Alisha Wainwright & Rome Flynn Team Up In Season 2 Of Raising Dion - Exclusive
Back in the fall of 2019, Netflix unveiled the new series "Raising Dion." Based on a popular comic book series, the plot follows single mother Nicole Reese (Alisha Wainwright), who's still mourning the mysterious death of her husband (Michael B. Jordan) when she discovers that their young son Dion (Ja'Siah Young) has unexplained superpowers.
Viewers loved the twists and turns of the first season, but thanks to an extended pandemic-related delay, the second season is finally arriving after more than two years to continue to story. In the new season, viewers are introduced to a new character named Tevin Wakefield, played by actor Rome Flynn, who's tasked with helping provide young Dion with the training and skills that will enable him to harness his awesome superhuman abilities so that he control them, and not vice versa.
Wainwright and Flynn spoke with The List in an exclusive interview about the new season of "Raising Dion." They opened up about the relationship that forms between their characters as they take on the shared role of helping the youngster grow up, both as a budding superhero and as a decent young man.
Alisha Wainwright on how her character's relationship with super-powered son Dion evolves in season 2
Alisha, can you speak a little bit about how Nicole's relationship with Dion has sort of evolved over the course of the first season going into the second, now that his superpowers are becoming more established?
Alisha Wainwright: I think as he gets a grip on them and they're not so much tied to his emotions, he can just call them at will. It takes a lot of the pressure off, and also, there's no looming threat now, you know? The energy is out there because energy never dies, but honestly like anyone, it becomes normal life. If you look at our lives now, we're doing things [that], two years ago, [would] seem insane, but just now they're part of normal life. I think in the way that you have this big potential threat looming, after a couple years you don't see or feel anything, you just go back to normal. I think when you have the element of, he has a little bit of more control, then she feels like she has more control, and then life can just [happen]. That's where we see them at the jump of Season 2.
Alisha, how has the arrival of Tevin into their lives shaped her role as Dion's mother and protector?
Alisha: I think Tevin is smart in letting Nicole dictate the terms and relishing what she allows to have happen. I think he's so impressed by Dion that he wants to work with him. He's like, whatever pace you need, but also [would say], "He's a kid. Let him breathe." He's not really imparting a lot of beliefs onto [Dion]. [Tevin's] more just like being an ear for him to talk to. I think these are important things, things that you would want from a mentor, whereas with Pat (Jason Ritter), Pat was manipulating and steering him in a certain direction for what he thought he wanted. Tevin's very much like, "I can relate to you. What do you want to do? How do you want to be?" You know? I think that's a much easier place for Nicole to relax.
New cast member Rome Flynn discusses his Raising Dion character
Rome, you're a new addition to the show. What can you tell us about your character?
Rome Flynn: My character's name is Tevin Wakefield. He is going to be implemented into Dion's life and Nicole's life as a positive figure. He's there to help him initially with his powers, but I think as you see the season go along, he starts to become more of a male figure in his life to help him through everyday stuff, the stuff that's going on with him at school. He also is developing a relationship with Nicole. As we see that slowly make its way through the season, I think at the end, it all ties in and feels very rewarding as a viewer to see, yes, finally, we see these two characters maybe get closer. From that point, you see maybe more potential.
Now, there's some big twists and surprises in this new season that I think fans are really going to appreciate. When did you sort of find out about the arc of the season and what was going to be happening in it?
Alisha: Around February, 2020, I went to the writer's room and got the full breakdown of what the season the show was going to be. And then, the pandemic happened, and so everything got delayed. Then, they actually did some pretty major rewrites. Carol was kind enough to ... Once they had realized, locked-in scripts, I started reading them pretty early on. I knew that there was going to be a Tevin character from the get go – Tevin was always going to be there. This concept of Biona being a safer place for powered people was always there. Some of the plot twists and things, they changed with the rewrites, but it's always fun to be behind the scenes and see what ends up being the [final result].
The second season of "Raising Dion" is now streaming on Netflix.