*Dayo Okeniyi gets to push Leighton far beyond the character viewers met during the first season of “Dark Matter.”
Season 2 expands the Apple TV sci-fi drama beyond Blake Crouch’s original novel, giving Okeniyi room to explore dramatically different versions of Leighton. Those differences begin with what Okeniyi calls each character’s “nexus point.”
“You just got to follow the threads of their history,” Okeniyi told EURweb. “You can’t create these things in a vacuum.”
Okeniyi credits Crouch and writer-producer Jacquelyn Ben-Zekry with developing Leighton’s expanded journey. He said they began discussing the character’s Season 2 direction before Season 1 ended.
Scroll to continue reading
Unlike Jason Dessen, whose alternate paths split during adulthood, Leighton’s defining divergence occurs much earlier. His different realities explore one fundamental question: Who raised him?
“That really gives birth to very different versions of Leighton,” Okeniyi explained.
One Leighton grew up under a strict grandfather who provided direction, ambition, and eventually the company Velocity. Okeniyi calls that buttoned-up character “O.G. Leighton.”
Another version grew up with absentee parents and became a wealthy trust-fund playboy. A more spiritual Leighton relinquished wealth and traveled the world while studying different religions.
Okeniyi used wardrobe, hair, and even music to distinguish them. For O.G. Leighton, that meant listening to music his grandfather might have enjoyed.
“If I’m starting the day off playing O.G. Leighton, I’m listening to Motown,” he said.
Season 2 finds Leighton relentlessly pursuing his vision of creating a perfect world. Meanwhile, Blair, played by Amanda Brugel, becomes determined to stop him. Okeniyi sees Leighton’s mission as ambition, obsession, and genuine conviction rolled together. “Leighton has blind spots like we all do,” he said.
Those blind spots become increasingly important as Leighton tries to decide what a perfect world should look like. “You can’t create the perfect world if you’re not of the world,” Okeniyi said.
The actor said Leighton’s motivations also connect to unresolved emotional wounds involving his grandfather. That history complicates the character rather than reducing him to a straightforward villain.
“You don’t play a villain like a villain,” Okeniyi explained. “There’s no good people or bad people in the world ultimately.”
Elsewhere, Season 2 finds Joel Edgerton’s Jason Dessen increasingly obsessed with the Box, while Jennifer Connelly’s Daniela wrestles with growing paranoia. Alice Braga returns as Amanda, who joins forces with Ryan (Jimmi Simpson) in a desperate search for a way home.
For Okeniyi, the new season ultimately reveals much more about the man behind Leighton’s choices.
“More than season one, we get a real idea of who he is in season two,” he said. That understanding, he added, makes “loving and hating him very hard at the same time.”
The 10-episode season of “Dark Matter” premiered globally on Apple TV on Aug. 28. New episodes stream every Friday through Oct. 30.
Watch our conversation with Dayo Okeniyi below.
*This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
MORE NEWS ON EURWEB.COM: Christian Bale’s 17-Year Mission Becomes Reality with Foster Village Keeping Siblings Together
We Publish Breaking News 24/7. Don’t Miss Out! Sign up for our Free daily newsletter HERE.
