An Interview with Shaun Sipos & Noah Reid from ‘Outer Range’

Shaun Sipos, Will Patton, and Noah Reid as Luke Tillerson, Wayne Tillerson, and Billy Tillerson in Season 2 of ‘Outer Range’. (Photo Courtesy of Prime Video.)

Shaun Sipos and Noah Reid are a pair of accomplished actors that have appeared in some popular franchises. Such as, Reacher and Schitt’s Creek, respectively. Currently, they star as Luke Tillerson and Billy Tillerson, respectively in the Prime Video series, Outer Range, and we here at NTG had the distinct honor of sitting down with both of them to discuss season two of the show!
 
John Betancourt: I’d like to know what it means to each of you, to be part of such an ambitious storytelling show.
 
Shaun Sipos: It's a real blessing, an absolute gift, that I have Brian Watkins to thank for hiring me, and Zev (Borow). And obviously Josh (Brolin) had, you know, a say in that as well. And then for them putting together such an amazing cast that, you know, to be part of something like this… where you have actors that, in my opinion, are some of the best in the business, and it just makes you better, just by being around them and doing scenes with them. And everyone, everyone brought their A-game always. So, I couldn't ask for anything more.
 
Noah Reid: Yeah, I mean, I would echo everything that that Sean said, this project from the very beginning, from the first, you know, the first couple of words that I read about of this show, I just knew that this was a project of a really high caliber, you know, Brian's writing and the world that he invited us all into… very special, very unique. And a total thrill to be a part of something so considered. The inner lives, the characters were so well drawn, so complex, and so strange and unique. And then, you know, to be able to fill that world out with the cast that he assembled, along with Zev and Josh, and everyone involved. Just, you know, we just, I think, all felt super lucky to be there. Season One was, you know, happening at a difficult time for the world. And we had to, we had innumerable challenges to deal with, with the pandemic that was taking place. But, you know, we managed to kind of come together as a group during that time and create something, I think, really special. And so, to have an opportunity to expand on that in season two was a total thrill. To get to be back with this, this group of artists was, was pretty remarkable.
 
John Betancourt: Noah, what are you hoping audiences take away from this season from a messaging standpoint
 
Noah Reid: The continual thing with this show is that the hole is this… it's more than just a hole, it represents this kind of hole in the American psyche, I think for me, and to do with, with our past and the land and our footprint on it, and our struggle to own some something so that we can, you know, matter. And I think that all of these characters are, are in one way or another dealing with a kind of a crisis of identity and “who am I?” kind of moment in the massive expanse of the world and the universe and time. And everyone is really, you know, as Will Patton said at one point, “making desperate attempts at transcendence.” And I think that's, that's the thing that we really continue in this season. Everyone's trying to get some resolution and the audience is included in that, you know, so yeah, I'm excited to see where it goes. I haven't seen it myself. So, I'm curious.
 
John Betancourt: Shaun, what are you most excited for audiences to experience this season, without any spoilers, of course?
 
Shaun Sipos: I think just the expounding on the mystery that they feel I mean, if you watch the trailer for the second season, it really sort of sets up that mystery and wonder that I think people have been craving you know, that they want the hole to expand. They want to see what's in it, they want to see where it goes. They want to see what it does to people, they want to see what it does the world around them, and they get a taste of that, a good taste of it. So hopefully everyone…  by the time that they finish watching the second season, they feel like maybe they've had a taste of that mineral themselves. And that, that if any of them watched sort of like a Twin Peaks type of thing that they got a bit of a taste of that as well. Which people seem to have been really craving.
 
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

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