Season 2 of Rivals is now upon us! If you watched the first season, you’ll recall the mess and drama that was afoot. The new season has all the things you loved from the first season, with a little more chaos in the mix.
Ahead of the second season’s release, I had the pleasure of chatting with some of the show’s stars, including Nafessa Williams and Alex Hassell, who portray Cameron and Rupert, respectively.
For me, their characters are some of the most interesting in the series, and I had to know what it was like for them to step back into these layered roles for the second season, what they thought about their character’s arcs for the new season, and the growth between their characters, and more!
Check out the full interview with Nafessa Williams and Alex Hassell below:
When I asked Williams and Hassell what it was like to return to their characters for the second season, Williams told me, “It was easier.”
Williams shared, “Oh, it was easier, a bit more confidence, because we’ve spent a few years with them now, and we know them pretty much well, I mean, pretty much inside and out. So, it was fun to get back to it, and fun to just see what the storylines were going to be about.”
Hassell followed with, “I’d really missed Rupert, and all of the cast and the whole experience, but in terms of the character, it was really exciting to flesh him out so much more. We’ve got 12 episodes, so you know, we really get to see different sides of him and all the characters, and put them all through different paces, and face different challenges and have different relationship dynamics. It was such a gift to get to play on such a massive sort of tapestry.”
Viewers will see a change in Cameron for season two, based on how things were left in season one.
Williams shared, “Oh, I couldn’t wait to see the first couple of scripts, because just the cliffhanger that we left on with Cameron, you know, doing what she did to Tony, rightfully so. I was just excited to see, like, where would she be? Like, who would be there for her? Would you keep your promise? You know, he said, ‘I promise I’ll look after you if anything happens.’ But you know, people say things all the time, and you’re like, ‘Am I going to be out here alone?’ And you see the vulnerability, and you see a softer side and a more human side of Cameron that we didn’t get to see in season one, so it’s really nice to see the exploration of her journey in season two.”
It was nice to see the bond between Cameron and Rupert develop in season two, and Hassell and Williams were excited to explore that dynamic further.
“It’s really exciting. It’s such interesting stuff. They’re such interesting characters to have share space and try to share a life together,” Hassell said.
“Seeing that exploration was really cool. And we talk about this a good bit. Cameron and Rupert are each other’s speed, like they have so many similarities, and they understand each other, and there’s there’s a great deal of respect for each other, so it was just kind of cool to see them trying to coexist together in a romantic way, and I think that’s going to be really exciting for the audience and the fans to see them go through that journey together,” Williams added.