The Expanse interview: Steven Strait says that the season 5 finale is the best yet

The Expanse’s Steven Strait on the season 5 finale, Holden’s character evolution, and how they made that scary spider-bot scene.

The fifth season of Amazon Prime Video’s The Expanse has hit high marks across the spectrum with separate storylines for the main Rocinante crew. The heroic leader, James Holden, finds himself separated from his romantic partner, Naomi Nagata, worried about her welfare as she fends for herself in the belly of the beast, kidnapped by her terrorist family.

Portrayed by actor Steven Strait, Holden finds himself in season 5 dealing with the aftermath of the attack on Tycho that took out Fred Johnson (Chad Coleman) and the race to stop terrorist Marco Inaros from getting his hands on the only protomolecule sample left.

Culturess spoke with Strait via a phone interview about the evolution of James Holden as a leader and the humorous technicalities of piecing together that tense spider-bot fight on Tycho in episode 4.

Culturess: I’m sad that you and Naomi are separated this season, but there are good reasons for that. Do you feel that there’s a chance that the two of you will come together again?

Steven Strait: Well, without giving too much away, I think, for Holden this year it’s a very different kind of story structure, having his family away from him, while all this chaos is going on. And he has the dual storylines of going after the protomolecule, while also trying to get back to his family—and Naomi, in particular. And especially at the end of episode 5, he realizes exactly what kind of position she’s in.

There’s a major conflict within Holden, starting to brew between those two priorities of knowing what he needs to do in terms of his responsibilities as a leader for the greater human race, and also getting back to his family.

Culturess: Yeah, I wasn’t sure how it would work with the separate paths, everybody going their own way, but it’s turned out to be absolutely brilliant. But how much do you miss the rest of the crew?

Strait: I mean, you know, the shooting of it was strange. We have become accustomed over the years to have a shorthand: we don’t really need to talk about stuff. We’re kind of one organism, in many ways.

These characters being separated this year are tied together by themes and events, and that’s only possible because of the excellence of our writing. I mean, we’ve always been privileged to have the writing that we have. And, you know, I think it shows the connection between the people within the Roci crew by this point in the story, that even though they’re at separate ends of the system, they’re still very much intertwined with each other.

It’s very rare that after a couple of seasons on a successful show, the writers take the creative risk of really shaking up the whole structure. And obviously, you know it follows book five, but still, to do that in the fifth season for me was so impressive. And it was, they’re not afraid to push the limits and shake things up to try new things. And you know, it was a different time, it was a different tone for every character this year and for Holden, it was a very lonely journey.

You know, he’s the most secure we’ve ever seen him in terms of his responsibilities as a leader. But the irony of that is that the people who got him there and that he’s come to love… are scattered and all this chaos is going on… and I think that’s really, really difficult for him this season.

Culturess: You had great rapport with Chad Coleman, who is just such a phenomenal actor. I was so excited that he came back and had a bigger role this season, and then he died.

But you know I love how Holden says, ‘he deserved to finish what he was building.’ Do you feel that Holden will kind of take that mantle up a little bit? What has Holden learned from watching Fred Johnson so much?

Strait: Yeah, I agree. Just as an actor, you know, working with Chad on these scenes this season was amazing. I mean Chad’s an amazing guy and actor of such caliber, he elevates everyone in scenes.

I think at this point in the story Holden and Fred Johnson, while they don’t always agree on the socio-political aspects of things, have a real deep respect for each other and have become quite close, and they have this kind of mentor-mentee kind of relationship. And they do relate in that, you know, Fred is an earther who became the torchbearer for a nation state, and the Belts, to have a more inclusive OPA. And, you know, like Fred, Holden is really the only other character within the story that can see things from multiple angles for a number of different reasons.

For Fred, it was traumatic work experiences and his own past. For Holden, he’s really the only unaffiliated figurehead, you know… and he is capable of seeing humanity as a whole, whether or not that’s because he has seen entire civilizations begin and end in a moment, or understands the real threat of what is out there with the rings or witnessing the genocides that have been caused by this conflict from within the system and also having a crew that is made up of everybody, loving them deeply.

So, I think there’s certainly a vacuum that Fred leaves behind that– while Holden doesn’t become a part of the OPA– he certainly understands why they’re fighting, for what they’re fighting for, and he is a sympathetic and empathetic leader within the story that understands just why the Belt is as angry as it is and what they’re asking for. Like in the first scene. You know the Belt sees Holden as an ally– I mean, in that first episode, you know, they’re cheering him at the bar. He’s certainly not completely politically affiliated with the OPA, he certainly is someone who cares deeply about Belters and the plight of the Belt.

