When FROM Season 2 began, the town and the audience were thrown for a loop when a bus full of people entered the picture.
One of those bus goers was the easily agitated Randall, who quickly made an enemy out of Donna and was banished to the bus after he failed to play nice with the others at Colony House.
It’s been a rough go for Randall since FROM Season 2 Episode 1, and we have to wonder how much worse things will get for him and his enemy (frenemy?) Donna, who found herself in a horrifying situation in the closing seconds of FROM Season 2 Episode 8.
We got to speak with Randall’s portrayer, the wonderful and affable A.J. Simmons, who explained Randall’s thought process in taking Donna, why the two clashed so much, and why Randall struggled to fall in line when he arrived in town.
Everyone will be talking about that final moment, which saw a bloodied Donna tied to a tree, nightfall on the horizon.
It was a surprise for Jim, as he and Randall had a plan that didn’t involve taking Donna along with them. So, why did Randall go rogue?
“He wouldn’t say it’s rogue per se,” Simmons explained. “I think he would argue that it is just highly efficient and cut out the middle man, Jim, because it’s just slowing everything down.
“And if he can, which he did, then take matters into his own hands to get to his answer quickest. Randall’s all about just trying to get it moving and trying to get out of there. He just wants to get out. So if this is the best way he can do that, he’ll do it, and he has no problem doing the dirty work.”
The Randall and Donna dynamic has been fraught with tension from the start. The two have never been able to see eye to eye. But why is that? Is it just a case of two strong personalities clashing?
As Simmons told us, “I think underneath, there is a mutual respect there. Underneath all of it, I think there are similarities in their personalities. But, yeah, that’s exactly it.
“There’s someone that is going to stand up, be loud, wave a shotgun around, shoot out tires of a bus like it’s nothing in front of everybody. He doesn’t want to listen to her. She doesn’t want to listen to him.
“But it’s like they’re both very similar in so many ways and so different in so many ways. You know what I mean? So I think that’s naturally a recipe for an explosive relationship for sure.
“And he doesn’t trust people, and why would he? You turn up in a town where it’s like, this can’t be real. Surely not. So he won’t take anything from any of these people unless he really believes it.”
Jim: Randall, what the fuck?
Randall: New plan.
Randall has certainly been skeptical from the start, unwilling to accept the situation’s reality and fall in line like we’ve seen countless others do when they’re dropped into town.
“I think Randall’s not really a people pleaser, and I think he’s quite a resourceful chap. So he is not easily encouraged or coerced or manipulated, whatever you want to call it, to do what other people say,” Simmons admitted when asked about why Randall was unwilling to accept the situation.
“I think he’s one of those people that has to lead himself to the water and then has to drink it as well. And he won’t be told until he finds out for himself. So that’s why it’s taken him a little longer to adjust.
“But also, he’s not afraid to ask questions from the off. And then he obviously clashes with Donna a bunch and Kenny, stuff like that. He’s not afraid to step up and try and resolve issues for himself. So I think that’s why he’s probably taken a little longer than most to adjust to life in From.”
Since his arrival, Randall has had some memorable moments, perhaps none more so than his encounter with the monsters during FROM Season 2 Episode 5, when he spent his first night on the bus.
But Simmons enjoyed a few Randall moments throughout the season.
“Randall’s got some funny little lines that he says every now and again,” Simmons said. “He’s just got a funny way of putting some people in their place where he is like back to the bus drivers.
“He’s just like, ‘Oh, you’re a peach.’ Stuff like that. Or little lines, little digs. He’s really good at digging at people’s personal problems and just calling them out on their bullshit.
“But, yeah, those moments for me are, outside of the largely dramatic or the violent action bursts or whatever it is, they are always fun to do. It’s those little sly little digs with the little bit of cheek. They’re always fun.”
And while Randall has gone toe-to-toe with Donna, Boyd, and others, there’s one FROM character he’d like to see Randall mix it up with.
“I think if Randall and Jade had a conversation, that would be quite interesting,” Simmons told us. “I think on some level, they might be sit down and share a joint and be like, ‘This is kind of crazy. You might calm down a little bit.’
“I don’t think he’s met anybody he can sit and have a normal conversation with outside of getting out of here. But then, saying that, I don’t think Randall’s got time for it. But Jade would be cool. I think that would be an interesting meeting of minds.”
FROM Season 1 was a huge success that garnered the series a well-deserved season 2. And Simmons had nothing but great things to say about joining the cast and the filming experience.
“It was amazing,” Simmons explained. “It was chaos. I came to the project quite late, so I was just thrown him right at the deep end. And it started, and it was super hot, and then it was super cold by the end, so it was a whole journey of emotions and feelings with this huge cast.
“It’s kind of daunting coming in second season or something, and you’re going one of the new guys, and everyone’s got their own little thing going on, whatever. Creatively and interpersonally and everything, everybody was just very open, and it was wonderful. Yeah, it was great.”
We’ve still got two more hours before the season comes to a close, and looking ahead to the much-anticipated season finale, we asked Simmons to give us one word to describe it, and Simmons gave us a very definitive, “Damn.”
Let’s take a second to let that sink in!
Hit the comments and let us know how you feel about Randall these days and what you want to see next!
***This interview has been edited for length and clarity.***
You can watch FROM at 10/9c on MGM+ and follow our weekly reviews here at TV Fanatic.
Whitney Evans is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow her on Twitter.