In the Season 1 finale of the Fox series Lucifer, called “Take Me Back To Hell,” Lucifer Morningstar (Tom Ellis) is framed for murder, and he and Detective Chloe Decker (Lauren German) must work together to clear his name and prove the identity of the true killer. At the same time, Amenadiel (D.B. Woodside) realizes that delegating duties may not have been the best of decisions and he attempts to fix that.
During this exclusive phone interview with Collider, actor D.B. Woodside talked about the show’s evolution over the first season, when he thinks Lucifer is at its best, his desire to have more of a focus on the supernatural, why he loves the last shocking moment of the finale, setting things up for Season 2, the fun of the Lucifer/Amenadiel/Maze (Lesley-Ann Brandt) dynamic, how much he loves the fight scenes, and his desire to see Amenadiel become more hands-on. Be aware that there are some spoilers.
Collider: Congrats on the Season 2 pick-up!
D.B. WOODSIDE: Thank you so much. It was a lot of fun shooting the show.
When you signed on for this show, how much were you told about this character and what his journey would be this season?
WOODSIDE: As everyone knows, first seasons can be a little rough because you’re still getting so many notes from the network. We started out one way, and then the network has some suggestions. So then, you start going another way, and then the network has some more suggestions. And then, you might want to go back to where you started. It was that kind of a season, but it was fun. I think first seasons are all about exploration and finding out what works and what doesn’t work, which sets you up and gets us all focused and excited about a Season 2.
Because the first season of a show is really about finding your footing and seeing what works best, when do you think Lucifer is at its best?
WOODSIDE: All of us are probably going to answer that question differently. My opinion is that Lucifer is at its best when they’re really focusing on the supernatural aspects of the show. That’s just how I feel. I feel like all of the other stuff, like the procedural aspects, are secondary. It’s nice to have that, but I like when the show takes us into Lucifer’s world and shows us what’s happening with him and how he’s adjusting to the earthly plane and what’s happening in hell, in his absence. That’s really dangerous. I’m so happy that the last two episodes have come back to that because it’s really going to take the first season out on a great high, and it also gives us a great place to start from, at the beginning of Season 2.
When it does come time to have a conversation about Season 2 with the producers and writers, what would your dream list of suggestions be?
WOODSIDE: So funny you should say that because we’re actually having that meeting in about 15 minutes (which was on Wednesday, April 20, when this interview took place). They’ve done an amazing job. We got picked up for Season 2, so obviously, what they came up with for Season 1 worked and was successful, and it worked well enough to get us a second season that looks like it’s going to be longer than the first season, which excites all of us. So, I think I would be a little hesitant to try to tell them what to do. I completely trust them. Now, there are things that I would like to see. There might be things that I would suggest. I would love to see the supernatural aspects of the show get brought more to the forefront. I think there’s a lot going on with Amenadiel and with Maze, and I would love to see those two characters interact more with Lucifer and the other world. That would be my suggestion that I would offer respectfully.
The finale is a great episode of the show, and the final moment is pretty shocking. What was your reaction when you learned about that last moment, and how you would be leaving things at the end of this season?
WOODSIDE: I absolutely loved it! I thought it was brilliant. It really got me excited for Season 2. It’s one of those moments that I think people are going to be really excited to see. I think we’ve earned it. I think we’ve worked our way there. And now, I think it’s time, since our fans have been so supportive and so understanding as we’ve, at times, bounced around trying to find our way through a first season on network television, and our Season 2 should really be for them. This season finale pushes the boundaries of our show. I think it delivers, and I think the last scene of the show is absolutely amazing. It sets us up beautifully for the start of Season 2.
There’s such a fun dynamic between Lucifer and Maze, and then when you add Amenadiel into the mix, it’s that much more fun to watch. What have you most enjoyed playing those moments, with those two characters?
