Sebastian Roché is no stranger to playing villains, but one brutal moment in 1923 made him change his approach.
In an interview with Us Weekly, the actor, 60, reflected on preparing to film his character, Father Renaud, killing Leenah Robinson’s Baapuxti — a student at the North Dakota Boarding School for Native Americans — in season 1. “There was a whole room full of Indigenous [and] Native American young women,” Roché recalled. “Before the scene, I wanted to clear the air and talk about what we were about to do because we’re recreating [the] history that truly happened.”
“I wanted to clear the air by kind of asking forgiveness before we did the scene,” the Vampire Diaries alum continued. “That really helped not only everyone [else] to ease the tension, but myself, because I suddenly felt unbelievably emotional in those scenes.”
“[It’s] so realistic that really, I got incredibly emotional and nervous,” Roche explained, noting that afterward, “I was truly physically exhausted.”
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In 1923, Roché’s Father Renaud is the abusive headmaster at the North Dakota Boarding School for Native Americans where Baapuxti and her cousin Teonna Rainwater (Aminah Nieves) are students. In season 1, Teonna kills two abusive nuns before fleeing into the night. After the priest discovers the deceased women, he interrogates Baapuxti for answers. When she refuses to reveal where Teonna has run off to, Father Renaud kills her. Season 2 picks up where the finale left off, with Father Renaud and U.S. Marshals looking for Teonna.
Filming season 2 was “physically taxing as well as emotionally taxing,” Roché told Us, noting his character goes through “a change” in the Yellowstone prequel’s return. “He’s accompanied by this marshal who may be even more ruthless than he is, so he sees an alter ego, a sort of carbon copy of himself, which makes him start to question certain things about himself.”
For Roché — whose previous roles include The Vampire Diaries’ Mikael Mikaelson and General Hospital’s Jerry Jacks — it’s crucial that he not view his characters as “evil” or “bad” when bringing them to life onscreen. Instead, he opts to go through a “psychological evaluation” of the character.
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“Anthony Hopkins always told me [to] read the script — he reads the script 80 times — and eventually, the script will tell you its secrets,” he told Us. “I could find [Father Renaud] is a terrifying character, but where does that ruthlessness come from?”
“He necessitates so much energy and focus, and it’s quite an exhausting character to play in the best possible way, because he’s so rich,” Roché added. “He may be one-sided to you, but to me, he’s extremely rich.”
Roché is looking forward to viewers witnessing his character’s journey play out in season 2. “You’re going to see many different aspects of Father Renaud,” he added, “which I found really, really exciting and interesting.”
Season 2 of 1923 premieres Sunday, February 23, on Paramount+.
