Charles Alexander & Alex Fitzalan Interview: The Wilds Season 2

The Wilds season 2 had landed on Amazon Prime Video, and fans have been hit with more twists than they can count. This is to be expected, considering that the cast has doubled in size and brought double the drama right along with them. While the first season of the teen thriller series focused on a group of girls whose plane crashed in the wilderness, the second season has since introduced a second set of teens - this time boys - and set them against each other in the audience's eyes.

After all, season 1 of The Wilds revealed early on that the crash was all part of a terrifying social experiment orchestrated by the calculating Gretchen Klein (Rachel Griffiths, Saving Mr. Banks), who sought to prove that a society with women in charge would be a superior one. This season puts her hypothesis to the test by showcasing how the boys have fared for themselves.

Charles Alexander and Alex Fitzalan, who play Kirin and Seth respectively, spoke to Screen Rant about how they prepared for their roles physically and emotionally - as well as which stranded team of teens they'd bet on.

Screen Rant: How did you prepare for your role on the show? Did you watch season 1, did you read Lord of the Flies, or did you go glamping?

Charles Alexander: The first thing I did was I did watch season 1. I actually watched it before I did the final callback, so I was pretty acquainted with the aesthetic and so on.

But knowing that Kirin was a college-level athlete, I just wanted to lean into that and get in peak physical condition. I worked with a nutritionist - a friend of a friend who actually helped Hugh Jackman prepare for Wolverine - and he gave me the Spartan diet and a crazy exercise routine where I had to run every day for 45 minutes to an hour and weight lift every second day. That was really good, because it just helped channel my vision. It felt like I was already working on the show months before I got there.

Then once I got there, that stuff tapered off. It was less intense, and it just became this nice routine that, whether I was on the island or whether I didn't shoot for a few weeks, I always had chipping away.

Every time you see Kirin, it's almost all the time confrontational and high energy. I was spending so much time on the treadmill in the hotel that I just started learning my lines there, and I found that it really helped find my creative choices, because my heart would be beating. I'd be chilling, going through, doing the lines - but it had the lifted energy levels. They say learning your lines is in your body, so that was one little unique thing. I'd never done that before; I'd never learned lines while exercising. But it sort of suited him, I think.

Alex, what was your prep?

Alex Fitzalan: It's funny, because Charles would be on the treadmill for an hour and a half, and then I'd join him for the last 15 minutes. Then we would hit the gym. Honestly, that was kind of it for me as well.

Nutrition was a big part for me. I've never really done that before, so I got a nutritionist. For my character, I really wanted to kind of commit to this mindset. There's a part where he doesn't eat for 10 days, and I wanted to make a physical change in my body, in my face, and it was just really fulfilling.

But it also surprisingly helped, mentally, to get into that space. From watching it, there's a big difference in all of our characters from the first half of the season to the second half. It's manic and uncomfortable.

We have two groups here: the Dawn of Eve and the Twilight of Adam. If Gretchen wasn't working against you which team would you personally be betting on? Who do you think could get it together?

Alex Fitzalan: If you ask me, like, first 15 days? I'd say the boys. For the next 15 days, I would say the girls.

Charles Alexander: Yeah. I mean, it's hard, because obviously I know what happens. But I'd give them a few more days. I'd say they get to about 18. It's looking good; they've got a shelter.

Alex Fitzalan: The jaguar stuff? I was like, "Damn!"

Charles Alexander: They've got a bit of banter too. I have to say the banter with the boys is top shelf. The girls... I'm not going to criticize the girls, because I'm not that dumb. But I'll say there's a lot of toiler humor going on. And I'm just like, "We can do better."

I don't know why. The one note is just don't ever criticize the girls. In fact, you know what? The boys' chat sucks!

More The Wilds Interviews

A group of teen girls from different backgrounds must fight for survival after a plane crash strands them on a deserted island. The castaways both clash and bond as they learn more about each other, the secrets they keep, and the traumas they've all endured. There’s just one twist to this thrilling drama… these girls did not end up on this island by accident.

Survival hangs in the balance after the explosive discovery that what's happening to them is an elaborate social experiment. Season 2 ups the drama and keeps you guessing, with the introduction of more test subjects – a new island of teenage boys – who must also fight for survival under the watchful eye of the experiment’s puppet master.

Check out our other interviews with the cast and crew of The Wilds, such as with: