It’s a vulnerable part of a character to touch.
On whether they learned anything about themselves during filming:
Coombe: “As I said earlier, I come from a lot of comedy, this was a huge challenge for me, to do this role. And there was a lot of moments throughout the season where I was like, ‘Whoa, I’ve never done anything like that before. I haven’t had to really dive into like a deep moment.’ That for me was challenging, but I think through a lot of trust and respect with the fellow cast, was able to pull those moments off. And I think that was really nice when I sat back and watched the season, I was like, ‘Oh, wow. I think Josh really came through how I wanted.’ That for me was really nice to watch. I was really happy with it.”
Gutierrez-Riley: “I think I learned to not take for granted these identities that I feel personally so comfortable with, that feel so implicit and inherent to who I am. Ivan is often standing up for himself, he’s still sort of figuring himself out in this big, scary world where he is this minority. To figure out from Ivan how to prioritize yourself and how to take care of yourself when you feel a little in danger. How to express yourself in more than one, more ways than just verbally. It was good, I feel like it taught me about empathy, honestly.”
On what it is like for them as actors to dive into the complex content featured in The Wilds:
Coombe: First of all, I was a fan of the first season, so having the opportunity to jump on board a show that’s already so successful and already telling so many amazing stories was a really exciting thing. I think being a part of it, it’s been an amazing experience to share these stories. You read the script and you sit back and you go, ‘Wow.’ I think it’s really cool that we get to share this moment and put all this work to hopefully give the opportunity to people who are watching the show to talk about it in their real life and I think that’s a really amazing thing.”
Gutierrez-Riley: “I think the beauty of this ensemble show is that you’ve got 16 characters that are well rounded, dynamic, full of strengths and weaknesses and people that make mistakes. In that, I think the audience is really able to connect to these people, laugh with them, cry with them, see themselves in them. When it comes to dealing with sociopolitical issues, things that might be touchy, how beautiful that this cast of young actors gets to traverse these terrains that are important. As Nick said, people are going to watch these stories and see themselves, see characters like them talking these things out, dealing with these very complicated issues. That’s what authentic representation is about. It’s very critical.”
On what they used in their own personal journey to help your character with face their fears:
Coombe: “Josh is definitely a hypochondriac so throwing him onto an island, it’s not a great combination. You got this kid who is addicted to taking pills for any reason. He’ll just find a reason to do that, to make himself feel better. He also doesn’t really fit in necessarily. He wants to fit in and he means well, but he doesn’t have a lot of friends in his real life. Throwing him in this environment with all these dudes that he doesn’t know and in this crazy scenario where you’re trying to not only go through being a teenage guy, but also trying to survive on an island was a pretty fun, but hectic experience. I think personally, you just grow with the character. Every episode ramps up and every time you get the new script, you just read it and you go, ‘Okay, I’m going to dive into this and just trust and have fun with it and see where we go.’ I enjoyed that aspect.”
Gutierrez-Riley: “I share a lot of similarities with Ivan in that we share a lot of identities. A lot of ways we look at the world, we’re both very big personalities in a room, but I think we have differences in the way that we express ourselves, in the way that we deal with conflict or being around, as you said, people that Ivan normally wouldn’t choose to be around. When it comes to bringing myself to the character and that experience, I have been a fish out of water. I’ve been a big fish in a little pond, little fish and a big pond. I’ve been in a lot of new scenarios throughout my life. I’ve had to introduce myself to a lot of people, and I personally used comedy and graciousness and using the things that make me different to sort of bring myself to the table. I think I have to do a similar thing with Ivan. He is in this ensemble of people that are very different to him. So you just have get to know how the character understands themselves and bring out all those little idiosyncrasies and little ways of telling jokes and little ways of moving your hands that make that character stand out.”
On whether they believe that the island impacted them in a positive way and helped them grow?
Coombe: “A lot of Josh’s journey happens on the island. We don’t look too much into his past. It’s how he deals with what’s thrown at him. I think he grows a lot. He goes through a life changing moment on the island and I think after having the community of boys come around him and support him, it really helps him feel loved and he has friends for the first time in his life. I think overall it ends up being positive without giving too much away.”
Gutierrez-Riley: “I think Ivan comes onto the island confident, big ego ha has this idea that he has a really deep understanding of himself. But through the events that happened on the island, I think he reflects on who he was before and has to figure out how to deal with people that are challenging to him and that challenge his ego and that make him feel insecure. I think through events that occur on the island, he sort of learns to understand empathy and softness and vulnerability, and how those are just as powerful as his fierceness, his ability to fight, his sharp version of confidence. I think we sort of get to a more well rounded, soft version of Ivan.”
On what their hopes are for fans to get from the season:
Coombe: I think one of the amazing things about The Wilds is all of the taboo subjects that we talk about on it. I think Amy, Sarah and the writing team do such an incredible job at bringing up topics that maybe aren’t discussed in your everyday life. If through watching this series, that gives the opportunity for people to maybe discuss their real life things that are going on, that they can relate to one of the characters about. I think that’s a really amazing thing.”
Gutierrez-Riley: “I think season one does a great job of presenting these different characters and giving them each these very full bodied portraits and character studies. What I’m particularly excited about season two is that you’ve got a new ensemble of teenage boys, but with the same writers and with that same care and attention to detail. You’re seeing a sort of softer, more sensitive, more vulnerable, more emotional side of being a teenage boy in America. I think that viewers will be very excited and sort of touched and challenged in being presented these really complicated ways of looking at boys on an island.”
On which character would be the most annoying to be stranded on an island with:
Coombe: “I’d probably get under my own skin, to be honest. That’s a hard question. If we’re talking about characters, definitely Kirin.”
Gutierrez-Riley: “I think in terms of characters, pretty similarly to Ivan, I think Kirin would get under my skin.”
On which female character they hope to interact with in season three:
Coombe: “I would love to see Josh and Fatin. I think that would be a hilarious combination because they’re nothing alike. I think she’d have a lot to teach him about how to chill out and just have a good time.”
Gutierrez-Riley: “I’d love, love, love, love, love, love to see Ivan and Fatin as well. I think because they’re both so smart and they both feel a very specific slot in each of their respective ensembles. I think they’d be funny, I think they’d be a little mean. I think they’d have a lot of intelligent things to discuss. Power duo in my opinion.”
*This interview has been edited for length and clarity
Photo credit: Michael Kovac/Getty Images for Amazon Studios