SPOILER WARNING: The following contains spoilers for FROM Season 2, Episodes 1-10.
As one of FROM’s most compelling and touching characters in that horrifying town, Victor, played by Scott McCord, is an enigma wrapped in a mystery wrapped in touching compassion. Unraveling the traumas of his past has become intertwined with uncovering the secrets of the town. Scott McCord sat down with me to talk about Victor’s growth, that shocking season finale reveal, and what goes into inspiring the fan-favorite character.
Kelsey Yoor: Victor has undergone such a hero’s journey of a character arc this season. Was there anything that really stood out, like giving away the lunchbox or his developing friendships?
Scott McCord: All of it, I think! Yeah, it’s great. All of it… So much happened to him, you know; the discovery of his sister, Eloise, you know, I mean, there were so many things. I love that you brought up the lunchbox as well! That was monumental. But as an act of love, I think, you know, to a very maternal connection that I have now with Tabitha (played by Catalina Sandino Moreno.) It was so rich. You know, John Griffin and Jeff Pinkner just created… I didn’t know what to expect! We don’t know the arc of the season. We don’t know what we’re gonna get, you know, we just get it script by script. I was very blessed. I’m a really lucky guy to get that story this season. It was beautiful.
KY: And speaking of Eloise, did you know anything about her beforehand or was that revelation just as heartbreaking too?
SM: No joke, Kelsey. So, I thought, you know, they were starting this thing off at the beginning of the season with Tabitha and the mother. Right. And I thought, okay, this is going in a certain direction, right? The violin and all… And I’m going, okay. And I remember – I love telling this story – I went to John Griffin. It’s the only time I’ve done this. And I went, “I know what’s gonna happen to me this season!” And of course, I was way off. (Laughs) You know, that was probably good for him.
And John has this great poker face reaction that he has to everything, where he’ll listen to everybody and then he’ll go, “Huh”. That’s all he gives you, you know? So he didn’t tell me if I was right or wrong or whatever, and then you can you imagine? Then I opened up the script for episode eight and I was like, ah! Come on! (Laughs) Did not see it coming up. No.
KY: Watching it, I was blindsided and bawling. It was great.
SM: (Laughs) Blindsided, totally is the best way to – blindsided and bawling, is that what you said? (Laughs) Yeah. That’s the best way to describe it. That’s exactly what it was. It was so great too – my wife, of course, when I’m shooting, she loves the show, so I can’t tell her anything. She doesn’t wanna know anything. And we watch the show together, so of course, I know it’s coming up. She was just, you know, she was floored – as she is with so many of the other milestones in the show as well.
KY: I love, too, that with the drawings and more of the stories, a lot of it is tied back to Victor’s mother’s stories – I’m getting some real Forbidden Planet vibes and I’m loving that from Victor.
SM: (Laughs) Great reference, great reference!
KY: Thank you! Do you know any more of Victor’s backstory or do you have any of your own thoughts about his past life or his importance to the town?
SM: I’m just given what I’m given, and I think what essentially you see – I can truthfully say that I don’t know more than what I need to know for that particular scene. I think for every actor in every episode.
That’s what they [series creator John Griffin and writer Jeff Pinkner] do. They’re like, “We’ll always give you as much as you need to know for that particular part of the story.” So there was a lot of filling in the blanks for myself, cuz I just like to detail stuff so much, you know? So I kinda have my version of certain things in the past and I just allow anything to change.
I have to, right? Because then all of a sudden they’ll go, “You have a sister!” And you go, “Oh.” No, the good thing about that though is that I did bury that memory and it was something that’s true. Right. So it can work to your advantage to kind of work that way.
But I’ve got my own Victor Backstory going on, you know, I love it sometimes, and I’ll share stuff with John. He wants to know all that stuff. He likes to hear a lot about the character. So it’s good to have. Even songs, like, certain music and stuff that I use to prep. And sometimes John will be like, “Send me the song. I wanna know what son are you using for Victor!” Because he’s just curious. That all feeds him as well. That all goes in the well for him.
KY: That’s so cool! Are there any in particular songs that, like you’ve come back to use for Victor?
SM: Yeah, there’s been a bunch actually, for sure! There’s a song, beautiful song, by Dolly Parton called I’ll, I think it’s called, I’ll Never Forget. I was using right from Day One. It was interesting. I did a bunch of different music for different scenes and of course for seasons as well too. So it’s a massive music [library.] I wouldn’t send John everything because he’d just be overwhelmed with all that stuff.
But, you know, anything from like, Mahler to Brian Eno… There were some songs out there, like the soundtrack to the film, Zodiac. It came out many years ago but that’s the vibe. And then even, you know, this season I used a lot of music from The Wizard of Oz, a lot of the soundtrack from the film to prep myself for certain scenes.
KY: A lot of is kinda like a dark yellow brick road!
SM: Yeah, indeed. It is indeed.
KY: Looking ahead at the finale revelation – which, mind-blowing! – is there anything you’d like to see happen in the story, or particularly for Victor in Season 3 if we get a Season 3?
SM: You know what? I’m just interested to see how he changes now that that reveal of Eloise has happened. You know what I mean? I think that the whole thing about repressed memory and trauma, which is so fun to me as I’m such an advocate of it – I mean, I believe in all of it – and yet it’s still a controversial subject. But how it can change someone once, this stuff is starting to manifest and come back up? How it can even change them physically? Their physiology? You know, there are aspects of Victor that I just think like, yeah, like what happens to a person when that kind of trauma starts to come back and becomes a reality.
So what’s gonna happen to him? How will he grow, essentially? How does he move? Or does he regress? Or, you know, so I’m excited to see that and just how he ends up connecting with more of the cast. Because I also just wanna have scenes with some of these amazing actors on the show. You know what I mean?
KY: Let him have a little fun and friendship.
SM: (Laughs) Yeah. You know what I mean? I’d love to see that!
All episodes of From Seasons 1 & 2 are streaming on MGM+.
Article content is (c)2020-2023 Brittany Frederick and may not be excerpted or reproduced without express written permission by the author. Follow me on Twitter at @BFTVTwtr and on Instagram at @BFTVGram.
Follow Kelsey Yoor on Twitter at @itskelseyytime and on Instagram at @itskelseyytime.
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