‘Dead Boy Detectives’ Star Kassius Nelson On What She Hopes For A In Potential Season 2 And How She Learned About Crystal’s Backstory Alongside Viewers

Netflix‘s Dead Boy Detectives star Kassius Nelson is here for the ride with her clairvoyant character Crystal, just like the audience.

She told Blavity/Shadow and Act Managing Editor Trey Mangum that she is learning about her character alongside the viewers. As an actress, it’s a new way for her to engage with a character.

“As the audience is learning about Crystal, she’s learning about herself, I’m learning about her, which actually quite helpful and a different way of working for me, with a character I haven’t properly mapped out beforehand and I’m discovering as she’s discovering herself,” she said. “It helps me to not preempt moments or play any beats too early because I don’t know what’s going to happen. I don’t know where she’s heading or who she was but that helps because she doesn’t know who she is.”

Nelson also called this method of engaging with a character “refreshing” because it’s similar to how we as humans engage with the world. As she said, we don’t know what’s coming next, so just like Crystal, we are always learning about ourselves in real time.

Another thing Crystal’s learning in real time is who she is and where she comes from. Nelson talked about the episode in which Crystal meets her ancestors. Nelson said it was important to her that Crystal’s storyline not be just focused on her race.

“I wanted to make sure her storyline wasn’t just attached to her race or wasn’t just about the color of her skin,” she said. “Yes, it colors her experiences…and it dictates how she navigates the world, but ultimately she’s still a person outside of that she’s still dealing with trust issues, dealing with a toxic relationship, dealing with this chosen family or the relationship with her parents…I think we were able to create it where the ancestors are a vital part of her feeling some sense of belonging but it doesn’t dictate her whole experience as a character.”

Watch the full interview below, in which Nelson talks about what she’d like to see if the show gets a second season and more.

Dead Boy Detectives is part of The Sandman universe and follows two dead teenagers who solve paranormal mysteries with the help of their living friends. According to the synopsis:

Meet Edwin Payne (George Rexstrew) and Charles Rowland (Jayden Revri), “the brains” and “the brawn” behind the Dead Boy Detectives agency. Teenagers born decades apart who find each other only in death, Edwin and Charles are best friends and ghosts… who solve mysteries. They will do anything to stick together – including escaping evil witches, Hell and Death herself. With the help of a clairvoyant named Crystal (Kassius Nelson) and her friend Niko (Yuyu Kitamura), they are able to crack some of the mortal realm’s most mystifying paranormal cases.