Culturess: What was it like filming with that spider bot [in The Expanse S5 episode 4], which really, to me, I thought was so scary, it gave me nightmares? So, if you could tell me how technically that was filmed? It looked really cool, but I’m sure it was much harder to film.

Strait: Our VFX team is just spectacular. You know, it’s always funny when you do scenes with CNC robots and things like that because on the day, it’s a dancer in a blue bodysuit and a hat that’s square and also blue. So, you know, as the actor in the scene… You just have to project that onto this very funny situation on set.

So, I knew it was gonna be really cool. Nick Gomez—who directed the episode—is super talented, and I actually had worked with him in the past on a different project, so I’ve known him for a long time. He kind of walked me through the sequence and it was really complicated. I mean, that scene was more than one day, because there were so many different pieces to it.

Effects stuff and physical effects stuff too, that takes a lot of time to reset: all the glass shattering and the walls being blown up and all the kind of shooting and everything. It’s really complex to do, but we knew that it was going to be really cool and that the VFX department was really excited about the robot. I was too.

Even though on the day, I was looking at a man in a unitard and a square hat. It’s one of these funny things about working in this business for sure.

Culturess: I would love to see a behind the scenes footage of that, that’s for sure. I hope that gets on the DVD. That’s gotta go now.

Strait: Yeah [laughing].

Culturess: You also had such great rapport with actor Thomas Jane in previous seasons of The Expanse. Do you miss him on the show?

Strait: Yeah, obviously he was able to direct an episode this year, which was an incredible joy.

So, he was there in a certain way—and a different way—but you know we were all grateful that he was back, and Tom is such a wonderful actor and a great guy. And you know, one of the most pleasurable aspects of shooting the show over the years was the Miller-Holden relationship, and especially being able to do that with Tom was incredible for me.

I was a fan of the books before we started shooting the show and that relationship is so unique, especially when he becomes the investigator.

It’s a very unique relationship that I’m not sure I’ve quite seen before in science fiction that I was really looking forward to, that we were doing those first couple of seasons. Just to be able to collaborate with Tom, who’s so affectionate, and so open to new ideas and taking cool creative risks and yeah, I certainly do miss doing things with him. But at least we were able to do an episode together, just in a different way [with Jane directing].

Culturess: Yeah, well the bromance between the two of you was really cool. With season 6 coming, is there anything you’re looking forward to exploring as Holden? It sounds like it might be the final season—although I’m holding out for two more—but where would you like Holden to go in, if that is the final season?

Strait: Sure, I’m deeply grateful that we get a sixth season and that we’re able to have a beginning, middle, and end on our own terms. You know, I think, again, as a fan of the books… at the end of the sixth book there’s quite a big time jump.

In many ways, it is a satisfying place to end or pause. But it certainly gives us an opportunity to give a satisfying conclusion to the five seasons that we’ve already made.

And for Holden, his journey over the last five or six years… in the evolution of a leader in real time… that’s what I wanted to portray and it’s certainly something I knew the writers wanted to portray as well, is that we watch Holden go from someone who always had an ethical core. I think that’s always been his strength, someone who was thrown into a situation that he was completely unprepared for. And then over the years through stumbles and failures and what have you and fearful and ugly moments, always finds his feet and keeps moving forward and pushing through his fear to become a little bit better every single time.

And you know, by season five, we really see him as the most capable that we ever have as a leader. And his ethical core has started to match his capabilities. And by the sixth season, what I want to show is him fully arriving at a place where we see him… able to shoulder the responsibilities of the entire system without breaking. The evolution of that is something that we’ve been there with him through those moments. And it’s amazing for me, as an actor, to show because it’s so often you see a hero who just has that from the very beginning. And Holden has to learn these things and for me, it was a real opportunity to show through realistic, honest evolution of a true leader.

And so, for season 6, what I want to show is that ethical core being fully matched by his capabilities and we see him for what the story needs him to be. And yeah, I’m fully aware of how rare that is to have that much time to be able to do that, and I’m grateful for it.

Culturess: That’s awesome… I still haven’t seen the season finale so I’m looking forward to that.

Strait: It’s one of my favorite episodes we’ve done… it’s a great episode.

The Expanse S5 is streaming on Amazon Prime Video, with episodes dropping Wednesdays.