'Lanterns' Star Explains Why She Was "Completely Shattered" by the HBO Sci-Fi's Biggest Twist

Editor's note: The below interview contains major spoilers for Lanterns Episode 5.

HBO's Lanterns is officially heading into its final stretch of episodes, but it seems as though there'll be no getting out of the 2016 story without several explosive twists. In an hour that would normally play out at the very end of a superhero movie, Episode 5 brings Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler) and John Stewart's (Aaron Pierre) investigation in Rushville to a head as the identity of the Manhunter is revealed.

The reason things have been so peaceful can all be tied back to the day Zoe (Poorna Jagannathan) came into town, using her power to both heal William Macon (Garret Dillahunt) and save Kerry Kane's (Kelly Macdonald) life, as well as seemingly strike several other bargains to keep Rushville safe and quiet. It's no wonder, then, that the locals are willing to fight to the death to protect her — and for a time, it even seems like John is on Zoe's side if it means getting the Green Lantern ring for himself. Yet once the smoke clears, and John ultimately leaves the ring in the custody of the Guardians, very few characters have made it through unscathed.

Ahead of the Lanterns premiere, Collider had the opportunity to speak with several members of the cast and creative team, including Dillahunt and Jagannathan. Below, the co-stars discuss the biggest twist surrounding Zoe's true origins, Dillahunt's most revealing scene of the series, why Zoe's interest in John Stewart runs much deeper than the opportunity to manipulate a Lantern candidate, and more.

COLLIDER: Garret, I have to start with you. This is a Deadwood house, first and foremost. It was a thrill to get to see you back on a horse. I was curious about what it felt like to get to play a modern cowboy in Lanterns.

GARRET DILLAHUNT: Well, I love that. I've been fortunate to be on so many Westerns and Western-adjacent kinds of shows. In fact, the wrangler on this, his name is Todd Forsberg; I've worked with him two or three times before this. I recommended him for this job because we also got to shoot in L.A., which was unusual, and his ranch is in Piru, so this was the closest job he'd ever had. I also know he's got beautiful animals, and they’d be so well-trained. I loved it. I felt very comfortable on it, and it's just a great character in this weird little universe they’ve created, this weird little town.

Poorna Jagannathan Was Shocked by Who She Was Really Playing in 'Lanterns'

"I can’t describe the feeling. I’ve never had [it] in my entire life."

Image via HBO Max

Speaking of great characters, Poorna, the twist surrounding who you're really playing — my jaw was on the floor, and I have a feeling viewers' jaws are going to be on the floor.

POORNA JAGANNATHAN: You think mine wasn’t?

I was going to ask you what your reaction was to not just reading it in the script, but what was the conversation like when you were told who you were really playing?

JAGANNATHAN: They didn't tell me! I read it in the script. Yeah, they didn't tell me.

DILLAHUNT: I can't believe that. It's amazing.

JAGANNATHAN: And when I died in the car, I was like, “Okay. It's been a great ride. Loved being part of this universe. Thank you for having me.” And then when the last page happened, and it was revealed that I was a Manhunter, I was confronted by my own mind. I just assumed it'd be a man. I assumed it’d be a white guy. You know what I mean? When I read a script, I'm so good at figuring things out. I feel like I have such a good grip on that — I was completely shattered when I read that. I was like, “Holy shit.” Everything I knew so far was just gone. I texted and called [creator] Chris Mundy at, like, midnight, screaming.

DILLAHUNT: You were screaming while you texted?

JAGANNATHAN: Both. I texted, and then I called, and then I screamed, and then I left an audio message. But I can’t describe the feeling. I’ve never had [it] in my entire life.

The characters and their motivations — everyone has these layers that are gradually peeled back the more we get to know what's going on in this small, unassuming town. Garret, Macon is a character who certainly puts on a very specific outward persona to the rest of the world, but as we later learn, it's hiding some very complicated, complex motives. He's also willing to go to some great lengths, I would say, to throw Hal and John off a particular scent, including a very memorable scene where you are stripping down in front of everyone.

