Dragons: The Nine Realms season 2 has finally landed on Hulu, dropping all seven episodes this week so that fans can fly along with the Dragon Club and their scaly best friends. The new season is replete with new creatures and characters - all of whom hide their motivations behind adorable faces. But while the friends have a strong bond thanks to the events of last season, Tom (Jeremy Shada) and his dragon Thunder start exploring his origins alone.
Versatile actor Jeremy Shada, whose voice work has run the gamut from playing Lance in Voltron: Legendary Defender to voicing Finn in Adventure Time, has a blast getting to bond with his pet dragon while looking into his Viking ancestry. All the while, he's joined by Dragons: The Nine Realms' incredible cast, including Aimee Garcia (Lucifer), Marcus Scribner (Blackish), Ashley Liao (Physical), Julia Stiles (10 Things I Hate About You) and more.
Shada spoke to Screen Rant about Tom's personal journey in season 2 and how it affects the Dragon Club, getting closer to Jun while being annoyed by her brother Eugene, and his own fond memories of Julie and The Phantoms.
Screen Rant: What was the biggest difference for you between recording season 1 and season 2?
Jeremy Shada: That's a great question. It's so interesting, because I feel like -considering the timeline, and when we made the show - it's all been at the same time. There hasn't been this huge delineation, since we did everything very remotely.
For us, I feel like it's been one long story that we've just been trucking through, instead of these specific gaps. Which is kind of cool, because I feel like it's easier as an actor to see that, instead of having this massive break and then coming back like, "Wait, where are we? What is happening?"
It's nice just having that slow flow of the story, going through everything and having it organically build from week to week.
In season 2, we meet a lot of new creatures and dragons. What is that like for you when recording? When visualizing on behalf of Tom, what do you actually see versus what you imagine?
Jeremy Shada: It is a lot of make believe. It is a lot of really using my imagination. It genuinely is just a script, and there's a very short descriptor.
I mean, the names of the dragons are very telling. It gives you a very good visualization of what you're getting into, but then I'm like, "What is happening? How big is this thing? Is it scary or is it cute?" The team gives me the drawings and renderings, so they're giving me this version of what they think it's supposed to look like. And so you go off of that.
I feel like it definitely helps having people that know what they're doing. Sometimes I just look at a page, and I'm like, "Alright!" But that's kind of acting, though - it is just imagining in your head what you picture this thing as and just assuming that's what it's going to be. That usually works out pretty well.
The only time that it doesn't is when we get into ADR, and we have the first rough rendition of what they look like. Maybe you've said a line low and quiet, as if someone was right next to you, and then in the animation they're 50 feet away in the battle riding their. dragon. You're like, "Hey, come over here," and that doesn't really work. You're going to have to tweak some things, and you're going to add a little more of that oomph in it.
It's so helpful, because I feel like the script for the really great dialogue beats is very close to what we record the first time. And then once we're into the action parts of the episodes, it's almost always very redone ADR once we actually see what it looks like. For me, I'm chasing what they've animated in really cool action sequences, and then just basically screaming into a mic as if I'm about to die.
Dragon Club became close very quickly under unusual circumstances last year, but this year Tom has more of a personal journey to go through as well. How does that affect the team dynamic, and what is it like for you to explore his quest?
Jeremy Shada: It's fun! I think it gets to the inner part of his personality, which is constantly seeking for adventure and solving mysteries. And he is definitely a scientist by heart too, so he really wants to see all these things and figure out how they work.
It just works that there's also this more personal connection. And I feel like he views himself as being this Dragon Whisperer almost as well, which at times will kind of make him fall flat on his butt. He's a little bit too arrogant and thinks he has more of a handle on it than he actually does, which is why he needs this team behind him.
I think it's going to be a good transition for him to realize the strengths that other people have that he does not always have. But I love the personal aspect and the history to his character. They start finding out that maybe there's more to their family line than they initially realized, which is really fun.
Speaking of your family line, I think it's super cool to have Julia Stiles as your mom. What is that experience like for you, getting more peeks into that dynamic this season?
Jeremy Shada: 100%. Yeah, there's a lot more stuff coming up between Tom and his mom. It's been a really fun relationship.
I feel like she has to be strong and has to be stern, for obvious reasons. But they both really do enjoy the same things, and I think have a really great way of talking to each other - even when Tom is going behind her back and being a teenager.
And it's funny, honestly: out of all the casts, the only person that I've actually gotten to do some type of recording with was Julia, which was really special. It was super fun to actually get to work with someone, because the only time I've really heard the other voices before [the episodes] came out was just in ADR, working our way back through stuff. Everything else has been completely separate, and you're like, "I hope this works. I hope this comes together in the end."
The one recording that I did have with somebody - which is still virtual, but it was live with her, and I got to talk to her - was a very important, Tom and mom scene. I'm not sure if it's in this season or not. If I'm not mistaken, I think it might even be later. But that was really special. And she's a great actress. She does such a great job, and I love the calm and confident tone that she has. It's really cool.
The heart of the story is Tom's relationship with Thunder. What is it like building your part of it, and how much closer do you feel to Thunder this season?
Jeremy Shada: Really, it comes from being this cool new pet that they're working together with to really being Tom's best friend. And I think you definitely feel that come through.
It's funny, I got two dogs in real life around the same time that I started doing this show. So, I feel like there's been so many things where I'm like, "I feel like I'm talking to my dog right now." It's very relatable for me. There's that best friend pet relationship, and it's awesome.
I feel like I've definitely gotten to do some of those things from more personal experience and tapped into that a little bit.
Given that a dragon is a teen's best friend, this may be an unfair question. But if you had to switch dragons with anyone in The Nine Realms, who would it be and why?
