James Purefoy has teased that the mystery in The Following's second season will be a "slow burn".
James Purefoy on The Following season 2: 'It's always a rollercoaster'
Exclusive: The Following: Watch season 1 bonus clip - video
The Following's second run focuses on Ryan Hardy (Kevin Bacon) investigating the apparent reappearance of serial killer Joe Carroll, who was thought to be dead.
Purefoy recently offered hints on the return of Joe Carroll to Parade.
"I can tell you that he's taking stock, he's being reflective. He's taken a year out - a sabbatical - from serial killing, if you will, to think about what he did last year and how successful it was," he explained.
The actor continued: "And the answer to that, I think he's come to the conclusion, is 'not very.' He's never going to be a Pulitzer Prize winning novelist, I think he's come to that realization.
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"He's a talentless s**te and can't string a sentence together. He was selfish to his followers, and he's thinking of a new way to make his imprint on the world. It's a nice slow burn this season. You know that he's up to something and you can't quite tell what it is."
Purefoy also discussed the research that he did when he was cast as the psychopathic killer.
"I spent a lot of time watching a lot of stuff on YouTube: documentaries, audio files, looking into cult leaders, what was it about cult leaders that made people follow them, and the answer to that is, interesting. It's never really about the cult leader," he recalled.
Purefoy went on to say: "It's about the cultee. It's about the thing that's lacking in people's lives, that they feel the need to give their lives over to a cult and a cult leader. Joe Carroll never got anybody who was innocent to kill anybody.
"Every person who was in his cult is guilty of serial killing itself or a fascination and a fantasy about violence. And you'd be amazed at how many people in this country are fascinated and fantasize about committing unspeakable violence on their fellow human beings."
The Following next airs on Monday, January 27 at 8pm ET on Fox. Sky Atlantic airs the show in the UK.
Justin is a freelance entertainment journalist and writer. He first joined Digital Spy as a freelance entertainment reporter in 2010 and also worked as a sub-editor for the brand, serving as Night News Editor from 2016 to 2024. Over more than a decade, Justin has covered numerous major entertainment events from the US and has interviewed a wide-ranging group of public figures, from comedian Steve Coogan to icons from the Star Trek universe, cast members from the Marvel Cinematic Universe and reality stars from numerous Real Housewives cities and the Below Deck franchise. Justin has also been on the ground to cover major pop culture events like the Star Wars Celebration and the D23 Expo. He's written for titles across the Hearst network, plus the likes of CBR and Us Weekly.
