Max Thieriot
Checking Into Bates Motel
by Pamela Price
Although there was a cult following of Alfred Hitchcock’s
“Psycho,” it was not a guarantee that A&E’s prequel TV
series, “Bates Motel,” would be a surefire hit. Sometimes
it’s best to leave the original untouched. But mystery,
murder and suspense are key components for a handful of
popular shows today. As the second season is wrapping up, it
already has a third in its future. Millions are captured by
the twisted story of Norma Bates, her son Norman and all of
the new peculiar characters we meet from episode to episode.
While the “Psycho” premise surrounds the odd relationship
between a mother and her one son, the “Bates Motel” creators
shocked us with a new family member, Dylan Massett, Norma’s
long lost older son. Actor Max Thieriot is captivating in
the role of this troubled and puzzling young man. Initially,
Max was unsure how audiences would react to his character,
but Dylan has undeniably become a vital part of the series.
I had the opportunity to speak with Max in the height of the
second season. Unlike so many actors I interview, he simply
fell into the profession when his aunt sent a photograph in
for a GAP campaign. He caught the attention of a manager and
has been acting ever since. “Bates Motel” is not Max’s first
stab at drama thrillers with a hint of horror. Among other
TV and film projects, he has starred in “House At The End Of
The Street” and Wes Craven’s “My Soul To Take.” We discussed
his propensity for darker roles, his exciting new History
Channel series and his love for racing.
Similar to the theme of the show, Dylan is mysterious at
times. From an audience standpoint it feels as if you never
know what he’s going to do or how he will react to
something.
At first you think, this is a guy that everybody’s initially
go to hate. He shows up and he’s rude and disrespectful,
among many things. And it’s tricky, because we were
introducing a new character into the series. For all of the
people who are really passionate and invested in “Psycho,”
we’re hoping that they accept this character. And on top of
that, we’re kind of going through this arc of making him out
to be a bad guy, and then turning him into a good guy that
you hope everybody can relate to and like.
Obviously, accepting a role is always exciting, but were you
wary at the beginning?
Yeah. Carlton Cuse and Kerry Ehrin are such great writers,
that when they kind of explained to me what the idea was
going forward, it gave me a lot of reassurance. I thought it
would be fun to do. Diving into this season, he’s changing
even more. I mean, the thing about Dylan is he’s kind of an
emotional roller coaster like Norma, but in a different way.
His relationship with Norma is constantly having its ups and
downs — I mean, just when they think they’re hitting a nice
stride, one of the two has to do something to basically ruin
it.
This season has brought many revelations for Dylan (no
spoilers).
Yes, exactly. At this point in time, Dylan doesn’t think he
belongs, basically. He never really felt like he fit into
the family, but now he’s really kind of having an identity
crisis about where he fits into society or where he fits in
anywhere. He’s trapped in this business. He likes the perks,
but he’s starting to see the real dark side to it.
It definitely seems like he’s walking deeper and deeper into
the dark world of drugs. Do you think that’s a comfort zone
for him?
Yeah, definitely. I think he enjoys it, too, because he’s
getting credit from people. People are giving him credit for
basically getting stuff done and sort of taking leadership
in the business. I think he’ll take any sort of pat on the
back or any sort of appreciation people show him. He knows
that he’s good at it, and I think that he likes the
attention that he gets from the people who are working with
him.
(Spoiler alert) Have you come across challenges in playing
this role?
Yeah, definitely. I think the biggest challenge has been
acting in episode four, probably. He had kind of the biggest
scene with Norma that I have had to play as far as showing
an emotional range for him. It’s a pretty heavy subject and
pretty emotional for him. It’s not even just the idea that
his Uncle could be his father, but also a terrible
relationship where child abuse took place. But beyond that,
his connection with his mom just really hurts. That’s
something that I don’t get to experience very often as an
actor. It’s not something that most people ever go
through.
The acting process is different from actor to actor. How do
you put yourself in that frame of mind?
I think just trying to be as present as possible during the
scene. Also, Vera Farmiga is such a fantastic actress and
makes it that much easier. But besides just really being
there with her, I really try to block out the outer world
and get into it enough to where I believe that this is a
situation that I have gone through. I try to allow myself to
express whatever emotion it is that I feel would be the
right one for the situation. It’s kind of just trying to
make it as authentic as possible.
How was the set chemistry been between you, Vera Farmiga and
Freddie Highmore?
We really have become a family, so it’s a great set, and
we’re all so close. It makes everything so easy and it makes
everything kind of flow, because there are really no
hold-ups and it’s just all really positive. I think there
are times when that doesn’t necessarily happen with
everybody. But I think I can speak for all of us that that’s
not the case. On the show we’re all very tight knit.
I would hope with such a serious show that you guys
sometimes joke around. I’m sure you guys have fun. Do you
have any fun anecdotes from set?
We always have a lot of fun. We constantly joke with each
other, too. Like there’ll be times where we’ll be doing a
really heavy scene, and as soon as it’s over, we’ll kind of
give each other crap, and be like ‘Oh, you should have done
it like this,’ or, ‘You looked really silly when you were
making that face.’ Whatever it is — we’re just constantly
having fun.
