SDCC 2016: ‘The 100’ Star Henry Ian Cusick Discusses Working with Michael Beach & Kane’s Relationships
Nora Dominick ’17/ Emertainment Monthly Co-Executive Stage Editor
From being introduced as the perceived “villain” in season one of The 100, Marcus Kane (Henry Ian Cusick) has become a fan-favorite character across the board. Season after season, Kane has grown tremendously and last season he continued to showcase what he’s made of.
At SDCC 2016, Henry Ian Cusick sits down with us to talk about working closely with Michael Beach in season 3 and Kane’s character arc and emotional connections with other characters.
Henry Ian Cusick discusses season three as more emotional than any other season on The 100. One of his main scene partners was Michael Beach, who took on the role of Pike. Cusick spoke highly of working with Beach saying, “My storyline last year, I liked it. You know, I really enjoyed working with Michael Beach a lot. The Pike storyline. I thought that was a very interesting storylineI had a lot of fun working with him. He was a good guy.” He continues saying, “He [Beach] was such a lovely guy and he was so passionate about his character.”
Cusick also touches upon relating the storyline of Pike wanting to shut out the Grounders to political issues today. He says, “Especially people said “Oh that would never happen.’ Well, it’s happening now in America. So, I thought that was cool that they unintentionally had a parallel between that and what’s happening now.” Cusick says he would joke around with Beach saying, “You’re Trump!”
As for what’s ahead now that Pike has been killed, Cusick says a new chancellor has to be chosen. He dives in saying, “Pike was the chancellor, so that’s a vacuum that needs to be filled. I don’t even know who has that pin. That pin has been moved around so many times, I’m surprised it hasn’t been lost.” He continues saying, “That’s something that needs to be filled and that’s kind of addressed in episode 1 of season 4. There’s a power vacuum that needs to be filled there and also in Polis. There’s no leader in Polis.”
One of the biggest scenes in The 100 season three dealt with Kane traveling to Polis and being crucified and forced into taking the A.L.I.E chip. A brutal and powerful scenes Cusick is very proud of. He says, “I liked that scene. That stuff was cool. Our show is so plot driven, so doing a bit more character stuff is rewarding to. We want that challenge as actors.”
Cusick also touches upon how far Kane has come since season one. Perceived as a villain while Skaikru lived on the Ark, Kane has come quite a long way. Cusick says he’s a little surprised he has made it this long because Kane doesn’t have a real blood connection with anyone. He says, “Abby [Paige Turco] has Clarke [Eliza Taylor]. Jaha [Isaiah Washington] had Wells and then the rest are all connected in some way. Kane was sort of a floating entity.” Cusick continues saying, “I think that’s why I kind of latched onto the idea that Bellamy [Bob Morley] could be my son. I needed a hope there. Now, I’ve got Abby. So, there’s a connection.”