Our third set of questions during our Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. set visit were directed at Nick Blood (Hunter), Luke Mitchell (Lincoln), and Henry Simmons (Mack). There were some distractions going on as Luke brought his dog in. The three guys also talked to each other at times. It's always great to see cast members get along so well.
QUESTION: How much trouble is Lincoln going to get into in the back half of this season? We’ve been teased we’re going to get more darkness from him and we see him butting heads with Daisy.
LUKE MITCHELL: What can I tease about what’s ahead? Not much. What have we just shot… Look, I think we’re going to see a lot more of Lincoln’s issues with his past pop up, in particular possibly some anger issues that have been unresolved. They pop their heads up from time to time. Certainly in matters of conflict, in pressure situations, more so which I find very interesting.
[Henry Simmons arrives and sits down, comments on Nick’s lack of a beard]
Question to Nick about lack of beard: Is this a new look for a certain pilot?
NICK BLOOD: No, I had a bit of time off. I get to the point where I like to start pulling hairs out of my beard after I’ve had a beard for a bit too long. It grows really quick, so I only need a couple of days to get it back, really.
LUKE: It’s funny, I go the other way. When I get a little bit of time off, I’ll grow a full beard. I’m sick of trimming it to the same level.
[beard talk, Henry jokes he pulls all his hair out of his head]
QUESTION: Can you tease for people who haven’t seen episode 12 what Lincoln’s thoughts would be about a possible Inhuman cure?
LUKE: To be perfectly honest, I don’t know exactly how he does feel. In terms of the argument he has with Daisy, I think he’s just proposing an alternative argument — not necessarily for the sake of argument. It’s a very interesting topic. If you could have a prevention, if we could track down every single person who had Inhuman DNA and present them with the choice of, hey, you might turn into a horrible bad person or you could have awesome powers and potentially save the world: which way do you go when it’s not guaranteed one way or another? I think it’s a really interesting topic. Yeah, I’m not sure that Lincoln necessarily has a side, but Daisy certainly seems to take the side of “everything is a gift.”
QUESTION: Since we do know there’s a pilot that potentially will spin Hunter off onto another show, how much is Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. going to lean into Hunter not quite fitting into the rest of the team versus working toward including him more?
NICK: I don’t think he’s — apart from having a little issue with May at times — I don’t think there’s anyone that’s ever tried what it’s like to push him out, and Coulson’s very much seen him as an asset and someone that he should try to persuade to be a part of the team, because he brings things to it. And also, I think he appreciates that an outside perspective is also quite good. It’s not a dictatorship. I think, at the end of the day, Hunter is very independent-minded. He’s not going to be forced out or forced into anything either; he’s going to make his own choice. So yeah, I guess for a while he’s played the game and then various things have come up which make him again question it. And it’s not necessarily like he’s saying that people are doing something wrong, it’s just not his way.
QUESTION: Where do you think your respective characters would fall in Team Cap vs. Team Iron Man in Captain America: Civil War?
NICK: Hmm, he’d be Team Hunter. Yeah, I don’t know that Hunter would involve himself in that sort of politics.
HENRY SIMMONS: I think my guy would be against… well… I want to think about it more.
LUKE: Look, the easy answer is Lincoln wants to be a part of S.H.I.E.L.D. As long as Coulson’s the director of S.H.I.E.L.D., I’m sure he’s on Team Cap, therefore Lincoln would be on Team Cap. [to Henry] Did that screw you up?
HENRY: I’m trying to think… yeah, I’ll roll with that. I’ll roll with that.
LUKE: What were you going to say before I said anything?
HENRY: Yeah… [adjusts] yeah.
QUESTION: Lincoln and Daisy finally consummate their long-percolating relationship in episode 12. We haven’t had a new relationship on the show in a while, so how will that change the dynamic of what’s going on?
LUKE: It will make it more complicated, obviously. I think it can only strengthen the feelings that Daisy and Lincoln have for each other and therefore obviously complicate things in a workplace environment —
NICK: Unless it’s a really disappointing consummation.
LUKE: I mean, it certainly wasn’t on Lincoln’s part. I mean, there is the Inhuman side of things. Think about the powers, people. Think about the powers...
NICK: I mean, Quake’s vibrations… [incoherent]
LUKE: I mean, the first time Lincoln and then-Skye held hands, I believe she said something like, “It tingles,” so… sorry, what was the question?
HENRY: The detail.
QUESTION: So when is Mack going to get someone? Yo-Yo?
HENRY: Umm, I don’t know…
NICK: Oh, they haven’t seen the Hunter/Mack storyline. That’s the whole backstory as to why Hunter and Bobbi didn’t work out, yeah, and why he walks with swagger.
HENRY: [sighs] If somebody writes that down, you crazy...
[Nick talks about how he made up answers for a foreign journalist]
QUESTION: Can you guys tease how your characters might react to Hive, especially since it’s a familiar face to them?
NICK: I reckon he’d react like, [gasps].
LUKE: You actually did on screen.
HENRY: You know what? My character has never met Grant — has never seen him, never met him. Have you?
LUKE: No, no. We were in a scene together, but I got knocked out so we didn’t officially meet, unfortunately.
HENRY: So I would just react to him as if he was another being. I wouldn’t see him as the person that he was.
QUESTION: Does that make you the only people not emotionally connected in that sense?
LUKE: Definitely, yeah. I think that makes it interesting because some of the team members will obviously react —
HENRY: I disagree. I think our guys would be emotionally connected because of how he affects Daisy.
