Exclusive Interview: Thomas Elms and Kheon Clarke Talk ‘SkyMed’, Pivotal Moments for Their Characters This Season, and More

Thomas Elms and Kheon Clarke, the dynamic stars of the compelling medical drama SkyMed, soar to new heights in Season 2, unveiling fresh dimensions to their characters with remarkable performances.

As SkyMed embarks on its second season, the dedicated nurses and skilled pilots navigating air ambulances in Northern Canada find themselves facing a host of unexpected twists. These challenges extend beyond the confines of their professional lives, delving into personal emergencies that add layers of complexity.

Pop Culturalist had the pleasure of speaking with Thomas and Kheon about Season 2 of SkyMed, delving into their preparation for crucial moments in their characters’ journeys, the lessons they’ve learned from being part of the series, and more.

PC: Thomas, it’s established very early on in this series that your character has trust issues. Without giving any spoilers, there’s an emotional reveal that happens at the end of Episode 210 that’s so heartbreaking to watch. What was your reaction when you read that scene, and how did you get into that mindset to deliver that powerful moment, which is a standout not only for you but for your character, given that he’s often so stoic, and there are so many different things happening in that moment?
Thomas: That’s cool because it’s pretty fresh in my mind now that we’re revisiting this season. It’s cool to get to talk about it. Without going too deep into the nitty-gritty of it, I knew it was going to be the emotional crux of the season for my character. It’s when all the bullsh*t that the audience has been trying to navigate make sense in that moment.

From an acting point of view, it’s essential to convey the story and information to people so they understand it, and there’s a little moment of, “Oh, we get it.” Maybe it doesn’t justify all the actions he’s done, but you can sympathize with what’s happened in his life that may have led him to make some mistakes and do the things he’s done.

For me, it was really scary. I wondered if I could find the emotional depth in the tank to pull off a performance that feels real. I haven’t done anything like that in terms of my acting before. It was cool to have the physical conditions feel so real. I tried to be as physically uncomfortable as possible throughout the whole scene, making everything much easier. I remember after my first or second pass through the scene, my face was half crunched into the concrete. The director comes over, and I’m like, “What did you think about that? Was it okay?” He said, “You’re finding it. I think you’re finding it.” I had many conversations with him about the scene.

To me, more than ever, acting is a physical thing. I need to get my heart beating at the same level that this character is at. I need to try and match my breath to the character’s breathing. If I’m breathing like he is, that’s a victory for me. All those physical elements were so helpful. I really felt like I didn’t have much air in my lungs because I’m folded over a bit, so physically, it was hard for me to breathe. In those moments, I wasn’t doing any acting; I was trying to convey as much information as possible to this man because I might not get the chance to say this to him. This might be my last chance to say this. It’s essential not just for the character but for the audience to understand that part of the story. Then there are all the other things like the physical aspects. He doesn’t want to die, and all this crazy stuff is happening. It ended up being an awesome day. Thanks for bringing me back there because it’s cool to even think about this and talk about it. A lot of what made it easier was feeling physically trapped and limited in my breathing. All that emotional stuff was happening as a result of me struggling to get this information across to this guy.

I’ll tell you that I did some ADR recordings, so we basically re-recorded the audio for that entire scene, which was harder than doing the scene because I’m standing in a sound booth. I’m sitting in this chair that I had backward to crush my diaphragm a bit, trying to recreate that and trying to get the clarity of information across. Obviously, there’s the breathing, he’s in distress, and all this stuff, but it was so fun. It was one of the best days for me.

PC: It’s so gripping to watch. Kheon, in Season 1, Tristan is very much the rock for this crew house, but you get to explore a lot of his vulnerabilities and his family life this season, which you brought so much depth and nuance to. As an actor, how did you create the space for yourself to tackle that contrast? How did your preparation change?
Kheon: My preparation has kind of remained the same. The foundation of what we do as actors, which isn’t a rule of thumb, is to approach everything with an emotion. A lot of the time, when you’re getting scenes or lines on the day, as long as you’re attaching a feeling to it, it’ll bring itself out into the performance. I always believe that the camera catches everything. You can’t hide from it. Sometimes when you’re watching shows, you’ll be like, “I don’t know if I believe that.” But if you attach an emotion to it, even if it’s something simple, then it’s like, “That’s believable!” So my preparation has been the same in that sense.

Being the rock of Season 1, character-wise, that’s how I am in my own friends’ circle. That wasn’t a huge jump for me. I’m not sure if you’re into astrology, but I’m a Libra. People always come to me and they’re like, “What should I do about this?” I try to keep things fair-minded. With my friends’ group and the cast, I always want everyone to be on the same playing field as far as communication and understanding each other. So that wasn’t too hard of a challenge. In Season 2, we dive more into Tristan’s personal life than we got to see in Season 1. It’s nice to see not only the relationship that Nowak and Tristan have with each other, but this redemption with his mom and holding onto years of guilt, thinking that something is your fault, and trying to be tough, strong, and mentally holding everything together all the time.

