INTERVIEW: ‘Gen V’ Star Sean Patrick Thomas Talks Polarity’s Bigger Role and Emotional Journey In Season 2

After making a memorable appearance in Gen V Season 1, Sean Patrick Thomas returns to the world of Vought in a much bigger way. Now a series regular in Season 2, Thomas’s character Polarity steps into the spotlight, navigating grief, responsibility, and redemption as the story pushes deeper into the chaos surrounding Godolkin University.

We spoke with him about stepping into a larger role this season, the emotional challenges of filming after Chance Perdomo’s passing, building chemistry with his co-stars, and how Gen V continues to reflect the darker truths of our own world.

So, I've seen all of Gen V Season 2, and I must say, you're holding your own this season.

Sean Patrick Thomas: Yeah, I've got a lot to do.

You were in Season 1 but in a more limited capacity, and now you are a series regular in Season 2. Did you see that shift coming?

Sean Patrick Thomas: I knew that I was gonna have some type of presence in Season 2, but I just didn't know in what capacity. Then when Chance passed, they had to rework storylines and find a different way to tell the story. That just required a little bit more from the character, Polarity, to help them tell the story that they were trying to tell.

Your character shows grief, anger, anxiety, and also resilience and determination. How did you prepare yourself to play such a wide spectrum of emotions?

Sean Patrick Thomas: I don't know how you can ever really prepare yourself for that. I think you just try and, stay open to whatever may come through you to a degree. Life prepares you for it. The experience of losing Chance in real life obviously has some effect. Being a father myself, of a son and a daughter, that prepares you. Outside of that, you just put yourself in these situations, and let your imagination go where it goes, and try and be as truthful as you can.

You're also one of the few characters who really steps into this caring, parental, role for the younger generations in the show.

Sean Patrick Thomas: I think that it was really important, because in the world of Vought - in the world of Gen V and The Boys - the adults really don't care about the children. They don't care at all. They only care about them to the extent that they can use them for whatever their personal purposes are. Polarity himself was guilty of that in Season 1. I think that it was a wonderful thing to be in a position to be an adult, to be the one adult who doesn't want to use them, who doesn't want to hurt them, who doesn't want to exploit them. When you see Polarity being that way, you see how starved they were for that. A lot of their own parents don't provide that for them. I'm really, really, gratified to be able to be that type of parental energy for the characters in Season 2.

Your scenes with Lizze Broadway were especially heartfelt and sometimes funny. What was it like building that chemistry? Did the connection come naturally to you both?

Sean Patrick Thomas: I guess so. I think she has a very particular, specific energy. She's kind of a wild card, and I have my own specific energy. We both just let things flow and bounce off each other. We both tried to keep it honest. We both like to have fun. I think we share that same instinct on set that

we're not just there to do the work, we're there to have fun.

Another character you really were good with was Hamish's character, so how was that?

Sean Patrick Thomas: Oh, I love working with Hamish! He still comes out of left field with so many different things. I've said before that when you're working with Hamish, you can read the script, and you can know your lines, and you can know his lines, and you can know what he's gonna say. But when you're on camera with him, you still have this weird feeling like you don't know what he's gonna say, which is a beautiful thing because that means that he's finding a way to make what's written on the page fresh and make it sound and feel inventive and new. That made my job easy, to just play off against that.

Gen V also doesn't shy away from social and political commentary, and it is a reflection of our reality, in a way. What was it like navigating those layers as a performer?

Sean Patrick Thomas: I loved getting the opportunity, because I'm so dismayed and upset and disheartened with the way the world is going right now, with the way our leadership is taking this country.

It's appalling to me. Gen V shows where that can go. It shows the ugly places that that could lead to. I'm very, very, very grateful to be a part of telling a story that shows that to the audience. I think that there's a lot of people nowadays who either don't watch the news, or they get it from heavily biased sources, or they just don't pay attention to current events. A show like this really can help educate people about what fascism really is, about what abuse of power really is. If you can see it in the show, maybe you'll start to see how it's happening in your real life, and maybe you'll want to do something about it.

Yes, couldn't agree more.

Gen V can be pretty wild and intense. It's definitely not everyone's cup of tea. Are there any friends or family members you actually told, "You know, maybe skip this one?"

Sean Patrick Thomas: (Laughs) My mom… She loves the show but she says, "Oh my gosh, Sean, I had to turn my head at this point," or "I had to turn my head at that point." The thing is, I don't want to warn her, because it should come as a surprise to all of us, the things that we do on the show. I feel like I would rob her of her enjoyment if I told her too much in advance. That's what the world of this show is. People who love Gen V, people who love The Boys, that's what they want to see. That's what it is, that's the vocabulary that we speak in when we're telling these stories.

Okay, one last question. Audiences are already theorizing from week to week. Without giving too much away, what can we expect for the rest of the season?

Sean Patrick Thomas: Obstacles. A lot of obstacles, and you're not gonna really be sure how these people are gonna find their way out of it. Some of them may find their way out of it, some of them may not, but they're gonna face enormous, seemingly insurmountable obstacles, every episode from here on out. It's gonna be very interesting to see how they navigate that.

‘Gen V’ season 2 is now streaming on Prime Video.

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This interview has been edited for clarity.