When it comes to The Umbrella Academy, just because you’ve stopped the apocalypse, it doesn’t mean that you’ve actually saved the world. Jumping time and finding themselves scattered in and around Dallas, Texas, over a three-year period starting in 1960, has disrupted the timeline and started a doomsday clock. As they work to reunite, figure out what caused the nuclear destruction, find a way to put a stop to it, and return to their present timeline, they must survive assassins, romantic relationships, and a number of other oddities, if they’re going to rebuild their family and make it out alive.
Emmy Raver-Lampman, who plays Allison (the Hargreeves family member that has the power of reality manipulation), recently got on the phone with Collider to chat all things Season 2 of the Netflix original series The Umbrella Academy, adapted from the graphic novels by Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá. During this 1-on-1 interview, she talked about building on the first season, exploring the civil rights movement through her character, the dance number in the hair salon, the wildest mishap she had on set, and what she thought of that shocking cliffhanger.
Collider: What did you most enjoy about exploring the introduction of this world in the first season, and then getting to return to it and really dig in and build on that, for the second season?
EMMY RAVER-LAMPMAN: The thing that attracted all of us to this show, for all of us in the core family and I think also the viewers, is the humanity of these siblings and the things that make them tick. The superhero aspect of the show is secondary. They’re really watching these characters deal with genuine, real life things, in these moments that they’re moving through. In introducing this world, it’s dark. They have a robot for a mom and a father who could be an alien. I mean, what’s happening there? It has these fantastical elements, but I think the thing that grounds the show so much is just how they move through their lives, on a human level. They’re not running around in spandex supersuits and flying places. They’re really dealing with trauma and abuse, and loss and love. That was introducing that world, in the first season. In the second season, we’re really taking that to another level. It’s next level, this season. We’re taking on the civil rights movement and LGBTQ rights. We’re taking on some really topics that, in this moment and in the wake of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter movement, is on a global level. We’re taking on some really important things that are very, very relevant.
What was it like to explore the civil rights movement through your character, along with exploring her marriage?
RAVER-LAMPMAN: First and foremost, I was nervous and honored because of people exactly like John Lewis, who we just lost, last week. We were depicting a thing that was a harsh reality and a massive part of people’s lives, who are still alive. So, I just wanted to be as respectful as possible, and to have as much understanding and information as I could, and as we could, as a show, to depict this monumental moment and movement for African Americans and for people of color in America, but also all over the world. Living through it and working through that as Allison, specifically, I wanted to make sure that she didn’t just use her powers and end the civil rights movement in one rumor from her. That would have been an easy way out.
Allison has a really complicated relationship with her powers. She’s only ever really used them for self-gain or selfish reasons, or because her father told her to. At the end of Season 1, you were looking at an Allison that was using her powers incorrectly for 30 years, and she wasn’t in a good place. And then, trying to take on the civil rights movement and knowing that she has a biracial daughter, somewhere in the future, what is the butterfly effect of that? If she wants a quick fix for civil rights, is that going to affect Claire, decades from where she is? So, she just has to be really cautious. In that, she learns and understands that anything that is long lasting and permanent and worth it does take time. The biggest thing that Allison is learning this season is that all of the things that are worth it are a struggle and are difficult, but it is so important to her to this community that has accepted her with open arms, in Dallas, and the love that she has found with this man. Allison, in the first season, had a ton of vices and crutches, and abused her power, and had the money and the fame, and all of these things. It was questionable, as to whether her husband actually fell in love with her, or if she rumored him to love her. And it was questionable, as to whether her career was real, or she rumored that into existence. She’s looking at this simpler life than she has and she’s realizing that she has a community that supports her and loves her, and she has a man who wanted to be with her and marry her and be her partner and love her. She’s also learning that she doesn’t need her powers to be strong. She’s finding her voice, in a new way that she’s never had to. What she actually has to say and how her actual voice can promote change unfolds and plays out, this season.
And yet, somehow with all of that, you still managed to find room to fit in an awesome dance number.
RAVER-LAMPMAN: Yeah, always. It’s never a full season of The Umbrella Academy without a dance number.
How was it to shoot that dance number in the hair salon?
