Constantine is fighting for its life on NBC, its first season order having been cut by the network to 13 episodes with the promise of a
potential second season renewal. For this to happen, though, people absolutely need to watch the last few episodes and prove to the powers that are that there is indeed an audience clamoring for more.
As big a fan of
Constantine as any audience member, is actor Harold Perrineau (
Oz, Sons of Anarchy, Zero Dark Thirty) who portrays Manny, an angel who happens to be the
guardian angel (against his better judgment) of John Constantine (Matt Ryan). In the following exclusive interview, Harold shares his feelings on Manny's evolution and the series itself - which airs at 8PM Friday nights on NBC.
VOICES FROM KRYPTON: This show is so good, and it's a series that's improving as it's going on.
HAROLD PERRINEAU: We're on to something.
I think we've been on to something from the beginning.
VOICES FROM KRYPTON: I was one of the countless faces at Comic-Con in San Diego when things were still in the early stages and you guys were there promoting it. How would you say the experience for you has evolved over the course of the season so far and how you think Manny's evolved?
HAROLD PERRINEAU: I always had an idea - or at least we talked about Manny being a character that we would slow play. In the beginning we said "He's brand new, he doesn't exist in the comic world. We have to really establish Constantine, so we're going to slow play Manny," but there was always this idea of ramping it up towards the end of the first season. In the beginning it was interesting because there really wasn't anything for me to go on, not much to hold on to beyond my Baptist Church upbringing of what angels are, the King James Bible and doing all of this research about angels and what people thought about the idea. So there wasn't a lot to grasp. We were just making things up as we went along, because there wasn't a lot in the scripts regarding Manny. But
since then we've come up with a lot of really interesting things for Manny to do and go through and experience. Now that we've finished these first 13 episodes, I have a much stronger sense of who Manny is and what he wants. I actually feel way more secure now than I did way back when we were first starting up around the time of Comic-Con. I wasn't so secure. I didn't have 20 years of a comic to research through [
laughs]. I feel a lot more confident about what he does, what he feels, what he sounds like. It's been really, really good. And the stuff for Manny that's coming up is
really interesting. It's exactly what you think: you're just not sure exactly where you land with what Manny is doing as the season is going on. He's doing something and sometimes it feel rights and sometimes it doesn't, but if it stays on that line it's really exciting. Like I said, I feel more secure, but as the audience
you probably won't feel more secure. You'll keep going, "What
is he doing?" Just because of the way I look, people assume one thing about me that just might not be true. There are a lot of interesting things coming up with Manny but, again, we had to ramp things up quickly because our season stopped at 13.
VOICES FROM KRYPTON: What I find interesting is the evolution of the relationship between John and Manny. In the first few episodes, Manny seems to have a total disdain for John; he
had to talk to him. Didn't want to, but had to, but then you get to episode seven and there's...I don't want to say respect, but a better connection between the two of them.
HAROLD PERRINEAU: That's exactly what you're supposed to feel and what we talked about in the beginning. There
is disdain. Constantine
doesn't like angels, he doesn't like demons either... he doesn't like
anybody it seems. So Manny just doesn't like Constantine. I'm not sure he necessarily likes people, but Manny does have a job to do. And of all of the people to have to guard over, this is probably the
worst one. He would not have chosen Constantine for himself. So, yeah, at the beginning of their relationship there's a lot of distrust and anger. For an angel, anger is an interesting thing because it's different from people. But as things go on, they find a common place. They find something that becomes really interesting where Manny is John's guardian angel sometimes,
and there are times when John becomes
Manny's guardian angel. It's really interesting. Look at an episode like "Blessed of the Damned." Manny sees an angel and it's like seeing a kindred spirit. He's only been talking to John as far as the audience can tell, so it's really nice that Manny sees somebody he can actually communicate with. And then Manny needs a little counseling himself and John steps up. I think it's a really interesting relationship.
VOICES FROM KRYPTON: Production wise, have you been impressed with what they've accomplished on the show? I think the show's had quite a scope to it, frankly.
HAROLD PERRINEAU: I understand how pilots go, they have to establish a lot of things, especially with a franchise like
Constantine. But I've been really excited about the look of the show from the beginning. It feels small, almost like indie films, but I've loved our production, our special effects team. They've done an amazing job.
VOICES FROM KRYPTON: If you're telling an audience to watch this show, what would you describe as its power? Why should they be watching
Constantine?
HAROLD PERRINEAU: If you don't like the supernatural genre, then you shouldn't watch it. But if you
do, and you like stories about the
possible way that humans and spirits deal with each other; about forces that may be dealing with each other in the world around you when you can't explain shit or what may be happening, that's a reason to watch it. And to watch this one guy, this human being, not a superhero, this smart dude deal with all of these forces swirling around us all the time. It's just a fun ride.