EXCLUSIVE: Zyra Gorecki, Nicholas Gonzalez & Eoin Macken Dish On What’s to Come in ‘La Brea’s’ Final Season
La Brea returns for its final season tonight, January 9. In honor of its final chapter, BB had the amazing opportunity to chat with stars of the series Zyra Gorecki, Nicholas Gonzalez, and Eoin Macken ahead of the premiere.
On what they can tease about this new season:
Nicholas Gonzalez: “It’s a bigger world. The concept of time and the use of time travel, I think just takes another huge leap.”
Eoin Macken: “All the dinosaurs are carnivorous. Every single one. The show is bigger, I think, and I know we think we said that every year, but this year it really is because they wanted to go out with a bang. So the show becomes just a bigger show and it’s even more integrated into the environment. And I think that all the relationships that have been set up over the previous two seasons all come to fruition in a very satisfying way. And I think that all the arcs of the characters have a real sense of purpose and a real sense of grounding. And I think there’s, from my point of view, I think there’s a really beautiful evolution in the relationship with Gavin and Izzy, which has been building over the previous two seasons, and they’ve always been best buds and in cahoots. And that takes another step forward. And I think that Levi and Gavin’s relationship has a really strong arc that it goes towards.
I think what they did really nicely in season three is there was enough time and focus for all of our relationships with characters. But I think that if you’ve seen the first three, not to give you guys too much, but the extra layers of the time travel stuff, I think is really important for building the grounding of the show and an even bigger sense of the world. And I think that the focus becomes slightly less singular to them just getting back from 10,000 BC. I think that it becomes a bit more about actually the dynamics of the relationships with everyone, which I think is a really important part of what season three is. It’s not just about getting the hell out of 10,000 BC and escaping dinosaurs. It’s also about making sure that all these relationships with the characters are fulfilled in a way that feels satisfying and gives them a nice end point.”
On when they got the final script of the series:
Eoin Macken: “We’ve got them earlier this time though, Nick. I think we got them earlier because the strike was happening, so they had to get the scripts in advance.”
Nicholas Gonzalez: “We did have them, but not completely all at once. And we did also talk extensively about where each of our characters were heading. And we all just, I won’t speak for them, but I know that it was very, I think, fortuitous for this season that knowing that it was the last season going into it, really scaled up everything. Because I think you realize we spent this time with these characters. This is our last opportunity to really express their journey. And we had so many new things happening and so many different focuses going on and characters arcs finally coming into fruition, but actually in sprouting in other new areas that were unexpected, that it was nice knowing as actors where we were headed so we could really give it that last final hurrah.”
On whether the last three seasons have taught them anything about themsevles:
Zyra Gorecki: “I’ll say this, don’t choose anger first. That was something I learned from Izzy is don’t be angry first. Figure out what the actual emotion is that you’re feeling.”
On whether they discussed who of the cast would survive the events in La Brea, if they were happening in real life:
Zyra Gorecki: “I think at some point, every single one of us had a conversation of who would die first, who would live, who would kill the dinosaur. There was so many conversations. I feel like Eoin, you would just have a lovely time and you’d just be posted up somewhere, and then a bunch of chaos would happen, and you’d be like, ‘This is great’.”
Eoin Macken: “Chike [Okonkwo] would die first. he’s a psychologist and those skills aren’t applicable in 10,000. It’s just the way it is. I tell him to his face, he knows he’d die first.”
Nicholas Gonzalez: “I was just about to say Chike would die first. He’s always falling over and knocking over things and tripping. He just wouldn’t last in a prehistoric setting.”
On what they hope fans take away from this season:
Nicholas Gonzalez: “Satisfaction. They finally be satisfied. No. But I guess in some ways because people have really gotten to know these characters and in such an intense, like Zyra said earlier, we’re all learning so much in a very short time, except for Levi, I think is one of the only ones who left for a considerable amount of time and really did grow up. But I think that because of that, we were talking about putting in all this work, knowing where it’s headed. I just really feel like, I hope they are happy with the story. I hope that it gives a punctuation to this wild ride and that people feel the characters are where they should. I feel like it’s a really nice ending.”
Eoin Macken: “I think they’re going to have a lot of fun. I think the important part about season three is that it’s a lot of fun. There’s some different things that they do with season three from an adventure point of view, and it becomes even more, I think, action and adventure orientated. But at the same time, I think it really allows you to connect with the characters individually and have them finish. I’ve always been very excited for what Izzy’s arc is in season three, and she has a lot of adventure in it. And for me, I think you’re like, you feel satisfied because the characters go somewhere that you want them, because you want them to be able to complete their journey.”
Zyra Gorecki: “I feel like season three is everything that the fans love about La Brea. It has the emotion, it has the adventure, it has dinosaurs, it has all of this big, but also all of the small too, the small emotion.”
La Brea season 3 premieres tonight, January 9 at 9pm ET on NBC!
*This interview has been edited for length and clarity
Photos by: Jasin Boland/NBC