How Robbie Amell Played Nathan And Back-Up Nathan Differently In Season 3 Of Upload
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Minor Spoilers for Season 3 of Upload are ahead. If you haven’t caught up with the comedy, you can stream it with an Amazon Prime subscription.
When it came to curveballs thrown at the end of Upload’s second season, the biggest and most impactful one was the knowledge that another version of Robbie Amell’s Nathan could exist. Well, they followed through on that cliffhanger in Season 3, and we’ve been getting to know Back-Up Nathan for four episodes now. While the two Nathans are fairly similar, there are subtle differences between them, and according to the directors of the show, they worked with Amell to make sure Real World and Back-Up Nathan were two nuanced and different characters.
CinemaBlend had the chance to speak with Upload’s directors Jeffrey Blitz, who led episodes 1 and 2, and Tom Marshall, who helmed episodes 3 and 4, about the third season of the comedy, and specifically Robbie Amell’s two characters. While we’ve seen many versions of AI Guy, we’ve never dealt with copies of Nathan before, so it presented a new challenge for everyone in the show, specifically the actor who plays him. According to Blitz, the star put a lot of work into making this two characters different, he said, via email:
Robbie and I talked about ways to help signal whether he was playing ‘Nathan’ or ‘Back-Up.’ Some cues were physical, helped by wardrobe or hair & make-up, but a lot were unspoken choices Robbie made in posture, gesture, ways of speaking for Nathan and Back-Up.
Going into more depth about the decisions the crew and Robbie Amell made to show the differences between the two Nathans, Tom Marshall explained how they added a “bit of a pudge” to Real World Nathan. This was done to show how Lakeview Nathan is unrealistically in shape and lives in a virtual world. He said:
I think that with this sort of rivalry that bubbles up between Real-World Nathan and Lakeview Nathan, the difference between them is quite incremental. But in Real World Nathan's head, it's a big thing, you know? So yeah, a lot of notes when it was Real World Nathan were about showing that insecurity bubbling through, and also just being a bit tired. He's in the Real World all of a sudden having to work, and he's literally having to scavenge for food and just getting to grips with that real world again. It was playing it a bit more sort of battle-worn and constantly contrasting that with Lakeview Nathan who just constantly is loving life and loving his relationship with Ingrid again, and he's like singing Lizzo in the shower.
Marshall went on to say that Nathan’s tiredness in the real world is a big way they differentiated the two characters. When Amell was playing that version they’d give him bags under his eyes, and he added a figurative weight to his performance. It’s 100% noticeable too, while Real World Nathan is constantly stressed, Back-Up Nathan is much more laid back and carefree. The director elaborated on this idea, and the actor’s performance, saying:
We sort of gave him bags under his eyes, and he was that much paler. Miniscule [changes], really, but [they help] build up this rivalry between Real World Nathan and Lakeview Nathan. Suddenly even though it's the same guy, in Real World Nathan's head, Lakeview Nathan is an Adonis. He's Brad Pitt. So it's stuff like that, that we sort of leaned into and added to Real World Nathan.
Overall, the differences between Real World and Back Up Nathan are mostly seen through minor changes Robbie Amell made in his performance, and the nuanced details the crew worked into his look. Seeing the two characters and their differences has made for a fascinating dynamic this season that we’ve never seen before. As more episodes come out, and Back-Up Nathan starts to evolve into his own being, it will be interesting to see how Amell changes his performance and his look.
To see Robbie Amell’s nuanced performance as the two Nathan’s, and to witness all the other reasons Upload is one of the best shows on Amazon Prime, you can stream it right now, and catch new episodes on the 2023 TV schedule every Friday.
