‘Fallout’ cast members on how their characters keep ‘evolving and changing’
On Monday, Nov. 18, Prime Video hosted a screening and panel discussion for “Fallout” at the SAG-AFTRA Foundation Screening Room in Los Angeles. The Season 1 finale, titled “The Beginning,” was shown on the big screen for the packed audience, which was made up of members of the Screen Actors Guild nominating committee. Following the episode, Vanity Fair‘s Kara Warner moderated a chat with actors Walton Goggins (The Ghoul), Ella Purnell (Lucy MacLean), Aaron Moten (Maximus), and Moises Arias (Norm MacLean), all of whom are eligible at the 2025 SAG Awards. A lively reception followed, complete with appetizers and drinks.
Based on the successful video game series, “Fallout” tells the story of “haves and have-nots in a world in which there’s almost nothing left to have,” says Prime Video. The Emmy-winning thriller (Best Music Supervision, 2024) takes place about 200 years after the apocalypse, with some cast members playing blissfully ignorant members of underground shelters, and others portraying ruthless characters who are struggling to survive up on the surface.
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Goggins is a two-time Emmy acting nominee for “Justified” (2011) and “Fallout” (2024), and he said one of the best parts of his new gig is the “really superb writing.” Purnell agreed with her leading man, chiming in, “Our crew was so fantastic, they put everything into it.”
On growing from day one, Moten noted, “All these characters develop so much … it was really important for all of us and the collaboration of this crew and these amazing writers and [executive producer-director Jonathan Nolan] really leading the way for us, to really take characters and change them.”
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Goggins spoke about the tremendous arc that his villainous character went through in Season 1, explaining, “What I think was so rewarding about this experience was how absurd this is. I’ve never lived in a post-apocalyptic world, I’ve never walked a f—ing wasteland … so that’s all kind of new. But it was the evolution of moment by moment, breaking this experience down. What was it like the first day after the bombs dropped? What was it like the first time someone tried to kill you for food? What was it like the first day that you actually killed someone for food?”
Purnell added, “We discussed a lot of this idea of the archetypes: the good, the bad, and the ugly. These three themes that are constantly interweaving throughout the series. When you take any of those characters and you put the prospect of change in front of them, they are all going to respond to that in very different ways. And I think Lucy, she’s trying not to change, it’s the resistance, and obviously within that you do grow.” The actress continued on, “What I love the most about Lucy was that she still has her core, she still has her sense of self somewhere in there, even though she is evolving and changing. That’s what I love about the finale … I don’t know what’s going to happen to her now.”
Arias’ favorite part about playing Norm was his “big change of direction/heart.” He revealed that “he was put in a position where he had to follow in his sister’s footsteps, quit the idea of it all and put it into action.”
Moten declared “Fallout” to be a “cinephile’s dream,” noting, “People come up to me talking about a lot of different things we reference in this, whether it’s from shots, lines, costumes pieces. There’s so much we get to throw into this gumbo … it really excites me to keep coming back to this.”
Season 1 of “Fallout” is streaming now on Prime Video. The series has been renewed for a second season.
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