Darren Barnet opens up about the 'unorthodox' way he landed his pivotal role on Marvel's 'Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.' and his character's 'interesting arc'
- Warning: There are major spoilers ahead for the seventh and final season of ABC's "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D."
- In an interview with Insider, Darren Barnet spoke about how he landed his game-changing role as Freddy Malick on the show, how he prepared, and what fans can expect as the season progresses.
Darren Barnet opened up about the "unorthodox" way he landed his pivotal role on the seventh and final season of "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." and his character's complex arc.
"That's the dream," Barnet told Insider of being part of the Marvel series. "I love the character I'm playing and I love the show. I can't rave about it enough."
The actor made his debut as Freddy Malick on the season seven premiere of "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D," which aired on Wednesday night on ABC. The agents meet Freddy when they travel to New York City in 1931 in an effort to stop semi-robots known as Chronicoms from changing history, destroying S.H.I.E.L.D., and taking over Earth.
The plot twist comes near the end of the episode, when Freddy's identity is revealed and the agents realize that the Chronicoms are targeting him because he's the father of the future head of Hydra in America, Gideon Malick. S.H.I.E.L.D was formed in response to Hydra, so the agents have to prevent Freddy from being killed and therefore allow Hydra to come to fruition.
Barnet described the audition process as a 'really interesting one'
"I had dealt with a very traumatic night right before this all happened," the actor said, explaining that he read for a small role on a Friday and got a call from the casting director two days later asking him to audition that Monday.
"That was very traumatic Sunday night," he said. "I walked into the room with about three hours sleep and I don't know what it was. I was very over jumping through hoops. And I've been through so many auditions and I walked through the room, just totally different energy."
Barnet went on to say that he had a frank conversation in the audition room, asking the people what they wanted from his audition.
"I was like, 'I can do this role in any way you want me to do it,'" he recalled. "I was like, 'What has not worked and what works and tell me what you want, and I'll give it to you right now.' It was just very unorthodox, but I booked it like an hour later. So I guess it worked."
Barnet said he 'had no idea' about the full extent of his character's backstory when he first signed on, so he 'made it my own' and learned more as he filmed
On the season premiere, Freddy is introduced as a character whose father jumped out of a window to his death, leaving him to fend for himself on the streets until he found a job at a speakeasy run by Patton Oswalt's Ernest Koenig.
"He's a kid who's been dealt a bad hand and he's on this interesting cusp of deciding if he's going to be good or bad," Barnet told us of his character. "And I think that's one of the most interesting arcs to play with, it's a man on a ledge. Does he jump or does he stay the course?"
In shaping the character, Barnet gave Freddy a noticeable, but not over-the-top, New York accent.
"The accent was actually interesting," he told us. "They didn't ask for that. No one said anything. And right when the camera started rolling, I just did it. I just went for it."
The director ended up liking the addition, so Barnet was "glad that I took the risk" in altering the character on the spot.
Barnet's main takeaway from working on the longest-running Marvel show was 'the value of prep'
"I've done a lot of roles where I don't think I took extensive amounts of prep," he explained. "But for this one, I was very consciously prepping, and I think that really added a lot to the role. "
Barnet said that he watched old films and listened to old radio broadcasts "to get the dialect down." He also turned to a relative for some inspiration.
"My grandfather was actually a very famous musician in the '30s and '40s out of New York City, so I was listening to his music every day in my trailer before going on set," he said. "I made a Pandora station and would just listen to his music all day."
The Malick family was also a part of season three of "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D," so he found those episodes "super helpful" when prepping. The '30s costumes also helped Barnet get into character.
"I would wear that every day if I could," Barnet said. "I think that might be my era: the high-waisted pants, the suspenders, the hat. That certainly helps you get in the mode for sure."
Barnet couldn't tell anyone about his role, and he learned a valuable lesson about secrecy on set
"Marvel is very locked down on that, as they should be because there are so many things that can spoil the entire thing," the actor said.
Barnet went on to explain that one day, he was in the hair and makeup trailer and decided to record and post a video to his Instagram story.
"I wasn't in wardrobe, I wasn't in makeup, nothing," he recalled. "And about 20 seconds later, the writer and executive producer goes, 'Hey, you gotta take that down, man. Marvel called and there's a wig in the background that may give away the time period, so it's gotta go.'"
"They monitor everything just to make sure that the show is safe, the plot is safe," he said. "From then on, I was like, 'Lips sealed, camera shut.'"
"The more my social media following grows, the more I realize how careful I have to be, because one word, one facial expression can be very misconstrued," Barnet, who recently gained more than 1 million followers on Instagram, said.
Barnet promises that the next episode will have even more action
"Freddy is kind of seen as a threat or a key to changing the past of the future of the world," he said. "Without him, Hydra would not form and Hydra is the reason S.H.I.E.L.D. forms. At this point, the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents are doing everything they can to protect me from the Chronicoms, because if they kill me, Hydra doesn't form, S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn't form, and the whole course of history is changed.
He continued: "I'm really excited about it. Next week, is more my episode. A lot of really, really cool things up next week that I can't wait to show."
Fans will have to continue watching 'Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.' to see how the final season plays out, but Barnet has some other projects for fans to enjoy
Barnet said that his interest in Marvel began with Sam Raimi's "Spider-Man" trilogy that starred Tobey Maguire.
"I instantly became a huge fan of the movies, the cinematic experience is unrivaled," he said. "I would love to dive even deeper into it. I would love to do a Marvel movie. I mean, I shoot for the moon in everything I do. So just being able to be a small part of the world and the show has been an absolute honor."
He'll star in the upcoming "American Pie" film titled "American Pie Presents: Girls Rule," scheduled for release later this year and currently portrays Paxton Hall-Yoshida, the jock with a heart of gold, on Netflix's "Never Have I Ever." Aside from that, Barnet wants to be part of a studio feature or a low-budget indie film.
"I want to do a movie that just punches the world in the face and explodes their minds," he said. "That sounds violent, but I mean, a film where I just want to move people. I want to impact people."
Even though 2020 is arguably his breakout year thanks to his role on "NHIE," Barnet is taking it in stride and views an actor's "big break" as "an ever-evolving concept" as he continues to look for more projects.
"Although I'm relishing in it and trying to appreciate it and being in the moment, I want to make a blockbuster film shown in movie theaters, so I pray to dear God that they open up at some point," he said.
"I do feel I have a responsibility to [fans] to make amazing art. And I just can't wait to get back to work and give [them] something to watch, enjoy, and hopefully be moved by."
"Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." airs on Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET on ABC. Watch the trailer for the final season below.
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