Yes, he was the rock for everyone else, but we get to see this moment where the weight of everything is on his shoulders—his relationships, dealing with his brother, the job. Then there’s the scene with his mom. It was more than finding the redemption of, “I don’t blame you for the death of your brother;” everything came crashing down. Tristan had a moment of vulnerability that you don’t usually get to see from him because he’s picking everybody else up and whatnot. But that was a nice moment for people to get to see. Yes, he may be the upbeat, positive one, but in that moment, you get to see that his heart is broken.

You finally get to see the effects of the weight of the world on someone. There are a lot of people in real life that give so much of themselves, and everyone’s appreciative of it, but behind closed doors, you don’t know what that person is going through. They just want to be happy for others. So there was that contrast.

But at the same time, I could also draw from my own personal life because I know what that feels like as well. I’m very grateful and fortunate that I was able to do certain scenes that the audiences are finally going to get to see that side of Tristan. You got to see a little bit of that in Season 1 when you see what happens to Darius. But it was lovely to see that moment that even the emotionally strongest warrior has his moments.

PC: I think audiences will be bawling when they hear the line about your character saying his heart is breaking. Thomas, you shared this beautiful post on social media about how this ensemble and show has helped you level up in your craft. What’s been the biggest lesson that you’ve learned about your artistry being a part of this series and embodying this character?
Thomas: Wow, that’s an incredible question. Let me see if I can find an answer to match that. For me, personally, part of the journey of becoming a better actor is learning how to get out of my own mind. I got into acting at a university level with a Bachelors in Fine Arts, Theatre, Classical Theatre, Shakespeare. Those building blocks don’t prepare you for what the entertainment industry is going to be. They don’t really prepare you for what it’s like acting on a set or on a TV series like this.

A big part of my journey was learning how to get out of my own head and into my body. I’ve been lucky enough to be surrounded by an ensemble that has as much to gain and as much to lose as me. We’re on a show here where everyone, not necessarily has something to prove because I don’t think any of us do, but we’re a bunch of actors from Canada. We get to tell a story that’s uniquely Canadian. I get to tell stories that are a bit out of my zone of experience and out of my zone of comfort.

When you stop to think about it, you’re like, wow, that’s a decent amount of pressure to do something that’s not only convincing but honest and respectful to all these different groups that we’re representing on this show. It can get a little bit much sometimes. I tend to keep everything up here in my brain. I like to think that the answers are all up there mentally. But as far as acting, the answer is in your heart, your body, and in your guts. It’s in the blood pumping through your veins.

I’m lucky enough to be surrounded by a group of actors that are also my friends. We’re all here charting the unknown, so to speak. I’m fortunate that I have people like Kheon, Aason [Nadjiwon], Braeden Clarke, and Praneet [Akilla], and all the women on the show. They’re in the gym, working on their bodies physically. We’re trying to get ourselves physically in a space where we can experience as much of what these characters are going through. There’s a certain rawness to this show that I don’t think I would have been able to achieve before.

Part of the beauty of it is you do all this prep work as an actor, whatever you do to get in the zone and get ready to perform. I see it now like an athlete getting ready for the big event, fight, or competition where you do a lot of conditioning behind the scenes on your own time, whether that’s physically, mentally, or emotionally. You get yourself warmed up. But then at a certain point, you need to let go. You need to let go, relax, and trust your imagination is going to carry you. But I think you need to have developed those tools to the point where they’re able to do their own thing and you can let go.

I’m just fortunate enough that I’ve had the time, the lessons, and the experiences from various people. I’ve evolved as a person where I trust my own heart and I trust myself. The hardest part about acting is certainly not having the job. Once you have the job, you’re there, and it’s like -12 degrees out, and you’re on some airplane strip in North Bay, Ontario, and there are freezing winds coming in; it’s all real. You don’t have to pretend anything because it’s all there happening. I’m lucky that the conditions were such that we have really good scripts that are honest. We have conditions that are really rugged. It’s really cold out there. It’s colder than anything I’ve ever experienced in my life working on this show. It doesn’t take much for me to feel like I’ve got my boots on the ground in this experience.

Nowak is different than me. I’m a lot different than who this character is. It’s kind of like putting on a comfortable pair of shoes that you’ve worn forever. I’m not unfamiliar with this kind of character, but for me, it was a totally new experience getting to do some of the range of things that happened to this guy. I’m used to playing the defensive, quiet guy. I’m not used to him being completely in love, risking his heart, and risking his life. The level of intensity in this show is like a pressure cooker. It’s like a little scientific device where we’re colliding particles at light speed and seeing what happens. That’s part of the beauty of it.

It’s a catch-22 being an actor because it’s like, how do I get the experience to be a good actor if I don’t have the experience to get me the job? Where do you begin? Luckily, this job came at a point in my life where I felt ready for it, and I felt like I wanted to give 110% of myself and put a chunk of myself on screen, and so did everyone else. It’s great because everyone is giving the same amount. For me, it was amazing to feel like I did some of the best acting in my career, and I can’t explain why or how, but I think a lot of physical work, relaxation, and trust were the magic ingredients.

Make sure to follow Thomas (Instagram) and Kheon (Instagram). Season 2 of SkyMed is out now on Paramount+.

Photo Credit: Lindsay Sarazin/Paramount+ (Thomas) // Pief Weyman/Paramount+ (Kheon)