Exclusive Interview: Pop Culturalist Chats with The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina’s Justin Dobies

Whether it’s covering his younger brother Harvey’s shift at the Greendale Mines or putting his dreams on hold to protect him from their abusive father, Tommy Kinkle is a ray of light on The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. The actor bringing him to life is Justin Dobies, who’s not only stealing scenes, he’s also stealing hearts. Being that he is the oldest of six, the classically trained Yale graduate was attracted to the role because in a lot of ways it felt close to home: “It was fun to play a character who’s focus is loving and supporting his brother. It’s a nice space to live in.” Pop Culturalist spoke with Justin about The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Tommy’s fate, and learned his interesting take on his character.

The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina

PC: Did you base Tommy and Harvey’s relationship off any that you share with your siblings?
Justin: You could say that. I have two brothers, that at times, I’ve had a similar relationship with, but so much of that was already on the page with the way Roberto wrote it. Also, working with Ross was great—he’s such an easy guy to like.

PC: How did you, Ross, and Chris approach the dynamic between the Kinkle men?
Justin: We chatted about their dynamic, but so much of that was actually found on the day in the room. There’s a big scene in the third episode where the three of us get into a scuffle. It was a lot of fun, particularly because they just let the cameras roll. It was something we got to play out like a theatre scene. It got cut down, but it was great fun and we were all like, “Alright! We’re just going to roll with it and we’re all going to get in there, do our bits, and the camera will find us and we’ll move on.” That was one of our first big days where we actually got to play around all three of us together.

*Spoiler Alert*

PC: How early on did you know where Tommy’s story arc was heading this season?
Justin: I didn’t know he was going to die, but I assumed he was going to. I was only there for a few episodes and was told that they were going to do something dramatically fun with the character. I very much got the impression like, “Oh, he’s going to die.” There’s a scene between Tommy and Harvey that was originally written as us saying “I love you” instead of “Happy Thanksgiving”. It was part of a larger scene that got cut down, but when I first read them saying, “I love you”, I was like, “Oh, that’s it. Tommy’s gone. There’s no way. He’s too pure. He’s going to die.” No one actually officially told me I died for a while, though.

PC: We live in this age where there’s social media and audiences had a really strong reaction to Tommy’s fate. Do you think this is the last we’ll see of him?
Justin: It’s a world of magic where anything can happen, but I’m not holding my breath for it. I don’t know how many times you can get brought back to life. He got pretty gnarled up there, but we’ll leave that to the fans to make outcries to Roberto.


PC: Harvey learns a lot from Tommy. What do you think is the biggest thing that Tommy’s learned from Harvey?
Justin: Tommy sees a lot of purity in Harvey that he doesn’t see in himself. In retrospect, when you watch the show, it’s easy to be like, “Oh, Tommy. What a sweet guy,” but while playing Tommy, it felt very different. Tommy only saw sweetness in Harvey and that’s something he didn’t see in himself or in the world around him. It was that purity that he struggled for in his own life that he got very much from Harvey in the way that Harvey operated through the world.

Career Questions

PC: Do you remember the moment when you realized you wanted to pursue a career in acting or when you fell in love with the craft?
Justin: I have two tiny ones. One is when I toured an art school when I was in junior high. They had this film-television program and I saw the studio and was like, “This is what I’m going to do for the rest of my life. I’m going to make movies.” With acting specifically, I remember having the memory of seeing whatever movie I saw, I would be like, “Oh, I want to do what those guys do.” I remember seeing Twister and being like, “Oh, I want to be a storm chaser,” and then having the clarity of mind to be like, “Maybe I don’t want to be a storm chaser. Maybe I want to pretend to be a storm chaser. I think I want to go into acting.”

PC: How did growing up in Minnesota impact your career?
Justin: I don’t know if it played a role. Obviously, it’s where I was and I was lucky to be there. Minnesota has a very big theatre scene, which I actually wasn’t very much a part of at that time. I was making scrappy movies with my buddies and doing high school theatre, community church theatre, and stuff like that. Most of my “artistic sensibility” was formed by screwing around and making movies with my friends.


PC: What would you say is the biggest lesson you learned being a part of this industry?
Justin: Oh, man! Hard work pays off. It’s not always one-to-one because there’s so much chance in this industry. There’s a lot of luck involved, but if you want to get lucky, you have to work hard to be able to take advantage of that luck when it comes for you. I’d also say that nothing goes as fast as you want. Everything takes so much longer to develop, whether it’s a project, the process of getting cast in a role, or producing something yourself. Everything takes quite a bit of time.

PC: When you set out on this career, what were some of the major milestones you hoped to accomplish?
Justin: This is where luck comes in! After graduating college, I built a raft and went along the Mississippi River. While I was doing that, I thought, “Once I got back to society, I want to hit the ground running, and focus on pursuing acting. I want to be in a major motion picture within two years.” Then, I got incredibly lucky. I landed a role in my first movie, Dear White People, which was a little over the two year mark, but it was close enough. [laughs]


PC: Besides The Adventures of Sabrina, do you have any other projects you can chat about at this time?
Justin: I don’t have anything that is set in production right now. I’m auditioning, which is just the actor’s life. Then, I’ve got two other projects in development that I’m working on right now, which are very cool.

Pop Culturalist Speed Round

PC: Guilty pleasure TV show?
Justin: I’m on season three of Dawson’s Creek. Honestly, I watched a couple episodes of the first season and then people were telling me, “Well, it gets better when you get to the good stuff in the third season.” I was like, “All right. I’m going to watch it,” so I’ve been watching that.


PC: Guilty pleasure movie?
Justin: I haven’t seen this actually in quite a while, but I’ve been meaning to, which is Reign of Fire. It has Christian Bale and a bald Matthew McConaughey. They take on dragons because they got unleashed in society. It’s a terrible movie, but it’s the first PG-13 movie that I saw in theaters that hadn’t been vetted by an adult. My parents were like, “Yeah. All right. You can just go with your friends and see it.” I was like, “Awesome. This is the coolest thing ever.”

PC: Favorite book?
Justin: It’s between two. For me, I’d say For Whom the Bell Tolls by Hemingway. I read that every year, but then I also love All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy. That’s one that I just preach the gospel of and try and get everyone to read that.

PC: Favorite play or musical?
Justin: Hamlet

PC: A band or artist that fans would be surprised to learn is on your playlist?
Justin: I don’t know how much fans think about what I listen to on my playlist to begin with. I’d say J Dilla, maybe. I love his Donuts album.


PC: If you could adapt another comic or reboot a show, what would it be? A comic or a show?
Justin: That’s a good question. Oh, I want a Rocketeer reboot.

PC: If you could pick a familiar, what would it be?
Justin: Oh, it would be a wolf. Come on, man. Just have a wolf familiar follow me around.

PC: If you could cast a spell, what would it be and why?
Justin: Oh, that’s a good question. If I could cast a spell, what would it be? It’s almost like a superpower sort of question. I think probably if I could cast a spell to teleport things.

Make sure to follow Justin on Twitter and Instagram, and binge-watch season one of The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.