Luke James and Pam Grier Talk Portraying Darkness In ‘THEM: The Scare’

Prime Video’s THEM is back for a second season. This season of the anthology series is based in Los Angeles, and is set almost 40 years after the first installment Covenant. The Scare follows LAPD homicide detective Dawn Reeve, who is assigned to investigate the murder of a foster home mother. Her investigation uncovers a lot of potential evil, underlying racial tension, and impacts those in her close circle. Pam Grier stars as Athena, Deborah’s mother. On the surface, she’s a loving mother and devoted grandmother. But as the series continues, viewers uncover a secret she’s been hiding that can blow the investigation. 

It’s a role that Grier hasn’t been seen in before, but one she’s proud of this far in her career. She admits that horror was not a genre she ever intended to participate in, but thanks to series creator Little Marvin’s pitch to her, she was sold. And Athena’s life is one she could register with.

“This character, I had to show vulnerabilities, to show the love of my daughter and grandson. And that with the fact with my history, I’ve been able to historically, politically take care of them well and teach them well. And now I am becoming physically frail and mentally incapacitated,” she says of her character in a recent chat with PopCulture.com. “And I’ve got issues, health issues, and with the medical, I don’t know if the secret I’ve been keeping is going to be revealed or if I can continue harboring this secret. And now there’s paranormal events and episodes that I can’t control. And are they real? Are they psychosis? What’s going on? And I’m feeling very lonely because I don’t know who it is to tell…And I’m feeling I’m losing it. And there’s so many levels.” 

Luke James stars as an aspiring actor who is caught between a duality of being viewed as the nice guy but has sinister moments as he strives to be a darker version of himself as he thinks it’s what others desire. Often, viewers are unsure of who Edmund really is. The Chi star can relate to Edmund’s work as an artist, while also understanding his plight as a Black man. 

“I think for Edmund and for a lot of Black men, softness, tenderness, being odd, being very different, I think has been kind of made to feel not masculine in some sort of way. And I think for someone who is constantly heard that you’re not tough enough, especially him being an artist, him being an aspiring actor, and he’s getting these roles where they’re just not exactly who he is,” he told us.

James added: “So I think when he’s being complimented and being told that, “You’re just a nice guy. You’re such a nice guy.” It’s like almost like a challenge of ‘ I’ve never gotten where I’m supposed to be playing a hard guy. I’ve never gotten them.’ But the challenge of ‘I can be a hard person, I can be a monster. I could do that.’” 

The series premieres on April 25 on the streamer. Watch the full interview with James and Grier on our YouTube channel.