RAVER-LAMPMAN: Oh, my god, it was so fun. Tom Verica directed that episode. Because everybody loves the Luther-Allison dance sequence in the first season, there was a thing of, “Well, we could try to do that again, in some way,” but with tackling such big moments in the season, it was also really important that there are moments of lightness and joy for these characters. It’s needed, for the audience and for our characters, so I think it’s great. We went into rehearsals and we had this fully choreographed dance that we were gonna do, and then we got on set that day, and there was a huge theme that comes before the dance, and we were in the moment and energy of the scene, and Tom was like, “I feel like, for you guys to just break out into a completely choreographed dance feels weird, especially now that we’ve created the energy of the scene. So, why don’t we just play the music and see what happens.” We actually did that for three hours, just playing music and dancing around the salon. They set up a bunch of different cameras and put the camera on a dolly that spun around, and we sat in a chair and spun the chair around. We literally just played and had fun, and I think it turned out so well. It was all completely improvised, impromptu, and in the moment, and I think it turned out really, really well. Tom was on the other side of the camera yelling, “Do the swim! Do the twist! Do the jive!” He was yelling dance moves for us to do, and we were having such a good time. When we’re laughing, we, as actors, were genuinely laughing and having a good time, as opposed to getting each step right for this dance that we’d learned, especially after they were all supposed to be day-drinking, all day.
What was your reaction, when you found out what the end of the season would be?
RAVER-LAMPMAN: I’m thrilled. Who doesn’t like a good rivalry. The end of any season, you want a big shock, and this is like, “Who are these people and how the hell is Ben alive?” It instantly steps up this thing of like, “Oh, shit!” If we get a third season, it’s completely up to viewers. But we’ve set it up where there’s an amazing opportunity for a new battle for this family to tackle that isn’t the end of the world. It’s something completely different, which I think will be really, really cool. It sets that up perfectly, with Hargreeves being alive, with Ben being alive, and these silhouetted people. We’re like, “We’re home!,” and we look like such idiots. I love it! I’m into it. I think it’s the perfect cliffhanger because it could go so many different directions. I, personally, don’t even know. Steve and the room keep all of their cards pretty close to the chest. I don’t know what Steve has in mind with that cliffhanger for the second season, and where he would want to go, with that being the last moment.
When you have a moment like that, did you start immediately coming up with your theories for what it could all mean?
RAVER-LAMPMAN: Oh, yeah! Oh, my god, of course! I have my own theories, but they’re probably wrong. It could go so many ways. People keep asking about Ben, at the end of this season, and Tom said, “I had a thought the other day. Is his name even Ben?” And I was like, “Oh, my god, that’s so true!” He’s Ben for us, but if he’s alive and this is a different Ben, is his name Ben, or is it Greg? It could be anything. Who is that person? We’re assuming it’s the Ben that we know, but it could be a dude with a completely different name. A lot of people are like, “Is it you guys? Is it younger versions of you?” I genuinely don’t know.
Because you get to do so many wild things on this show, and there are stunts and fights and special effects, has there been a most memorable mishap that’s either happened to you, or that’s happened to somebody that you’ve been in a scene with?
RAVER-LAMPMAN: Oh, yeah, there are a lot. We all have such a good time on set, and when you’re doing stunts at such an extreme level, it’s inevitable that someone’s gonna trip, or whatever. I don’t mean that our stunts aren’t safe. They’re extremely safe. I just mean that there’s always the clumsy individual, which is usually me.
The whole season takes place in Dallas, and we were shooting through the summer and into the fall in Toronto, and the last two weeks of shooting, we got this unexpected, terrible snowstorm. And so, all of Episode 10 being set in the snow actually had to be written in, after the snowstorm hit. It added such an amazing element to the season, but it was such a beautiful mishap. Of course, none of us were dressed for snow. I was in a cape with my arms out and a little tank top underneath, and Robert [Sheehan]’s shirt is never buttoned and he’s always got low-rise jeans on. None of us were dressed for a blizzard in Toronto, in the middle of November. And of course, I was running around in four-inch boots. When we get out of the car at the barn, Sissy and Vanya have this scene, and then we run into the barn, but one was prepared for snow, so I was in my boots still. They were rushing around to all of these stores in Toronto, trying to find boots for all of us, because we were doing these stunts in the snow, which gets icy. It was mayhem, with the shoe situation on set. We had to get the shot, but we didn’t have shoes for me yet, so I take off after everyone else, thinking I could run in heels, after dancing on Broadway in four-inch heels for eight years. It was the wide shot, so you can see people’s shoes. I was like, “It’s fine,” but then I took three steps and absolutely ate shit. I skidded ten feet down this gravel driveway, and ripped open my pants and twisted my ankle. I should have just waited for my boots to come, and we could have done it then. That was a good one. Everybody got a really good laugh.
And now you have an awesome story to tell.
RAVER-LAMPMAN: Oh, yeah. I love a good battle scar. It was a bit shocking and, of course, I was embarrassed. That was actually my first mishap of the season. I can’t believe I made it 10 episodes without having a klutzy moment, but that was for sure it, and I set myself up for that.
The Umbrella Academy Season 2 is available at stream at Netflix.
Christina Radish is a Senior Reporter of Film, TV, and Theme Parks for Collider. You can follow her on Twitter @ChristinaRadish.