Do you ever know ahead of time what’s going to happen, or
are you just as shocked as the audience is?
For the most part, we’re just as shocked at the audience. I
know Vera, Freddie and I try to probe a lot and try to find
out and get information because they have it all set out on
their storyboards. There are times when we’ll get a little
bit of information. We get a little bit here and there but
the big guns don’t usually break out, and then we find out
about them later. We always kind of probe a little bit too,
because sometimes the hair and makeup team will maybe get a
script a couple of days before us and so we’ll try and see
if we can get any info out of them. It’s funny. Everybody
always wants to know what’s going to happen because people
are truly shocked when they’re killed off.
Or when they’re sent off on a bus to just leave, like with
Nicola Peltz.
Yeah. You kind of read it and then you go, ‘Oh, I wonder if
they’ve read this yet.’
In one recent episode you got into some trouble with a car
and a gun, I thought to myself, ‘Is he really going to die
right now? They can’t kill him!’
Yeah, a lot of people kind of tripped about that. They said,
‘Is he really going to die just like that?
Have you ever feared that you were going to die in the
show?
In the show, there’s a constant worry of dying. It never
really ends because as far as everybody can assume, Norman’s
really the only one who’s safe.
Where would you want Dylan to go? As far as looking at the
future in season 3 or something like that?
I would like Dylan to go — not Norman dark — but to really
sort of hit rock bottom in a sense. I think I would want him
to hit this really nice sort of stride and to have that all
taken away. I’m not sure what that would mean ultimately,
but just want to have him go very dark.
That brings me to another dark subject. Knowing some of the
projects you seem to be drawn to — or maybe they’re drawn to
you — you act in shows with mystery and horror, such as “My
Soul to Take,” “House at the End of the Street,” and now
“Bates Motel.” Is that a choice or is it just meant to
be?
These things just kind of happen. I guess I’m drawn to
unique characters and I think with the three that you
mentioned, my characters in those works are all pretty
different. And so for me, it’s not necessarily about acting
in certain genres as much as it is about what the script is,
who’s involved and what the character is about. Psychopaths
have always been interesting to me, because I feel like a
lot of them are really complex and they’re so much more than
meets the eye There’s so much going on underneath and so
sometimes just a look is all it takes. Those kinds of
characters are intriguing and so that’s kind of why “My Soul
to Take” was a no brainer with this crazy character who has
seven souls living in him by the end. And there’s Wes Craven
— one of the greatest working in this genre.
How was it working with Wes Craven?
It was great. For me it was such an added bonus because it
wasn’t just a Wes Craven movie or a remake of a Wes Craven
movie, or a Wes Craven-produced movie — it was a movie that
was written, directed and produced by Wes Craven. It was a
little shocking because I was expecting him to be the man
who conjured up Freddy Krueger. I was expecting him to be a
little crazy, and he couldn’t be any nicer and more
intelligent. He’s just the sweetest person. He was just kind
of not what I anticipated.
Since it’s more about the characters, is there a specific
role you’d like to play in the future?
Yeah, I’m doing this mini-series called “Texas Rising” which
is a mini-series on the History Channel done by the same
guys who did the “Hatfields & McCoys.” And they’re
writing and producing this. It’s essentially a Western set
in the 1830’s at the Alamo; about the original rising of the
original Texas rangers.
Are you a Texas Ranger?
Yes. It’s always kind of been my dream since I was a little
boy, growing up and playing Cowboys and Indians, to be a
cowboy.
To get your spurs on.
Exactly. I’m really looking forward to this. There are so
many characters and it’s a really great cast. It’s something
that I have wanted to do for a long time, so I’m really kind
of excited to check this off of the list.
I’ve read that you like sports and you’re an outdoorsy guy —
is this all true?
Yeah, definitely. I spend most of my time outside. I grew up
out in the country and for me I wasn’t great in class. I was
very fidgety and disruptive. I learned more stuff that I
could apply to life and what I do just kind of by being
outside and seeing the marvels of the world and nature.
So acting just sprung on you out of the blue?
I fell into acting. I’m from a town of 3,000 to 4,000 people
and it just was honestly an accident. I started modeling
when I was 12, which was not on purpose. My aunt sent in a
photograph of me to the GAP and then through that I met a
manager who had connections in Los Angeles and told me that
I should try to become an actor. And so I flew down, got an
agent, and then started auditioning and got “Catch that Kid”
shortly thereafter.
Do you love acting?
I do, yeah. I love it. If I had to pick one thing that I
don’t love about it, it would be that it’s difficult to
schedule your life because it’s constantly changing. Not
that it’s easy for anybody to schedule out their life, but
it seems especially difficult when you don’t really ever
know when you’re going to be working. Planning things in
advance is always a little chaotic, so you end up missing
out a lot of stuff that you didn’t plan on missing. But
that’s how life is.
Is it true that you are a “racer”?
I’ve raced off road for about 10 years.
What do you drive?
A class one buggy. I’ve kind of driven everything now. The
Baja 1000 and the Baja 500. I’m actually racing in the
Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.