Exclusive Interview: Pop Culturalist Chats with The Last Kids on Earth’s Nick Wolfhard

The highly anticipated return of The Last Kids on Earth from Atomic Cartoons for Netflix is finally here! Last year, actor Nick Wolfhard blew audiences away as the lead character in the series adapted from Max Brallier’s bestselling graphics, which follows the adventures of Jack Sullivan (Nick Wolfhard) and his group of friends as they fight to survive a zombie apocalypse. Pop Culturalist caught up with Nick to chat about Season 2, diving back into his character’s mindset, and how they made the series bigger and better.

PC: The Last Kids on Earth special was well received by audiences and critics. Does that add any pressure heading into Season 2?
Nick: Honestly, no. I don’t want to say that this new season is going to blow the first one out of the water because that’s rude. But it’s really, really good. It’s awesome. There are so many great episodes, so many great little moments, and new characters. We really get into the meat and potatoes of the series with this upcoming season.

The first season was just a special. This will be the first full-length season that’s coming up. In the special, you met the four main characters. It was an appetizer. Now you get the main course. We’re introducing Mark Hamill as Bardle, Keith David as Thrull, Bruce Campbell as Chef, Catherine O’Hara as Skaelka, and we’ve got Rosario Dawson. I won’t say anything about her character because I don’t want to give anything away. [laughs]

But in terms of storylines, there’s so much there that will surpass the original special because we can tell so many more stories!

PC: The series features a lot of twists and turns. Which one has surprised you the most and why?
Nick: In the special, I liked the quiet moments where June is explaining why she stayed at the school and Jack explains why he wants her to come stay with them. If you’re alone in the apocalypse, it’s going to be miserable. She’s waiting for her parents at the last place she saw them. But honestly, at the end of the day, you will spend all your time alone. You won’t be able to survive like that, especially mentally.

Jack knows a lot about that because he’s never had a family. So in terms of advice and information about those choices, Jack is probably numero uno on that front. He’s the first guy who would be like, “You don’t want to be alone in this situation. You don’t want to be alone, period.”

In the second season, oh man, there are so many good ones. There’s a great training episode between Thrull and Jack. Thrull really helps Jack figure out what he’s going to do, what he’s willing to do, and what he’s willing to die for. If you got to go for it, you have to go in one hundred percent. You have to commit.
There’s another episode that focuses on June’s backstory and how Jack, Quint, and Dirk helped her out. They basically have this great idea, and then it backfires slightly, but they learn from it! It might be painful, but at the end of the day, it’s a good thing. Bad memories may lead to good things at the end of the day. It’s about improving yourself and sticking together.

And I can’t say anything, but the Season 2 finale is incredible!

PC: This is a breakout television role for you and one of the first times in your career that you’re living with a character for an extended period of time. What have you learned about yourself through this process? How did you get back into Jack’s mindset?
Nick: Jack and I are very similar. You know what I’ve noticed recently? A lot of the cast members have said that I look like Jack. [laughs] I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I have the same brown hair. We’ve got the same big nose, and we’re very similar in terms of attitude and goofiness. But it was easy to get back into character, I credit that to the script, the director, the writers, and the showrunners. It really takes a village to make a show.

On top of that, it also helps that my real-life experiences are similar to Jack’s. Jack didn’t have many friends before this whole apocalypse happened, and I didn’t have many either. Luckily, I had a family to help me out in those stressful situations growing up. Jack didn’t even have that. Jack’s whole situation made me think about how I wish I put more of my time into socializing because I had options, and Jack didn’t.

PC: You touched upon this a bit earlier, but there are new characters joining Season 2. Which of Jack’s new relationships has been your favorite to explore and why?
Nick: I really liked the relationship between Thrull and Jack. Thrull is very much a father figure to Jack. He teaches him how to be a warrior. He gives him goals. Gives him things to strive for. They have this great dynamic, especially in that training episode that I mentioned.

One of the relationships that I love that doesn’t involve Jack is between Dirk and Chef. Chef is played by Bruce Campbell, and Dirk is played by Charles Demers. I love their relationship because Chef doesn’t know how to cook humanesque food. He cooks really weird stuff. Dirk has to meet him halfway with a compromise. There’s a lot of great bickering and shenanigans between the two.

PC: If you had to summarize Season 2 in one sentence, what would it be?
Nick: Sticking together is the best thing you can do when tragedy hits because no matter how bad it’ll get, the only thing you can do is keep believing in the good and keep fighting.

To keep up with Nick, follow him on Twitter and Instagram, and binge-watch The Last Kids on Earth on Netflix today.

Photo Credit: Paige Kindlick