'Bates Motel' Preview: Freddie Highmore Talks Norman's Descent, Becoming 'Mother'

As much as viewers may wish it weren’t so, it’s so: the first two episodes of Bates Motel’s fourth season show sweet Norman Bates rapidly speeding towards his eventual descent into madness, taking his mom — or Mother — Norma (Vera Farmiga) along for the ride. And thanks to some truly inspired twists — one, in particular, that will blow the minds of Norma and Sheriff Romero (Nestor Carbonell) shippers — several other White Pine Bay dwellers will get swept up in the mother-son drama.

Freddie Highmore, the former child star who portrays Norman, talked to Yahoo TV about Season 4, including how quickly Norman’s illness progresses this season, the breakdown of Norman and Norma’s relationship, and why he was inspired to take on a new role with the series this season: he wrote the eighth episode of Season 4.

Executive producers Kerry Ehrin and Carlton Cuse have planned the series as a five-season story. How does it feel as you’re getting closer to that, as Norman’s storyline progresses very rapidly, especially at the beginning of this season?
Yeah, it certainly feels like we’re getting towards the end. I think the fourth season is going to be the best, both in terms of that sense of suddenly rushing towards the end, that quickness, the pace of the storytelling that really picks up, and the demise of Norman’s mental state throughout the season. It’s an incredibly exciting opening to the season. The first [episode] sets so much up and shows you this other side to Norman, which will become so potent throughout the season. In the second episode, from Norman’s perspective, [he’s] watching Norma, having this growing suspicion of her… and mistrust starts to develop between the two of them.

Norma and Norman’s relationship is so intense — as we see Norman slip further into his illness this season, there are moments, even though we know he’s sick, where you find yourself thinking, “Which one of them is the sick one?” Especially in the moments where Norman “becomes” Norma.
In the last big scene [of Season 3], when Bradley is killed, Norman becomes his mother, walks around the car, and there’s this transition that we see, a visual transition of Norman becoming Norma, and you see Vera carry out the kill. That’s Norman’s mind, that “Mother” character taking over, and we see that replicated visually. What that meant for this season is we, Vera and I together, were creating this Mother character. Sometimes we would shoot scenes where the two of us would recite all of the dialogue, and that would be cut however they wanted in editing in terms of which one of us they used to say each particular line. We would both watch the other take, go in and do our version and combine both of our ideas for the scene and create this character together, which was great fun. I’ve never had that level of collaboration with someone, creating one singular character alongside someone else.

Because of that merging of the characters, and because Norman is much angrier in Season 4, he’s much more physical this season. Norma has a lot more physical quirks than Norman does, and he reflects them perfectly when he becomes Mother. In the premiere, there’s a moment where he’s sitting at the vanity, and he gently brushes his hair away from his face, as Mother. It’s funny, but it also reflects how quickly his illness is progressing.
Yes, exactly. I think the key with those scenes is that you can never play it with … the writing’s great, and that it doesn’t (require) any sort of wink to the audience in the moment. There’s no self awareness at all from Norman’s perspective of the oddness of the situation. It’s about playing it straight and keeping it as believable as possible. I think that’s scariest, ultimately, to see someone’s demise and them not even be aware of it.

How deep into his illness is Norman? As you said, he starts to become very suspicious of Norma, and mistrust becomes a major issue between them, really for the first time, in episode two. Is he still aware he’s the one who has committed certain crimes, or does he believe Norma is the guilty one?
I think much of this season, by the time we get into the third episode, is about Norman getting more analytical, Norman’s study of what is actually wrong with him and trying to understand himself, as opposed to merely this quest for awareness of the truth and of what’s actually happened. It’s also this sense of trying to understand him and what he does and why. Looking at it from a more, not necessarily scientific, but an analytical side.

[Later in the season], he forms a bond with someone that will serve to, at least in the short term, provide some hope, and shows a willingness for Norman to try and get that, and to try and understand himself and the things that he’s done.

Some things happen early in the season that bring up the question of how Norma has approached Norman’s illness, in terms of not getting him treatment or medication. Will Norman have anger towards Norma for not having done more to help him?
I’m not sure there’s ever a sense that she has let him down. I think it’s more that they both live, or ultimately choose to live, in this fantasy world, in this world of delusion and denial. That’s where they’re both happiest, really. Once the external pressures come to bear on their relationship and force them to accept certain realities, that drives them apart. Ultimately, if you choose to shut off those realities and return to living in the little bubble, then everything seems okay again.

We know how Norman ends up eventually in terms of the Psycho movie. Still, as an actor you must like him. He’s a very likable, endearing character, except for moments when he has these breakdowns. He’s such a sweet guy. Is it hard for you, as an actor, to know what’s going to happen to him?
I guess, yeah. There’s a little bit of not wanting (that Norman) to come. I think that works both from the sense of being so invested in Norman and that character and not wanting to leave the world, and also from the sense of the family, the real-life family that one has created on set and getting to know Vera so well and the rest of the cast and Kerry and Carlton. I guess it’s that sad thing of a television show moving towards the end, which is incredibly exciting and also, yeah, upsetting, too. At least we know it’s not quite the end yet. There’s much more story left to tell. And this season’s also been exciting because I got the opportunity to be a part of the writing team, which I’m very thankful to Kerry and Carlton for. I wrote the eighth episode of Season 4, and spent a bit of time with them in the writer’s room in L.A. as well.

Is that something you had always wanted to do?
Yes, I think you get to know the world and the character and the tone of the piece so well, you feel like you have so many ideas and thoughts [about] ways of pushing it forward. It also came out of this desire to help be a part of Bates Motel in between the seasons, as opposed to being so invested in something and then at the end of the season, [we] leave and don’t speak to anyone about it and then just come back however many months later and just pick up where you left off. It was great to be a continuous part of it, and to see the rest of the process and be involved in that segue into this season, which is such an important one for Norman’s development.

Bates Motel airs Mondays at 9 p.m. on A&E