Hightown Season 2 interview with Atkins Estimond & Dohn Norwood

Hightown Season 2 is here, and Show Snob chatted with Atkins Estimond and Dohn Norwood, who play Osito and Alan on the show, about their arcs this season. When we last saw Osito, he was in police custody in the hospital after shooting Jackie. This season, Osito is locked behind bars with the recently-promoted Alan as his main point of contact to the outside.

Things have shifted substantially for both of these characters, with Alan rising to the top and Osito sinking to the bottom. It’s not dissimilar from Jackie and Ray’s parallel journeys this season either. Show Snob was lucky enough to get an opportunity to talk to Dohn and Atkins about their characters and what fans have to be excited about in Hightown Season 2.

Hightown Season 2 interview with Dohn Norwood and Atkins Estimond

SHOW SNOB: Your character is in a much different place this season. Actually, both of your characters are, and they’re both in a vulnerable position in some ways. What was it like for you to see that Osito would have this jail arc?

ATKINS ESTIMOND: I was really excited about it because once again, I was able to show another part of him. In the first season, you got to see very much in one light, but this is the first time you see him where he’s scared, he’s vulnerable, he’s having to figure it out, and having the opportunity to explore that as an actor, and getting to go there with this character was a real treat.

SHOW SNOB: You guys didn’t really work together a whole lot in Season 1, but you’ve already had so many great scenes together this season. What was it like working together in those jail scenes?

DOHN NORWOOD: It was great dealing with the big bad guy, the Lex Luthor of the season, entering his Temple of Doom. Those were great, fun scenes. I think the audience is going to dig them a lot.

ATKINS: Yeah, it was great; like you said in the first season, we really didn’t have much interaction at all, but there were some great moments in there. Some real good tension and friction because he’s the authority, but Osito is also a very strong personality and he’s in a position where he has to fall in line.

You’re watching him trying to hold on to who he is but not being able to talk the way he wants to talk or act the way he wants to act. That dynamic created some really cool moments, and just getting to work with Dohn, he’s an amazing actor, so that’s always a plus.

SHOW SNOB: Dohn it’s cool to see the relationship between you and your on-screen wife, which I feel is different from what we usually see. Instead of her being portrayed as a nag or him dismissing her, he actually appears to have a healthy and normal home life and his wife roots for him and gives him advice. Can you talk a little about portraying Alan’s family life on-screen in Hightown Season 2?

DOHN: It kind of parallels reality. It’s always great having someone supportive. She’s more ambitious, she’s taking on more responsibility, but that doesn’t mean that she’s unplugged from what’s happening. She sees opportunities for Alan as well, so she’s pushing him. Like, “I’m going to live vicariously through him.” She’s leading from behind. And it’s great. That’s how most successful marriages work anyway.

SHOW SNOB: This season, you’re also working with Monica a lot more as Jackie since you’ve kind of taken over that role from Ray in the first season. What has that been like for you, Dohn?

DOHN: It’s always great working with Monica. She’s a very generous actor. She directs as well, so there’s always an angle of how her performances work. She’s just a great personality. I think a lot of us just like being around Monica sometimes. [Laughs] She’s a kindred spirit but at the same time very youthful. It’s interesting dynamics in the different things you’re able to receive from Monica.

SHOW SNOB: The Cuevas cousins are a real threat this season, but also Charmaine has become a player and forms a relationship with Ositio early on. 

ATKINS: This is something that crossed over from last season, you saw the seeds of that. We had a good relationship back then, and essentially she approaches me to continue that now. Initially, there is some hesitation because he’s very much in a position of not knowing who to trust, but after he gets past that and sees what her real motive, is I think it is a no-brainer for him to make that work.

SHOW SNOB: What are you guys most excited for people to see from your respective character arcs this season?

DOHN: The getting what you ask for and seeing what comes of it, for Alan. He’s gotten a big job, and now he’s got to take things on headfirst, and how does he really manage it and succeed at doing things by the book? And representing his community as well as the positive aspects of law enforcement.

ATKINS: For Ositio, this season, I think the really interesting thing to watch is the climb for him, because he’s at the very bottom of the barrel right now. Watching him try to find his way and make this new reality work for him, to me, was very interesting.

SHOW SNOB: Are there any characters you guys haven’t really worked with yet that you’d like to work with? Or characters you didn’t work with in Season 1 that fans will get to see you with this season?

DOHN: I think there is Osito and Alan, which is a great rivalry, and Frankie being out. It’s kind of like King Kong got loose a little bit. How’s he gonna be now that he’s out? You see him in that suit at the end, and it’s like, “Oh, that’s who that guy is?” It’s who these people really are when a lot of the veneer of who they were in the first season is removed.

SHOW SNOB: You’ve got Jorge this season, too, and he’s a total wild card thrown in there.

ATKINS: I would have loved it, but I did not get time with Luis Guzman. I’m a big fan of his, so that is definitely one for me.

SHOW SNOB: What was it like to film in Provincetown during a different time of year, since Season 2 takes place during the fall and winter months versus the summer?

DOHN: Seeing how any environment is throughout the year and learning a lot about the culture. First season was a lot of lobster-eating, but being there was a little cooler and all of the sudden, you see foxes. Seeing a fox on the beach is an interesting image as well as that cool, brisk morning air. [Laughs] Just enjoying Massachusetts and things at a different time of year. And also, COVID making things a little thin, so enjoying the environment sans people is interesting.

SHOW SNOB: I was going to say wait, Atkins, you’re not even outside that much actually.

ATKINS: Literally, I have never been.

SHOW SNOB: What? Wow.

ATKINS: I didn’t get to go in the first season.

SHOW SNOB: Oh no, I didn’t know that!

ATKINS: I was in my jail-prison island, in the second season. I didn’t get to go. I’m just FOMO, wishing I was there and had a lobster roll.

SHOW SNOB: Maybe Season 3!

ATKINS: I’m keeping my fingers crossed. I wanna go. [Laughs]

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

New episodes of Hightown Season 2 air Sunday nights at 9/8c on STARZ.