SDCC Exclusive: ‘Upload’ Stars, Robbie Amell & Kevin Bigley Discuss The Final Season
Upload celebrated their fourth and final season at San Diego Comic Con this past week, BeautifulBallad, along with fellow reporters, for the chance to sit down with two of its stars, Robbie Amell and Kevin Bigley, to discuss this momentous occasion.
On how hard it was to say goodbye to these characters:
Amell: “You know what? I was so worried that we weren’t going to get a series finale and that we would end up leaving the show on a cliffhanger that that made it a little easier to know that, lucky us, we get to end this. A lot of shows don’t get that opportunity, so although it hurt and you want to keep making something you love, very lucky to get to have an ending.”
Bigley: “It was very emotional and, really, going in, most shows don’t know that they’re ending when they’re going into their last season, so that’s a gift in and of itself, but there does… I was saying this earlier, it feels like that season one, where it’s like this living funeral a little bit. It’s like you’re saying goodbye to everything as it’s happening, but not really at the same time, because you don’t have to release it, do press, and everything. We’re slowly mourning in that way, but it’s joyous, too.”
On whether they believe their characters got their full growth by the end of the series:
Bigley: “100%. I think we had some input on some certain things, but when we read some of the final, especially the final episode, you go, ‘Yeah.’ It all makes so much sense, it feels poetic, but it also feels like the show. There’s no weird tonal shift, we always have thought that there’s utopian and then there’s dystopian, and this always reflects what’s right in the middle, and there is some good things, bad things, but in the finale that ultimately equal reality and equal the show. Yeah, I think that that also resonates with a lot of the character arcs, too. They just feel very organic”.
Amell: “It doesn’t feel like it’s an ending for any single character. Everybody gets their moment, everybody has their time to shine, everybody has closure. I think that’s really special, and kudos to Greg and Maxwell and the rest of the writing staff for being able to stick the landing after four seasons. Part of that is Amazon letting us know that it’s the final season, giving them the time to be like, ‘Okay, do this the right way.’ We’re very lucky.”
On why original Nathan chose himself to be sacrificed over his copy:
Amell: I think, at that point, he’s just been through a lot and I think the journey that he’s been on throughout this whole thing and, the opening episode, he’s ready to jump in the torrent and end it, and Nora talks him out of it and talks about how beautiful life is. He’s very much a different person from episode one than he is in the finale, and I think just having gone through all of that with her and that final little speech and moment that Greg wrote with Nathan and Nora, I just thought it was so beautiful and honest and felt like how I could see two people who are in love dealing with a situation like this. It just felt right.”
On Robbie’s favorite way he has died on the series:
Amell: “I have a very killable face, I imagine. Look, there’s nothing better than a good death, and if I get to keep working with great people who want to kill me, then I’m happy to do it. I also always… I tend to come back. I got hanged in The Babysitter, which was pretty fun, and then I come back in the sequel and then I get killed by a motorboat. Look, I don’t know why, but I’m happy to be working, even if it kills me.”
On how as an actor you prep to play an AI with no memories:
Amell: “Actually, I spoke with Greg [Daniels] about that a little bit at the beginning, because of the murder-mystery arc of, ‘How much does Nathan know? How much does he not?’ I think a part of that, in season one, with a theme of, ‘Are you your past or can somebody change?’ Nathan, he starts off as this arrogant guy, he doesn’t remember some of the mistakes he’s made and is growing as a person and learning from Nora, and then finds out what a piece of shit he was. Does that change him back to who he was or has he grown and can he be a better person? I think that’s a nice question to ask about people in general. Are we our worst mistakes we ever made, or can we grow and can we do better? As far as prepping and the role, I didn’t know those things, so there was no hiding them. When Greg and I would have conversations about how much I was in on, Greg did a great job of protecting me and setting me up to be in a position where I knew as much as I was supposed to. Some of these things were surprises to me as an actor and as a character. Again, you are only as good as the people you’re working with, and I was blessed with a great creator, producer, and amazing co-stars.”
On how they would sum up the final season in one word:
Bigley: “Fulfilling, I’ve thought about this. Fulfilling! With an exclamation point. It’s fantastic. Yeah, it’s a very fulfilling season.”
Amell: “Proud. I’ll say beautiful, I think it’s a beautiful season. Beautiful.”
On how did they felt when they found out the final resolution:
Amell: “I didn’t know at the end of season three. I asked Greg, I was like, ‘Which one am I?’ And he was like, ‘Well, we’ve thought about it. We might go this way, we might go this way.’ I’m like, ‘Okay, I’ll just play this as generic Nathan.’ I hope this doesn’t sound egotistical. I love the show, and it has nothing to do with me. I love the world that Greg has created and I love watching Kevin, I love watching Andy, I love watching Allegra, I love watching Zainab, I love watching Owen. I’m huge fan of all of them, and just knowing that we’re getting to go shoot another season, whatever was coming, I was excited. I’ve never been disappointed by anything.”
Bigley: “Same.”
Season four of Upload will premiere on Prime Video on August 25.
*This interview has been edited for length and clarity. BB would also like to credit the amazing reporters seated at our press table, and their wonderful questions.