Rick Tyler's world just turned upside down. In "Hourman and Dr. Mid-Nite," the latest Stargirl episode, he finally learned the truth about his parents' deaths. As it turns out, they weren't killed in a car accident; they were murdered by the Injustice Society's Solomon Grundy. With that push, Rick reluctantly agreed to join Courtney Whitmore's new Justice Society of America, but he has made it abundantly clear why he is there: he wants revenge, not justice.
Speaking to CBR, Hourman actor Cameron Gellman offered some insight into his character's rage and trauma. He explained why he connected instantly with Rick's sense of loss, as well as how that plays into his role with the JSA. He discussed Rick's leadership potential, which leads him to butt heads with Stargirl. He also teased Rick's "transcendent" fight scene, his new sense of purpose and more.
CBR: Tell me a little about how you landed the role.
Cameron Gellman: I made a direct offer and they took me seriously and I had to totally like -- that is so not the case, because I'm a normal person. I completely auditioned, like my other cast mates. It was a little weird though, because, normally, to book a series regular, you might go through four or five or even more rounds. For me, it was just one audition in the fall of 2018, which didn't feel like it was going anywhere. Then I just tested after that in January or February of 2019. By that time, the whole show had been cast and it was super surprising to have it come back around. I did that and, a couple weeks later, they confirmed that I booked it, and then by that time, everybody was in Atlanta, like building to do the thing and they got apartments.
I joke about it all the time, but I was just a step behind the whole time! Didn't know I was a superhero. At first, I thought I booked a different role because the contract said a different name than the alias I was auditioning under, and all of a sudden, I'm like two straight weeks of super suits fittings and then flew out to Atlanta for this amazing opening weekend party with Geoff [Johns] and the cast and just getting to know everybody. All of a sudden, I was living in another city for a year, you know?
Which aspect of Rick's character do you relate to the most? Why?
I feel like I immediately understood Rick's loss, you know, and just the intensity with which he feels things -- like a really sensitive, emotional guy that internalizes a lot, and lets things kind of list, and maybe I'm a little bit better of a communicator than he is -- I like to talk things out -- but in general, that's where I related to him the most.
I booked the role at a time in my life where I had just experienced really intense loss. That was a part of me that felt really raw going into filming, anyway. I was able to sympathize with him about that. The way we express our anger and our rage is a little bit different. He is a little more impulsive and maybe quicker to lash out, whereas I kind of spin on things longer and try to be more responsible. But other than that, we definitely share just being very intense, sensitive people.
We're both at a time in our lives where we're very much exploring our identities, who we are, who we want to be, who we don't want to be, what didn't work about our teenage years, all that stuff.
The trauma of Rick's upbringing and his subsequent rage was a major part of this week's episode. How does this continue to manifest moving forward?
He just experienced a massive, massive shift in his identity, right? He goes from having all these years where he's just stewing on how rejected he feels by whatever -- God or the universe or whatever system out there that's controlling his life -- because he has nothing. He doesn't have anyone that cares about him. The two most important people in his life were ripped away from him, and maybe he'd have a much better life if they were still around.
This whole time, he thought that some unexplainable, awful, tragic thing happened to them that he resents, and now there's a face on that tragedy. It wasn't a sad thing that happened; people chose to take his parents away from him. They chose to rip away this kid's innocence. I think the kind of anger and the kind of rage and the sense of loss that he's experienced changes a lot, from helplessness to "There is a target now. There are people to blame for this? With my dying breath, I'm gonna go kill these people." And that's a very active energy that I didn't have before, when he was just kind of wandering and rotting, you know?
How does Rick confront his father's legacy as the series continues?
It's such a big piece of information to find out that your father is a superhero. And that this person, who Rick already viewed as an amazing person, really was out there saving the world and I'm his son, which means that I am responsible now for honoring him, and yet, Rick doesn't see his own potential. Rick doesn't see his self worth. You know, he doesn't think he has it in him to honor his father. In fact, all he thinks he's done in his teenage years is fail his father and disappoint his parents by making poor decisions that they wouldn't.
So I think it's just really something Rick struggles with and kind of lets suffocate him throughout the rest of the season, where he finds help from the team, but then sometimes retreats. I think it's just kind of a soul-searching journey for him of trying to figure out who his father was, how to honor him and how to stop Solomon Grundy as a result of the law... Maybe he realized that his parents aren't at fault for leaving him as he thought they were, that they're still present and that he's been looking in the wrong place to hear their voice, and realize he isn't who people like his uncle Matt -- that only serve him in a negative way, that only keep him down -- because now he has a team that is telling him he's worth something, whether he believes that or not.
