The cast of A&E thriller Bates Motel sat down at Comic-Con 2014 to speak about their characters and what’s coming up for season 3.
Vera Farmiga (Norma Bates), Olivia Cooke (Emma Decody) and Nestor Carbonell (Sheriff Alex Romero) revealed their thoughts on whether or not Norma is more afraid of Norman or for him, how they feel about the return of Caleb (Norma’s older incestuous brother and Dylan’s father) and why the other characters in the town are drawn to the Bates’.
On whether or not Norma fears Norman or fears for him:
Vera Farmiga: You know I read so many blogs about mothers giving their testimony about what it’s like to have a violent child or to be the mother of a child who’s violent or has violence issues or has neurotransmission issues… ranging the whole gamut of behavioral issues… fear, you have to squash that fear, because there’s no other option… It’s there, but it’s not an option – and I think to be afraid of helping is far worse.
But at the same time it’s only a portion of his personality, and I think she’s just determined to pick up, to glue all these fragments of his mind together again – because she knows that he’s a good kid and has a good heart, but somehow there’s like this weird… glitch… that I think she thinks she can heal through love, through maternal love.
On the return of Caleb:
Vera Farmiga: It’d be amazing. It’s so unexplored. That was one of my qualms with the second season was that you’ve got this epic character who shows up and then he just disappears! To me that storyline is incredibly unexplored, and there’s so much gunk that need to be, sort of, slapped up on that screen and deciphered, and I think that would be really… yeah!
On why Emma and Sheriff Romero are drawn to the dysfunctional Bates’:
Nestor Carbonell: Misery loves company? I dunno. I think we’re all broken birds in some fashion or another. We’ll all stick up for ourselves, and I think that we’re all drawn to each other because of that. That’s my guess, I dunno.
Olivia Cooke: Yeah. And I think Emma saw Norman/Norman as this idyllic mother and son relationship that she wanted to be a part of, and now she’s seen that they’re broken just attracts her more.
The cast also gives their thoughts on the possibility of a Norma/Romero relationship, what scenes turned out better than they expected and more so be sure to check out the full interview videos below!
More coverage from Comic-Con 2014 to come as we post our interviews!
Photo Credit: A&E
