Sweet Tooth's Nonso Anozie Pleads the Fifth on Fate of [Spoiler]: 'You Know You Shouldn't Be Asking Me That!'
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The following contains spoilers for the first five episodes of Sweet Tooth Season 2.
Tommy Jepperd — the Big Man to Sweet Tooth‘s Gus — is going through the emotional wringer. Not only did he lose his wife and child in the early days of the Sick, but now his chosen son has also been ripped away from him at the hands of the Last Men and their villainous leader General Abbot. (Read our Season 2 premiere recap here.)
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If that wasn’t heartbreaking enough, the former “Hybrid Catcher” may have found the whereabouts of his family, though it most certainly wasn’t the merry reunion he’d been longing for. After joining the Last Men in order to capitalize on their resources, he received a duffle bag full of bones — the supposed remains of his wife and child who apparently didn’t survive their hellacious apocalyptic existence.
While we could certainly accept his family’s fate at face value, we can’t help but hold out hope that that big ol’ bag of doom is a red herring of some sort. (Hasn’t Jepp suffered enough?) So naturally, we couldn’t resist tossing his portrayer, Nonso Anozie, a Hail Mary query. Is it possible they’re still alive… come on, just a tease?
“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” he laughs. “You know you shouldn’t be asking me that!” (We tried, Sweet Tooth, fans!)
Below, Anozie does detail his character’s Season 2 struggles thus far, and tells TVLine all about how meeting Aimee changes the game for everyone and why his Sweet Tooth arc is every actor’s dream.
TVLINE | When Jepperd first meets Gus, he begrudgingly agrees to be his travel companion. But now that they’ve been separated, how have Big Man’s feelings for the boy changed?
NONSO ANOZIE | I would say that Gus is coming to Jepperd’s life totally unexpectedly and he’s this gruff, tough, kind of hard-bitten ex-American football player who’s just trying to survive this dystopian nightmare. And, I think it’s just the innocence of Gus and his inquisitiveness and how much he reminds Jepperd of the innocence of his own child that he almost turned away from. He feels like he wants to make a difference in this kid’s life, but he doesn’t want to at first. He just wants to get on with it and hopefully death will come from him eventually. But Gus, I think, helps him see the purpose of living, and that’s the beautiful thing about the show.
TVLINE | We see flashbacks this season of Tommy’s first days with the Last Men. Can you speak a bit on why he felt the need to join them?
As it unravels, you see why there was a good reason. He really wanted to get in contact with his family. As we see in Season 1, he went back for his wife and kid and they had gone. They disappeared. We get a little bit more of a clue in the opening few episodes as to why and how things happened, and what led up to that point. We’re peeling back the onion a little bit more and we’re seeing how much more layered a character Jepperd is and how much he’s really been through.
TVLINE | When Jepperd first meets Aimee, how would you describe his feelings toward potentially teaming up with her?
When Jepperd first meets Aimee, he thinks she’s crazy. [Laughs] He thinks she’s some crazy woman who hasn’t got any use. She would just be an annoyance. I think that’s the attitude of Jepperd in general. And I think if we were in this situation, people are going to be an annoyance. They’re just going to be more responsibility. Keep them away, do things by yourself. You don’t need anybody. But that’s the great thing about this show: Everybody needs a family and everybody needs help sometimes. We get to see that, because the Jepperd and Aimee’s intentions are both good, he lets someone else in and gains another potential family member. But will she be as much of a family member when she finds out what he did before they met? That’s the question.
TVLINE | Aimee mentions he may have survivors’ guilt, but he doesn’t want to talk about it. Is that true, and what’s Jeppard feeling now that he’s without his family and Gus?
Honestly, I can’t imagine why he wouldn’t have survivor’s guilt. I mean, two-thirds of the world’s population has been wiped off the face of the planet and for some reason you’re still here. You would feel like, “Why didn’t I go and die with my loved ones? Why am I still alive?” And then when you’re very close family, your wife and your kid have been taken away and you don’t know how you’re going to find them again, you’re going to have a lot of guilt. And I think he definitely wants to atone for the mistakes he’s made in the past. But that’s the beautiful thing about this script. It keeps you on the edge of the seat to see whether he’s going to get the opportunity to do that.
TVLINE | In Episode 4, Jepperd tells Aimee the truth about his time with the Last Men — that he was deemed the “Hybrid Catcher.” Why does he decide to come clean in that moment, and what does the future hold for their partnership going forward?
There’s a lot that I can’t really give away, but I will say that they do become very close. He mistrusts her in the beginning, and maybe she loses a bit of trust when she finds out what he was like, but ultimately, they know they want the same thing, but you’re gonna have to watch to find out what happens!
TVLINE | Jepperd receives a bag of bones that is supposedly his family’s remains. Is there any hope that what he’s searching for might still be out there?
I don’t know what you’re talking about! I can’t give away any more. In fact, you’re asking me this question… you know you shouldn’t be asking me that! [Laughs] I will say there’s a lot of twists and turns in Season 2 and it’s an amazing job that everybody’s done. For me as an actor, I get so many different emotions and different ups and downs to portray as Jepperd. His relationship with his wife and child and will he find them again? It’s such a beautiful thing to play juxtaposed with him and this irritating, lovable kid and this new relationship with Aimee. There’s a lot going on and it’s just beautiful to see how the producers and the writers have been able to weave a wonderful web of story together — and still, it’s coherent and has pace and it’s entertaining for so many different age groups. They’ve done such a great job and I’m so proud of everybody on it.
TVLINE | In Episode 5, Gus and Tommy share the sweetest of reunions — albeit, behind bars — but we see the love Jepp has for the boy in his eyes. What would saving Gus mean to Big Man, and might it alleviate some of the guilt and sadness he’s been carrying?
In the end of Season 1, that’s the significance of that conversation they had together before Jepp gets shot. He has accepted that Gus is going to be his family. He’s going to practically adopt him as his son and we’re going to go live somewhere and drink maple syrup and we’re going to be good. I don’t think he would say that unless he meant it and I really think he meant it. And just at that moment, they get ripped apart. So I think now we’re seeing a man who’s desperately got something to live for now and has got something to save and hold on to. And we’re also seeing in Sweet Tooth, in Gus, a young boy who’s growing up and is able to stand for himself. He’s becoming increasingly, sharply aware of the kind of world that he’s in, and how quickly he’s going to have to put those antlers to good use.
TVLINE | What’s your favorite part about playing Jepperd and do you have a favorite scene from Season 2?
It’s been such an amazing arc of a character. Every actor desires to play different emotions, to do fight scenes, to be able to be strong and be the hero, but also be vulnerable. That for me is wonderful. This season, there’s a great scene in the park with me and Aimee, when she discovers something, and it’s such a touching moment. It was lovely to play. And then the Season 2 finale is action packed and there’s lots of wild animals running through and stuff like that. That was really fun to film as well.
There are so, so many, to be honest. I love the fight scene between me and a really big Last Man. There’s a fight scene that I have with him where I actually do a Superman punch. I jump up in the air and come down — I can say “Superman” ’cause we’re DC [Laughs] — it’s a really cool fight. I really liked filming that.
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