What does Rick bring to the team, in a way that distinguishes him from the other characters?
A sense of urgency, maybe. Like he's so ready to go that that motivates the team, even though sometimes he might rush into situations that actually put them in danger. Obviously [he's] the muscle. That's the boring, obvious answer, but he brings the strength to the group.
I also think that he has leadership qualities in him that Courtney spots for him. He is a legacy. He did have a father who's an integral part of the Justice Society, and I think she sees value in that. So, if she can bring it out of him, maybe during times where she's feeling weak or she needs to recover, he'd lead.
And it's so personal for him. So he brings that emotional, not necessarily groundedness, but that emotional impetus for them to fight. It's about the fact that his parents were killed, and Courtney's.
In your opinion, which other character has the most interesting dynamic with Rick? Why?
I think that Beth does. She is the most kind-hearted in the group, and also -- because of the goggles and because of her personality -- she's the logical one, and he's the impulsive, emotional one. So those two are at odds a lot.
But then, I kind of override that and I think I would say Rick and Courtney, because she asked him to be a part of the team, which means listening to her, letting her lead and following orders. It's clearly not what Rick signed up for. A team can't be successful if the leader is disobeyed constantly and Rick has no desire to listen to Courtney. So there's a lot of locking horns there that's really challenging and fun to watch.
Rick was already hesitant to join the team, so I can only imagine he isn't exactly thrilled about the super suit. Can you tease his reaction to Hourman's costume?
I think it's kind of insulting to him. In his view, this group of kids is all of a sudden invading his space like, "You need to throw on this goofy thing and go fight crime with us." He's like, "Look, guys, you're idealistic, and you're young and you're stupid. The world sucks and there's real loss and I don't need your help. I didn't ask for it. And now you're mocking my father and telling me that this man I think I knew was all these things that I don't know about."
I think it puts him in a really vulnerable, uncomfortable space, where suddenly this group of people that he doesn't want to have to lean on has way more information than him. And I think Courtney thrusting an hourglass in his face is like, "You gotta be kidding me. Get out of my face and go play dress up" -- which I think he says at some point -- "somewhere else. This is not my fight."
And then suddenly, it is. So something that seemed really ridiculous and really juvenile is now maybe really real and really significant. But maybe that's just how Rick deals with being called to action! You know, I think it's easier to protect yourself from getting hurt by denouncing something than it is to realize how special it could be to be a part of.
Rick has an impressive scene in this week's episode, where he punches a car and basically crushes it. Tell me a little about the making of that sequence and what that experience was like for you.
Yeah. So I, as Cam, actually have super strength, and so I just pretty much hit a truck and it broke. They were prepared to do a whole SFX thing and I was like, "No, guys, I got this." Little little known secret about me! I've been training really hard for this, so I just destroyed the truck on my own. [laughs]
Obviously, the reality is that a human can't do that, and we had an amazing SFX team that set up a hydraulic truck that was already rigged to be bent in half. My amazing stunt double, Ben Aycrigg, trained me on where to punch it and how to time it and we brought this crane camera in the middle of town in the middle of the night. We did a huge countdown. Everybody was doing like a "Three, two, one..." and I had this big windup and, on one, I had to connect with the truck and we did and the thing went flying. I think I had two shots to get it right, so no pressure. I'm just lucky that I had the support of my stunt double and that team. I can't believe how good it was. I didn't see it until I watched the episode, as well.
Can you tease your favorite upcoming moment or scene from the series?
My favorite favorite comes at the end of the season. All I can say about it is that there are so many amazing fights in our show, but this one specifically is really the greatest test of whether Rick has grown as a human or not, because in this moment, there could be two very different outcomes, and it's completely dependent on the whether he is the Rick that we meet in episode five or if he's this person who's actually dealt with his demons and become a team player. But it's a really massive fight and a really emotional fight and this super transcendent moment for him, if he chooses to step up. So that's definitely my favorite moment of the season.
DC Universe's Stargirl stars Brec Bassinger as Courtney Whitmore (Stargirl) and Luke Wilson as Pat Dugan (S.T.R.I.P.E.). The series airs Monday on DC Universe and Tuesdays on The CW at 8 pm ET/PT.