QUESTION: Episode 12 ended with Bobbi and Hunter stowing away on Malick’s plane. What can you tease of what comes next?
NICK: The next episode they’re just at chiropractors because their backs got so sore in the back of the plane, but then they got a whole load of new clothes because they ransacked the luggage and they’re selling it all on eBay. That’s episode 13.
LUKE: It’s not the most action-packed episode.
QUESTION: In all seriousness, what can you tease as something to run after episode 12?
NICK: Umm, well, uhh, what can I tease? I can tease you all sorts. I mean teasing is essentially just like ribbing.
QUESTION: No, but really.
NICK: They’re just really jet-lagged. It’s just they’re arguing and bickering.
QUESTION: We all know your show, you can’t keep lying to us.
NICK: But also, if I told you, you wouldn’t want to watch episode 13, 14, 15…
QUESTION: What can you tell us to excite the viewers?
NICK: Oh, well the reason they should watch is to find out what happens. Episode 13, it’s, uhh, I don’t understand the question.
[Henry and Luke were whispering. Microphone didn’t actually pick up what they were saying]
QUESTION: Henry, can you talk about what’s ahead for Mack this season?
HENRY: I think they’re exploring a little bit of his life outside of SHIELD —
NICK: Which involves a lot of Hunter, doesn’t it?
HENRY: Actually, it does; a lot of baths and showers. No, I’ll say this, there is the opportunity where they explore how lives are affected, families are affected, by if someone is S.H.I.E.L.D. and they aren’t allowed to say, “Hey, I’m in S.H.I.E.L.D.” They’re not allowed to talk about that, and just how relationships are delicate and strained when you’re in S.H.I.E.L.D. and you can’t really tell anyone what you’re doing. It’s difficult.
QUESTION: In episode 11, we heard he had this faith when he’s talking to Yo-Yo. Is it sort of expanding upon that?
HENRY: No, no they don’t. I thought that was pretty interesting. I liked that.
QUESTION: Meeting Yo-Yo seemed to change how Mack viewed Inhumans. Now that we know there’s this possibility of a way to prevent Inhumans from going through Terrigenesis, where will Mack fall on that?
HENRY: Ooh my gosh that’s a good question, Lord have mercy. I still think that Mack, with Yo-Yo, I think there’s a connection to the person there, but I still think he looks at these powers as a curse. If you look at everything involving these powers, it’s been negative results, from his perspective — things that have happened to him and around him, it really hasn’t been too positive. I still think he would be against it.
QUESTION: So he probably would be Team Iron Man, then.
HENRY: You might be right!
QUESTION: It does feel like he’s found a little bit of peace and acceptance with Daisy kind of protector of these good Inhumans. Do you think he has a mission to help protect these people?
HENRY: I think it’s more specific. Right now, it’s more to protect Daisy. There’s a relationship that’s happened, there’s a bond that’s happened that’s deepened with each episode, which I love. I love working with Chloe. It’s like a sister, and I wouldn’t say it’s all Inhumans — I still think he’s wary of them to some degree — but with her, I think he’d protect her at any cost.
QUESTION: How do they feel about the hunt for Lash, or Lash being out there? Do they want to go after him?
HENRY: I know I don’t. This guy hurt me!
LUKE: Well, he hurt you a few times, he hurt me a few times. I don’t think Lincoln wants Lash to be around, but I don’t think he’s dumb enough to go after him again without a better plan. I think the scope is a little broader now with other Inhumans coming to play that aren’t necessarily good either.
HENRY: We’ve got a lot on the plate.
LUKE: It’s not just Lash to worry about anymore.
QUESTION: Nick, with Hunter and Bobbi going off, where is their dynamic going as they go off on this adventure? They seem to be at a pretty stable spot, but that’s not always where they stay.
NICK: Hunter prefers it when he’s not working under the jurisdiction of S.H.I.E.L.D., and this is an opportunity where they’re on their own, they can make up their own rules, just turn their phones onto airplane mode and ignore the calls from back home. I think Hunter’s probably the one that’s more inclined to put focus on their future and their relationship, whereas Bobbi kind of sees the greater good as a more important focus for her. I think when they’re off on their own together, you see how they compliment each other. Without the distractions of S.H.I.E.L.D. or other people, they compliment each other. You start to see in episode 13 how the goodness in Hunter isn’t necessary linked to S.H.I.E.L.D. Not everything S.H.I.E.L.D. does is necessarily the right thing or the moral thing to do, so disagreeing with it doesn’t make you immoral or un-good or whatever. He’s willing to ignore the rules and regulations to get the right thing done, and that sometimes Bobbi needs a little bit of that kick in the backside to send her in that direction. By the same token, Hunter needs Bobbi’s rationale to make sure he doesn’t go and get himself in trouble again.
QUESTION: Mack became director of S.H.I.E.L.D. in the midseason finale. How did you feel when things went back to normal in 11?
HENRY: I think Mack is a good leader, but I think that he was happy to let go of the reins. What the writers did a good job of at the beginning of that episode, you could see that he was under a lot of pressure. He didn’t want to step into that position because of the pressure involved and he didn’t want to make a mistake, but when he had to, boom, he took over, and I thought he did a pretty good job. But afterwards, he’s finally letting go of the reins, but the one thing he won’t give up is challenging Coulson to make sure he’s doing the right thing. I hope that conflict continues throughout the run of however long.
[asks if Mack will say “Sparkles” as nickname, which gets a laugh out of Henry]
Keep an eye out for more interviews from the set of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. coming up.
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