An Interview with Shadowhunters’ Alberto Rosende, Harry Shum Jr., and Isaiah Mustafa at NYCC 2016
While we all wait anxiously for the Season 2 premiere of Shadowhunters on January 2nd at 8 pm ET/PT on Freeform, we were able to speak with Alberto Rosende (Simon Lewis), Harry Shum Jr. (Magnus Bane), and Isaiah Mustafa (Luke Garroway) at this year’s New York Comic-Con about what fans can expect from their characters in Season 2.
You are all very active on social media, if your characters had a SnapChat, what would they be posting?
Alberto: “With Simon I feel like it’d be a bunch of inside jokes that he finds funny, but other people wouldn’t. Like maybe Clary would be like ‘ha ha,’ but Simon would be like ‘this is my uh,’ and there’d be nothing there, and he’d be like ‘that’s right.’ You know just random snaps. I feel like if I had to model it off someone, it would be kinda like Harry, though, because I think Harry’s SnapChat game is on point, but it’d be Simonified.”
Isaiah: “I’m pretty sure Luke’s snaps would be just like mine, irrelevant and non-existent. (laughs)”
Harry: “For Magnus, I think he would always prank people with his magic. Like he would make things appear and disappear, and then like mess with them.”
Alberto: “He’d move seats away!”
Harry: “Yeah, move seats away constantly, and then endless pictures of all the jewelry.”
Alberto: “Selfies too?”
Isaiah: “Yeah his selfie game would be on point.”
Alberto: “With the flower filter!”
Harry: “The selfies would float! It would be like ‘how did he take that?'”
That’d also be a great opportunity to use the cat eyes! Are we going to see any of that this season?
Harry: “Yes, yes. We have an upgrade of visual effects [this season] that you saw in the trailer; we’re definitely trying to bring up the level from what we had last year and cat eyes are definitely in there, and they’re very important for the character. Especially for a Warlock you know, that is a mark that we have to see. I think introducing it in a different way as opposed to having it constantly was a smart move, but now we need to really show it when the time comes in the right way as well.”
With the new season coming up, what do you feel is the biggest challenge your characters will face?
Alberto: “For Simon, I think it’s something that everyone struggles with. It’s coming into yourself and owning who you are. This new change of becoming a vampire made that harder for Simon because he was just getting the hang of who Simon was [as a mundane] now there’s vampire Simon. So I think that’s where Simon’s journey lies right now, discovering where his strength is.”
Is he going back to his rockstar dreams or has he kind of given that up?
Alberto: “He’s definitely not given it up but other things have taken over right now, and he doesn’t have the time to fall back into it. I want rockstar Simon to happen!
He did have his look upgraded, so I feel like that could happen!
Alberto: “I mean that’s the vampire mojo coming to be a thing, so I hope so, I don’t know where they’re going with that, but I hope so!”
Harry: “Next year you’ll be wearing suits! (laughs)”
Alberto: “Yeah I’ll be wearing suits and no music.”
Harry: “You’ll have other vampires playing music while you walk in with smoke.”
Alberto: “WOOSH!”
Harry: “The challenge I think for me as I learn, I feel like with every script I’m continually learning more about Magnus. I’m dealing with someone who’s lived this long life. So he’s wise yet still has this vulnerability that plays into situations that he’s dealt with now. It’s always hard because for someone who’s lived so long, has seen everything, done everything, experienced everything, felt everything…how do you let them still feel almost for the first time? Yes, there’s a human side, so I think that’s what we’re trying to dig into this season and showcase in his character.”
Isaiah: “I think now that Jocelyn’s awake, trying to raise Clary, and is in the shadow world….now how do we raise this child in the shadow world that we were trying to protect her from? Now that she’s immersed in it. You know it’s like trying to tell your teenager ‘you need to do that’ and they’re like, ‘Yeah I’ll figure that out myself. I don’t wanna hear what you have to say.’ Even if they do it wrong they may not come to you and say, ‘Oh you were right,’ but you share that glance and you don’t have to rub their face in it. I mean I’m thinking about my daughter right now, and it’s one of those unspoken things that I think Clary and Luke, eventually you’ll see that it kinda develops and now he gives her advice.”
Now that Luke is the leader of the pack, is he still struggling to come to terms with that?
Isaiah: “Extremely! The New York pack did nothing but add more stress to his life. (laughs) Now he has to deal with his pack, he never wanted that, and now he has it. Before his pack was Simon, Clary, and Jocelyn. Now it’s all these other people with Maia, Gretel, all these other werewolves and he’s like ‘man, I have to take care of everybody now’ and it’s just hard for him to grasp that.”
Harry: “And everyone keeps going to you for their problems! (laughs)”
Isaiah: “I’m waiting for Luke just to be like ENOUGH! VACATION TIME! I’M OUT!”
You can check out the Season 2 Sneak Peek here along with photos of the cast in the press room:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7B8iupdc6U
An actual emoji @arosende 💁🏻 #ShadowhuntersNYCC pic.twitter.com/XjTAFftyVc
— Talk Nerdy With Us (@TalkNerdyWithUs) October 8, 2016
#blessed pic.twitter.com/2CZP0pAD6N
— Talk Nerdy With Us (@TalkNerdyWithUs) October 8, 2016