To say that DC Entertainment and Warner Brothers Television’s new live-action adaptation of ‘Titans’ is one of the most anticipated television programs in years would be a severe understatement. The series premiered a little over a week ago to huge numbers and a rabid fan base that so far seems to be enjoying the ride as we get to know our heroes in these first few episodes of the show. Adapting ‘Teen Titans’ into a live action television series was never going to be an easy feat, and doing it well was going to be next to impossible, but from what fans have been saying DC hit the nail right on the head and has brought us the true next generation of heroes!
The team on ‘Titans’ is lead by the original teen sidekick Dick Grayson, aka ‘Robin The Boy Wonder’, who is played by Australian actor Brenton Thwaites on the show. We were recently able to set down with Brenton at New York Comic Con 2018 to speak with him about taking on this iconic role, finding the right balance for the character, and just what it was like suiting up as Robin for the first time! Check out our full interview below!
ScienceFiction.com (SF): So what’s it like to step into the role of Robin, as one of the few people who has ever had the chance to play him in live action?
Brenton Thwaites (BT): It’s an honor! It’s a character I have known for so long, the ‘Batman’ stories have been going for so many years and a lot of the newer ones coming out in the last ten years? I would have no idea who they were, and I think a lot of people wouldn’t if you put them on the big screen. But ‘Batman and Robin’ is so traditional and so old school. Having said that? It’s starting at a point in the stories that we haven’t really seen done before, so at the same time it was a brand new story, and I feel like where we start, there is just so much room to travel. He becomes a different character, he goes on the road with so many different characters. It’s an honor to have that depth and that good material behind me, but also to be at a point in his story that will carry him on for so long I think.
SF: So why all the ‘cussin?
BT: Man I have to say what’s written on the page, if I didn’t I’d be fired!
SF: What’s your relationship like with Batman? We see you two don’t seem to be getting along, so what’s going on ebtween the two of you? Why all the “F*ck Batman”?
BT: I think underneath all of the “F*ck Batman” is that there is a love and a care that they both have for one another. Batman took Dick Grayson in at a time when he had lost his parents, and decided to mentor him and give him everything; a place a sleep, a roof over his head. So there’s definitely always that love that a father would have for their son, but the way Bruce and Dick have been fighting, and the brutality and ferociousness that he inflicts on his opponents has driving Dick to kind of go away and find a different way of fighting crime. Not necessarily what he learned from Batman, and on that journey, he realizes that it doens’t have to be that brutal and that ferocious and that destructive. So he decides to figure out a new identity and discover who he is all over again.
SF: Early on we’re seeing Dick going above and beyond for Rachel, why is he so interested in helping her?
BT: I think he sees in her a little piece of himself a s a kid. He was also someone who didn’t really know his parents at a young age. He sort of lost his parents and didn’t quite grow up with them, so I think he feels empathetic loss and decides to help them out because there’s no one else.
SF: Robin has a bit of a rebellious streak in him right now. Can you think of an experience in your personal life that you were able to use to channel that rebelliousness into Robin in your story?
BT: In my own life? It’s kind of breaking away. Well, it’s not rebellion, but the breakaway from any parents of guardians or even hometown to sort of fulfill a goal, which is kind of what Dick Grayson is going through right now, you know? He left his home in Gotham, he left his everything, to basically find out who he is and begin the search for a better way of doing what he loves to do. In a way that’s me going to L.A. to become an actor when I was younger. Leaving Australia, jumping over the pond and trying to get gigs, it’s kind of similar in it’s own way.
SF: What was it like the first time you put the whole Robin suit on?
BT: When I put the full suit on? There were a bunch of different fittings, but I eventually had a full suit made of all these different parts! When I first put it on it was in plates and I was really impressed! It had a really cool shiny touch to it, but also looked like I had been fighting in it for years. I was really impressed!
‘Titans’ is streaming now exclusively on the DC Universe subscription streaming service! The series stars Brenton Thwaites, Ryan Potter, Anna Diop, Teagan Croft, Alan Ritchson, and Minka Kelly. Be sure to keep up with Brenton Thwaites on Twitter and Instagram! Stay tuned to ScienceFiction.com for all the latest on ‘Titans’!
