A new episode of Superman & Lois titled “Through the Valley of Death” airs tonight (July 13) on The CW (photos can be found here) and to promote the episode we spoke with another of the show’s super sons, the incredibly talented Alex Garfin, whose “Jordan Kent” character will be working with his brother to find ways to get their father home.
If you haven’t seen the previous episode “A Brief Reminiscence In-Between Cataclysmic Events” yet, there’s still time before the new episode airs at 9PM (ET/PT). Trust us, it’s worth it to be caught up!
Here’s the interview:
KRYPTONSITE’S CRAIG BYRNE: At the end of Episode 11, is Jordan deflated after he was unable to keep his father away from Morgan Edge?
ALEX GARFIN: He isn’t just deflated; he has a deep exhaustion, but he’s so deep in his exhaustion that he knows he has to keep going. He feels as if he was too weak to save his own family, and that he was the only one there that could have done it. He feels ashamed by the whole thing. When Jonathan confronts him about those feelings, it’s not anything besides just a deep shame. It’s a deep feeling of just being weak, how he felt his whole childhood, in life, in having the social anxiety disorder and having very little friends… he just feels too weak. And now he’s exhausted as well.
How does Jonathan help to bring Jordan out of this?
In the classic Jonathan fashion, he’s just a ramp that Jordan can use to spring himself up. Jonathan is such a supportive brother in every way, and he knows his brother so well. He knows what to say, and he knows what to do. I think a great example of that was in episode 6. Jordan was having problems with his super hearing, and Jonathan thinks it’s a panic attack, and Jonathan immediately springs into knowing what to do. That’s just classic Jonathan, just being there for everyone, and just being awesome brother.
If the situation were reversed, and Jonathan had been the one with the powers, do you think Jordan would have been as helpful?
I think so. I think the way that we’re seeing Jordan now is under all the pressure of powers, and under all of that. So first of all, Jordan would be a very different person, and then on the other note, Johnson would be a very different person, because Jonathan would have to deal with the pressures of potentially killing someone when you get too angry. But in the end, yeah, I do believe they would support each other. I do believe it would be a very different dynamic. But no matter what, Jordan is there for his brother, no matter how much stuff is going on. Same way with Jonathan. I think it does go both ways.
Do you get to share any scenes with David Ramsey, and what was it like to have him on set?
I had one line where Jonathan and Jordan came in, right at the end. It was great seeing him act, because we saw him direct for Episode 7 [“Man of Steel”]. It was also great to talk to a former director of the show and ask him what that whole process is, and I’m trying to better myself as an actor as well. David was just a really nice guy. I had a lot of really great conversations with him, even though he had a Dodgers hat and I’m a Mets fan, and we had to overcome that, but besides that, he’s a great guy.
Earlier this season, the show had Jordan playing the piano. That is one of your own passions, correct?
Yeah! I play a lot of piano. To be honest, I never got too much into video games. I don’t know if it’s just because I didn’t find the right one or whatever, but I was always twinkling… I literally have a guitar sitting here. [Starts playing guitar] I’m always twinkling at something to keep my hands moving, so it was great that we got to incorporate that into the show.
I also personally made sure that he was at a 14 year old playing level, because onside shows, all of the sudden the kid comes up and he’s [perfect].
It was a sweet moment, with him overcoming a giant fear of his, and Sarah overcoming a giant fear of hers. I loved that whole little arc. It was so sweet to have that going on, while that heavy episode with Lois dealing with her loss of Natalie was going on at the same time. It was nice to be on the sweet arc side of it for once.
Will Jordan miss the Jor-El AI now that it has apparently been destroyed?
Yeah. I think everyone has to come to terms with that loss. I think it’s reasonable to assume that Jonathan met Jor-El as well; it was alluded to, I believe, in Episode 2, where Clark had winter clothes for Jonathan out in the football field.
It’s dealing with the loss of his grandfather, but he never really knew him. But, he was also his ticket to his own heritage and figuring out what that means. Primarily, that’s Clark’s loss, and it’s Clark who will have to deal with the loss of his father.
How different was filming the first season of Superman & Lois compared to what you pictured before you started?
Oh, man, I mean, I started before COVID. I booked it in January, so I imagined it being from March to probably around August, and that was going to be the whole thing, and then I’d go back for my senior year, and all that. Instead, you know, we had COVID, so we started in September, and then we shot all the way up until two weeks ago.