DILLAHUNT: It is memorable.

JAGANNATHAN: What do you remember about it?

What stands out most in your mind from preparing to film that scene, filming the scene — and also, did you get to keep the sketch of yourself afterward?

DILLAHUNT: [Laughs] Yeah, I didn't want that sketch. But it was a fun scene. It was certainly a challenge. I thought those days were over. But I knew that Zoe had healed Macon. He still has the scar from his port from when he was battling cancer, and then he became this sort of preternaturally fit old man, and so I felt an onus to try and get in as good a shape as I could, and so I worked really hard, and barely ate that day, and sipped water and ate rice cakes and all that stuff.

JAGANNATHAN: His workout routine to get fit started that morning. [Laughs] No, he trained for [it] a lot.

DILLAHUNT: It was great. It was weirdly... I don't need to do them every day, but it was a very supportive set and well-lit, and they took good care of me, and I think the scene works. It's funny, it's weird, it's uncomfortable.

JAGANNATHAN: But we were all at the scene. We were like, “Holy shit, this is happening.” We were so excited to be at the scene.

What's really going on in the town slowly starts to be revealed through the characters, and everything that they really feel like they owe, Poorna, to your character. Once you found out who you were really playing, how did you want to approach the Manhunter? Because it feels like villain is not really the right term. There's definitely an antagonistic presence that she brings to the show, but I think her motives are a lot more complicated than that. So, how did you try to wrap your head around how best to portray her?

JAGANNATHAN: I think superhero is also not the right term, then. Both the antagonist and protagonist are very complex and flip between both poles. And I agree, for me, she's an extraordinarily sympathetic character who is a victim of so many things, including just her own programming.

But I love that scene on the top of [Episode] 5, the contract that she makes with Sheriff Kane, with Kelly [Macdonald]'s character, which is, “I did this for you because down the line, I might need something from you, someone who is willing to go the distance for me.” And there's a real feeling she's made that contract with every single person in that town, which is why they go so hard to protect her and fight for her.

So, it's an unexpected foil. It's an unexpected arrangement. That's what I love about it. The way that Chris really explained it to me is that she's the only surviving Manhunter out of everyone, and she takes different forms, and really is here as a human with human emotions and human feelings — but her need to survive she puts above everyone and everything else, which is what makes her slightly different.

'Lanterns' Poorna Jagannathan Explains the Deeper Layers Beneath Zoe and John's Connection

"She is showing John Stewart who she really is in as many words as she can..."

Image via HBO

Previously, I know you spoke with my colleague, Perri [Nemiroff], about doing a love scene for this show. The one that really stands out to me as having so much going on underneath it is the moment with Zoe and John in the hotel room. It feels like a goodbye of sorts. It also feels like she's trying to tell him things without really telling him things. How did you and Aaron [Pierre] want to approach all the complex emotions at play?

JAGANNATHAN: I was not aware of that layer, that she was telling him who she was, until the day of shoot. With the writers, we were just figuring stuff out, and I didn't know that. But it is. She is showing John Stewart who she really is in as many words as she can, and she's saying, “This is who I am, and it's not bad. So, leave town. Who you are expecting to find is not who you think. It's me. So, just leave, or you will get killed.” Because she knows what Macon is capable of, she knows what she's capable of, she knows the mandate of the town, and so she wants John Stewart to live. She wants that. She is in love with him, as well.

DILLAHUNT: Well. She likes him.

JAGANNATHAN: [Laughs] Yeah. So, it's a very moving scene. I don't know if you picked it up, but it's also where John Stewart picks up what she's put down. It's like all these things swirling in his mind actually solidify at that moment, and she also knows who she is.

I think even the ending where there's a gun pointed at her head, and she looks up, and she sees John Stewart, it's just... she's never been outmaneuvered. She's had to survive for so many lifetimes, but she's never been outmaneuvered. So it's that wonderful game-recognizes-game moment.