Jeremy Shada: It would probably be - not that I would, because Thunder is dope. But probably Feathers, just because Feathers can be invisible, which is so cool. It's so applicable, and that has its own abilities. Which is so awesome, because it's kind of overpowered if you think about it. And it's something I could use in my regular everyday life.
The other massive dragons, I don't know what I would be able to do with.
We meet a couple of new characters this season, one of which is Jun's brother Eugene. How do you deal with him throwing obstacles in your path when you're trying to keep Dragon Club a secret?
Jeremy Shada: I think it's fun anytime there's a conflict when you're not at full power as a group. It's always interesting, and I think that as an actor too.
It's fun to get those, "Alright, let's go team!" powerful leader moments. But I think some of the most fun is when Tom is flustered and annoyed by other people doing things, and that's where I get to do a lot of riffing and improv as well. That's where a lot of the comedy comes in from these real scenarios of people not getting along and trying to navigate different personalities.
The Eugene scenes are a blast, because it's the only character Tom really gets annoyed by, and he also lets himself be annoyed by that person. Whereas I feel like he holds his cool better with everyone else. But for whatever reason, Eugene is that character where I get to comedically be like, "I do not like you. you are so annoying!"
As for Jun herself, Tom and she have some alone time together, if you will. How does Tom view Jun and where might we see that dynamic go?
Jeremy Shada: Great question. I think they become a lot closer and they have a lot more in common than they realize. Even though I feel that their personalities are two different types of things, they're almost like two sides of the same coin. Whereas Jun is very much more the mythical aspect, Tom is more like, "Ooh, science!" But they ended up finding throughout the show that the two sides of that coin into being far closer than they realize, and I think that's really a fun piece of the puzzle.
As far as Tom and June I think... Obviously, they're teenagers. It's teenagers! But I think we'll see that more explored long-term, probably. I think Tom has stirrings, but he doesn't really want to admit it. And it's not something he's gone through before, so it's him just awkwardly not knowing what to do with that exactly.
And it's also a life-threatening, dangerous situations with dragons. So, throw that into the mix, and it's emotionally all over the board!
Stirrings is an excellent word to use, so thank you for that. You have done plenty of voice work, and it seems you don't do something if it's not iconic. Between Voltron, Adventure Time, and now Dragons: what is it you love most about voice acting?
Jeremy Shada: I think there's a huge freedom to it at times. You can definitely be very broad, but also at the same time really intimate. It's a great range, and I don't think you always get that range in other mediums and other types of shows. Because if you're gonna do this show in live-action, it would be the most expensive show of all time. It wouldn't really happen to that level, unless it's some massive movie where they can really put the budget behind it.
But animation gives you more possibilities to do these fantastical things. And it makes it fun. You're riding a dragon! Honestly, it's not as different as if I was doing this on camera on a green screen. Other than I'd be in wardrobe or whatever, but in terms of the make-believe element of it, you're either on a green screen and assuming these things are happening, or you're in a booth imagining these things are happening.
It really just gets to that inner five-year-old, where you're playing make believe and you're acting like you're riding a dragon. And I feel like you at times get to that point where it feels like you're doing it, and that's a blast. It's that magical thing to where you record it, you go through ADR and it looks like that weird, not-great-looking, 3D Claymation face - and then somehow someone just hits the magic button, and it goes from there to what it actually looks like. And it's gorgeous! I don't know how that works, but it's fun to do that process.
I'm imagining you fake riding a dragon while recording now.
Jeremy Shada: I should actually put it on Tiktok or something. In a vacuum and out of context, it just looks so ridiculous. I'm chilling, and then suddenly full yell -like I'm screaming and falling to my doom. It's so weird and awesome.
I also loved you in Julie and the Phantoms, and I was so sad when it was taken taken from me. Do you ever envision it being reborn in another venue, or would you want to dip your toe back into musical dramas after?
Jeremy Shada: I would love to. I mean I don't know how - I just work here. It's one of those hard things, because being an actor on something, you really don't have any power over any of those things. You're just kind of sitting there, hoping some faceless nameless executive says, "Yeah, we will do more of this thing."
It is that thing where if they said, "Yeah, let's go do this!" obviously, we would all want to 100% be part of it. I love that cast. I love Kenny Ortega, and the whole creative team was so fun. We had such a great time making the show.
I don't know if it's possible for to go somewhere else other than Netflix. It's weird, because considering we're in the day and age where it is a Netflix original, I don't know what that process is even - if they would let that go somewhere else or not. If they did? Awesome! But bar that somehow having some magical revival - which, knock on wood, never say never. I'm not gonna say it's not possible.
But I would love to do something else in that sphere. I think acting and music are definitely the two things that I really enjoy doing, and it's rare when you get a property that combines both of those. I would love to do it, whether it's another property that's also a musical or... Outside of the two things being in one, I do my own music on the side as well. Which is fun and lets me itch that music part, even just for myself.
We're in the audition phases on a lot of stuff, so we'll see what happens. But I hope the show comes back in some way, shape or form. I love that show, and that fan base has just been so awesome.
Dragons: The Nine Realms Synopsis
Set 1,300 years after the events of How To Train Your Dragon, dragons are now just a legend to the modern world. When a geological anomaly opens up an immense, miles-deep fissure in the Earth’s surface, scientists from all over the world gather at a new research facility to study the mysterious phenomenon. Soon a group of misfit kids, brought to the site by their parents, uncover the truth about dragons and where they’ve been hiding -- a secret they must keep to themselves to protect what they’ve discovered.
Check out our previous interview with Dragons: The Nine Realms star Aimee Garcia.
Dragons: The Nine Realms season 2 is now available to stream on Hulu.