As horrible as shooting during COVID was, and all the restrictions are very hard on the crew, especially with those N-95 masks that are just a turtle shell, when you’re working in extreme heat, and then extreme cold, and then extreme heat for 20-hour days… it brought the cast together as a family, because we were all in it together. We all kind of stuck there together. But .it brought us together in a way that I don’t think ever would have happened otherwise. I think we’re all friendly people, but it was really great to see the crew and the cast and the producers all unite and go “we’re going to make something good.”
Do think that the quarantine helped the four of you bond as a family on TV?
I think so. Especially Jordan Elsass and I. We would spend literally every day together, because there was really only the two of us out there. Normally, that would mean that we’d spend a lot of time together, but on top of that, we just really got along well.
He’s from Texas. I’m from New York. We’re different as two people can get, but it’s like, I’m watching Grace & Frankie right now, and we have, like, the teenage boy version of Grace & Frankie going on [with us].
Is it weird to not see him every day now, because of the summer hiatus?
Yeah, it’s a little bit weird. I have to say, we’re missing each other a little bit, but we’re back with our chosen friends. I catch up with him every once in a while. It’s only been two weeks. I’m gonna see him again soon in Raleigh, North Carolina for Galaxy Con… I believe I’ll see him there. If not, then I don’t know. I’ll definitely see Tyler [Hoechlin] there.
Are you intimidated by the idea of doing conventions?
Personally, no, I love meeting people. I used to go up to random people on the subway train and just talk to them. [Fans and I] have something to nerd out about, because I’m a big fan of the show, too. I’ll have a great time as a participant in the convention just as much as I am a person that is invited to it.
Which powers are the most fun to film, and which are kind of difficult to put together?
That’s an interesting question. Each power, for me, has kind of a metaphor in my mind, that kind of lassos it down from the ethereal and tries to make it a little more grounded. Super-hearing was definitely the one in Season 1 that really got that full arc of developing. We kind of see a master heat vision, but not really, and heat vision, I can always imagine as — I don’t know if you ever read Matilda as a little kid — a thousand little hands coming out of your eyes and grabbing a cup. That is always what I think about. I think of a thousand little hands.
With super hearing, I actually learned to ski while I was up [in Vancouver], but that’s exactly how it is, to concentrate and make sure you don’t fall, and you make sure you don’t fall by just kind of going with it. You keep going with it, and if you fall it kind of hurts. It really hurts for Jordan, more so than falling into some powder.
With ice breath, a lot of that is just a lot of breathing stuff. Nothing in particular. I have a whole list in my phone somewhere of how to make it comprehensible in my mind.
When were talking earlier about like talking to David Ramsey as a former director, is directing something you would like to do someday?
I would absolutely love to keep the option open. I know my first and true love is acting. I love creating the person. I love all of that that’s involved in it. But it would be really awesome to direct. Personally, especially over the last two weeks when I didn’t have any school anymore, I went up to every department and made sure I knew what everyone did, first of all, but also how they were good at their job, and what made them good at their job, and why certain directors were put on the whole thing. It was really, really great.
What hype can you share for the season finale that’s coming up in a few weeks, with no spoilers?
The entire thing is spoilers! I personally had one of my favorite scenes that Tom Cavanagh, our director for the episode, and I both really loved: I’ll just say it was a sunset in the field towards the very end of the episode. That’s all I’m gonna say. I really loved that scene. It worked very well.
Do you have a dream guest star from the Arrowverse you would like to see on Superman & Lois?
I would really love to meet Grant Gustin, Stephen Amell or Melissa Benoist; just, the people that have been carrying these shows. I really love to be meeting the people that have carried the shows for this long, and just ask them how they did it with that longevity, because personally, I want to do it, and I want to learn from them. That would be really cool.
Do you have any final words you want to say about why people should tune in for Episode 12 other than the fact that we’ve been waiting so long?
If you care at all about any of these characters, all of them have something going on, and all of it is good. I think that if you are curious on how this all evolves, or a lot of your answers are going to be answered in Episode 12. Episode 11 was the spectacular meteor impact, and Episode 12 is the giant crater. If you really liked 11, you’ll love 12.
You can see a trailer and a preview clip for the July 13 Superman & Lois “Through The Valley Of Death” below.