For All Mankind season 2: Casey W. Johnson on Danny Stevens’ journey

As For All Mankind season 2 continues, Danny Stevens’ story has continued to grow. Danny is dealing with his parents’ tumultuous relationship, while also trying to make a name for himself and developing a bond with Karen Baldwin. So where does he go from here?

Show Snob spoke with Danny’s portrayer, GLOW alum Casey W. Johnson, to talk about what’s up next for his character and what it’s been like for him to portray a TV child who isn’t the source of too much drama in the world.

Learn more about Casey and Danny Stevens before you catch the next episode of For All Mankind on Friday, exclusively through Apple TV Plus.

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Show Snob: For All Mankind season 2 is your first season, but with the time jump it almost feels like a new show. So what was it like for you to step into the role of Danny?

Casey W. Johnson: I have to give credit to all the people on set that made that happen. I came on for season two and everyone starts work together, and I feel like I have to live up to what they’ve already produced. But then when you have people that are very welcoming and very helpful, and make you feel at home, it definitely made it a lot easier for me.

SS: You’ve done shows in history before with GLOW, which was set in the 1980’s. Even though For All Mankind presents an alternative history, was it easier for you to dive into another time in America’s past?

CWJ: It was very informational, is probably a good word because I didn’t know that much about all the history. [I got to] dive in, and [learn] what’s going on, and asking my dad and my dad being like, I remember all of this and I was going through this. And then watching the show with him and being like, “Oh yeah, I remember that.” It’s definitely been a fun experience and opened my eyes to something that I wasn’t alive for.

SS: Danny’s an interesting part in the sense that when TV shows have children of main characters, they’re usually the problem. With For All Mankind, it’s Danny’s parents Tracy (Sarah Jones) and Gordo (Michael Dorman) who are having the drama. How does their relationship end up affecting him?

CWJ: I definitely think with all of the things going on in Danny’s life alone, it made him grow up faster than he probably had to. Faster than he wanted to for sure. Just having to be there for both of his parents and having to be there for Jimmy. It’s definitely not easy when you’re coming from  turmoil between your parents, but that’s life so you have to deal with it. And that’s what he tries to do. He tries to be the best he can.

SS: How interesting is it for you to play that sort of subverted relationship where he’s trying to help them when in another show it’d be them having to deal with him?

CWJ: It’s definitely been fun to do, and also it’s been challenging, making sure that I’m trying to be the best I can and getting it right. It can definitely go one way or the other. It’s interesting to see what has been done so far; it’ll be interesting to see where it goes next.

SS: Outside of that relationship, do you have a favorite Danny scene from what we’ve watched this season so far?

CWJ: In [episode] 205, the scene in the bar between Danny and Karen was a very good scene for me to be able to dive into and learn more about who Danny was, and just feel them out. It was very informational in that way. He’s now connecting with Karen and reminiscing on childhood tragedy. I’d probably say that.

SS: Danny’s still trying to find himself at the same time that you are finding him through this being your first season. Has it been interesting to take that journey of character discovery with a character who hasn’t totally discovered himself yet?

CWJ: It’s always fun to see where your character is going to grow. Especially if another season comes along. You get all the scripts and as they come out you learn more about them. Kind of like in life, things come at you and you didn’t know that they were going to come at you. You have to figure out who you are and how to best handle these situations. So it’s definitely super fun for me.

I met some really special people on the show and I think I just learned that really connecting with people and connecting with each other is immensely important, in that we need that connection to be able to be happier or whatever it might be to make the day better.

New episodes of For All Mankind stream Fridays exclusively on Apple TV Plus.