WOODSIDE: Number one, I love both of those actors. Tom [Ellis] and Lesley-Ann [Brandt] are just great. Lesley-Ann and I had worked together about four years before, in a series called Single Ladies, so we already had a friendship and a working relationship with each other. It’s been great to reunite on screen. And Tom is just absolutely a delight to work with. All three of us are able to bring that into our scenes. Because we have a real friendship, we’re also able to suggest things, figure things out, and talk about things. Anything that we can do to make the moment more believable and to make bolder choices and to always keep things fun, we do it.
It’s fun to see a little bit of a role reversal between Amenadiel and Lucifer, needing his help for a change. Was it fun to get to explore that? After needing his help and seeing how they could work together, do you think he might ease up on him a little bit?
WOODSIDE: I think so. I think it’s important for people to keep in mind that Amenadiel is task-oriented. The only reason that he’s here, doing what he’s doing, is because he was told to bring his brother back to Hell. The way in which Amenadiel tries to get Lucifer back to Hell backfires on him and he winds up learning a lot about himself. I think that it’s humbled him. But, they are brothers. That was something Tom and I talked about, early on. They were set up in such a way that Tom and I felt the need to go, “Okay, these are two brothers and they really do love each other. So, any chance that we get, where we’re not coming for each other’s throats, we have to put love in there. There has to be love in this relationship, otherwise it’s just not gonna work.” So, any time that Tom and I got a chance to joke or smile or really show that these brothers actually love each other, we took it. I think there’s something great about that. Me being a little brother myself, I love the moment where Amenadiel has to acknowledge his wrongdoings to his brother, in order to enlist his brother’s help. There’s something that’s really special and really magical about that because let’s be honest, big brothers seldom apologize to little brothers. I’m a little brother, so I know this.
It must also be at least a little bit fun for Amenadiel to see Lucifer struggle with his feelings for Chloe Decker and how vulnerable she makes him, literally threatening his immortality.
WOODSIDE: Oh, absolutely it is! I think he’s never seen his brother like this. I see Lucifer as the little brother that was spoiled with everything handed to him, and he still just manages to be a little bad-ass kid, never listening to reason. And Amenadiel is that son that always does the right thing and always does what mommy and daddy want him to do, and yet, for some reason, he doesn’t get the same level of attention that the youngest son does. I think there’s a lot of jealousy that just becomes worse, the longer that Amenadiel is on Earth. That’s unfortunately what drives him to do the thing that he does, which we all see has unintended consequences.
There was a great scene between Lucifer and Amenadiel in the last episode, and the finale has a really fun gun fight. Do you enjoy getting to do the big action sequences?
WOODSIDE: I absolutely love it! I love it, I love it, I love it! I eat it up! I’ve been a very fortunate actor. I’m very blessed to work consistently, but most of the stuff I’ve done has been guys in suits and ties. If you were to ask any of my friends that know me, a suit and tie is not exactly what they would put me in. I’m from New York, from a blue collar town, and I’m a jeans and t-shirt guy. I’m a physical guy. I play football, I swim, and I run. Any chance that I get to be physical, I just love. It’s my personality. I haven’t gotten a chance to do that a lot, in my career, which is somewhat strange, but that show is really allowing me to jump back in and do a lot of the physical stuff that I love to do. Those fight scenes are just everything for me. I want more, more, more, more! I just love those scenes!
With everything that you had been told about Amenadiel up front, and then how it played out over the course of the season, what most surprised you about the journey you took with him?
WOODSIDE: I thought that Amenadiel was going to be more hands-on in getting Lucifer back to Hell. I never saw him as someone who would delegate that to a character like Malcolm. That was surprising, but there was something that was also really cool about it. For maybe the first time in his existence, he was behind the scenes on something, being the puppet master, as it were. At least the way I envisioned him, Amenadiel is a warrior. His first thought is not going to be, “I’ll enlist someone else to get their hands dirty.” Amenadiel is the kind of warrior, battle-tested angel who relishes getting his hands dirty. He has no problem getting his hands dirty. So definitely in the season finale, and hopefully, as we go into Season 2, we will see him enjoying getting his hands dirty.
The season finale of Lucifer airs on Fox on Monday, April 25th.
