His Dark Materials will premiere its third and final season in December, and we recently spoke with Amir Wilson about his role as Will Parry in the series based on the books by Philip Pullman. The series focuses on Lyra Belacqua (Dafne Keen) who begins her story after children are kidnapped from London. The alternate London that Lyra has grown up in is governed by a religious body called the Magisterium, one with a far-reaching and authoritative hold on the country. Wilson plays Will Parry, Lyra's friend from another world. He was born in our world, where he has no daemon. In searching for the truth about his father's disappearance, he discovers the other worlds and meets Lyra.
One of the largest surprises of The Subtle Knife was the reveal that Jopari, the shaman, is actually Will's father, John Parry (Andrew Scott), an explorer who disappeared when Will was a child through a window between worlds. As one of the most emotional moments of the book and Season 2, Will is finally reunited with his father. Although at first, neither realizes the true identity of the other, when the truth is revealed it is tragically too late and John dies not long after he officially meets his grown-up son. Wilson talked about the scenes and how they affected him personally:
It's a sweet thing, isn't it? It's like Will get to see his dad again, and it's this very short and sweet moment. I would say it's sweet up until it's not sweet. Filming that was great. I had three days on set with Andrew and Will's journey is personal to me, you know, personal to me in ways I don't need to go into. But it's like a little connection to him and experience some of the same things and being able to play with that and being able to touch on that's kind of helped me in my life and help me deal with things.
While Season 2 ended with emotion, Season 3 promises to be an emotional ride throughout. The Amber Spyglass readers will know specifically what I'm talking about, but for those of you who haven't read Pullman's books yet, Wilson talked a bit about the new face and places we would be seeing:
I enjoyed filming the Land of the Dead. I mean, I've said before, but in Season 3, there's an introduction to many different worlds, many different characters as well. Will finds himself meeting angels and bears and seeing some familiar and unfamiliar faces.
If you thought the Magisterium and talking polar bears were weird, then Season 3 is guaranteed to be a wild ride for you. Not only does Will find himself in the Land of the Dead in some of the story's most emotional scenes, but also meets with angels and GAllivespians and Mulefas along the way. Season 3 promises to explore the events of Pullman's third and final book in the His Dark Materials trilogy, The Amber Spyglass, and will give us a conclusion to Will's story and how his connection to Lyra fulfills the prophecy.
His Dark Materials Season 3 premieres December 5 on HBO.